Gordon Guthrie
@foundationsofthedigitalstate.com
Just published The Foundations Of The Digital State - a report for the Scottish Government
http://foundationsofthedigitalstate.com/
and blogs at
digitalpolicy.substack.com
Politician manqué, girl group fan, code monkey
http://foundationsofthedigitalstate.com/
and blogs at
digitalpolicy.substack.com
Politician manqué, girl group fan, code monkey
'bus
'phone
'flu'
'phone
'flu'
Age verification?
I still miss Marathon Bars.
I still miss Marathon Bars.
Age verification?
I never understood the kids' newfangled pog thing.
I never understood the kids' newfangled pog thing.
February 11, 2026 at 9:29 PM
'bus
'phone
'flu'
'phone
'flu'
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
You can joke about Pam Bondi’s ridiculous unprofessionalism all you want, but I’m deeply shocked by it: She acts as if she fears absolutely no consequences, convinced that there will be no more political power transfers. — This should shake everyone to their core.
February 11, 2026 at 5:48 PM
You can joke about Pam Bondi’s ridiculous unprofessionalism all you want, but I’m deeply shocked by it: She acts as if she fears absolutely no consequences, convinced that there will be no more political power transfers. — This should shake everyone to their core.
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
Vaguely formed hypothesis: the crypto ‘correction’ and the maturing of agentic AI are connected. At least part of the crypto thing was under-engaged tech people looking for something to do with their time. Now they’ve got Moltbook to play with, crypto has gone back in the toy box.
February 11, 2026 at 9:56 AM
Vaguely formed hypothesis: the crypto ‘correction’ and the maturing of agentic AI are connected. At least part of the crypto thing was under-engaged tech people looking for something to do with their time. Now they’ve got Moltbook to play with, crypto has gone back in the toy box.
As a techie who uses AI 3 days a week for coding I implore techie AI booster in the bowels of Christ to realise that LIFE IS NOT CODING and you can't read across for AI success in an area where there are right ways to do things, multiple mechanisms for assessing correctness, extensive tooling...
February 11, 2026 at 10:52 AM
As a techie who uses AI 3 days a week for coding I implore techie AI booster in the bowels of Christ to realise that LIFE IS NOT CODING and you can't read across for AI success in an area where there are right ways to do things, multiple mechanisms for assessing correctness, extensive tooling...
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
I cannot give enough kudos to the We Rate Dogs account for their clear explanation of this issue and for using their *enormous* platform to educate people.
February 10, 2026 at 8:34 PM
I cannot give enough kudos to the We Rate Dogs account for their clear explanation of this issue and for using their *enormous* platform to educate people.
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
A new post on working in the open for leaders, from our @jocarter.bsky.social.
If you're accountable for outcomes, risk, reputation and public money, but don’t always get a clear view of the work early enough to steer it, this is for you.
transform.wales/blog/2026/wo...
If you're accountable for outcomes, risk, reputation and public money, but don’t always get a clear view of the work early enough to steer it, this is for you.
transform.wales/blog/2026/wo...
Working in the open for leaders
Working in the open is a powerful governance tool that provides leaders with earlier visibility into work, allowing them to identify risks and steer outcomes before they become costly crises. If you f...
transform.wales
January 27, 2026 at 9:51 AM
A new post on working in the open for leaders, from our @jocarter.bsky.social.
If you're accountable for outcomes, risk, reputation and public money, but don’t always get a clear view of the work early enough to steer it, this is for you.
transform.wales/blog/2026/wo...
If you're accountable for outcomes, risk, reputation and public money, but don’t always get a clear view of the work early enough to steer it, this is for you.
transform.wales/blog/2026/wo...
If you want first class digital services you need to change parliamentary procedure - and for Westminster that means constitutional reform...
There I said it... constitutional reform is necessary for good state administration - its not just nerd wonking
open.substack.com/pub/digitalp...
There I said it... constitutional reform is necessary for good state administration - its not just nerd wonking
open.substack.com/pub/digitalp...
Public sector transformation requires parliamentary reform
There I said it
open.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 7:59 AM
If you want first class digital services you need to change parliamentary procedure - and for Westminster that means constitutional reform...
There I said it... constitutional reform is necessary for good state administration - its not just nerd wonking
open.substack.com/pub/digitalp...
There I said it... constitutional reform is necessary for good state administration - its not just nerd wonking
open.substack.com/pub/digitalp...
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
Some of us @transformgovtalks.bsky.social & some great govt policy people are planning @policycamp.bsky.social - a new unconference for people who want to make govt policymaking even better
Help shape it - here's a short survey!
Microsoft Form: bit.ly/MSPolicyCamp
Google Form: bit.ly/GPolicyCamp
Help shape it - here's a short survey!
Microsoft Form: bit.ly/MSPolicyCamp
Google Form: bit.ly/GPolicyCamp
Policy Camp
policycamp.org.uk
February 3, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Some of us @transformgovtalks.bsky.social & some great govt policy people are planning @policycamp.bsky.social - a new unconference for people who want to make govt policymaking even better
Help shape it - here's a short survey!
Microsoft Form: bit.ly/MSPolicyCamp
Google Form: bit.ly/GPolicyCamp
Help shape it - here's a short survey!
Microsoft Form: bit.ly/MSPolicyCamp
Google Form: bit.ly/GPolicyCamp
Prince William standing next to the murderer MBS while the King pledges support for all victims of abuse
Rly?
Rly?
February 9, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Prince William standing next to the murderer MBS while the King pledges support for all victims of abuse
Rly?
Rly?
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
Read this earlier today and it's a great and thoughtful piece. Too much discourse among the left on AI has fallen into a lazy hostility largely disinterested in the technology. This piece is a real antidote
People say AI will be the end of democracy. Will it? A reasoned answer here from me today.
AI and the destruction of democracy
Can we, should we, tame the beast?
open.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 10:40 AM
Read this earlier today and it's a great and thoughtful piece. Too much discourse among the left on AI has fallen into a lazy hostility largely disinterested in the technology. This piece is a real antidote
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
We are in a small community outside Minneapolis and a child arrived to an empty house on Friday. No parents, ice kidnapped them and just leave children to wander alone after school
February 8, 2026 at 7:51 PM
We are in a small community outside Minneapolis and a child arrived to an empty house on Friday. No parents, ice kidnapped them and just leave children to wander alone after school
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
this is a lovely thread
Mackenzie Crook’s rural dreamscape #Detectorists published by #PenguinBooks (and its offshoots) down the years. 🧵
1/
1/
February 8, 2026 at 10:54 AM
this is a lovely thread
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
February 7, 2026 at 1:03 PM
I'm old enough to remember when he was a New Labour darling complete with ghosted PhD at SOAS
Saif al-Islam wielded little influence in Libya's governance. But his presence was still a political threat to his rivals — and the symbol of an alternative Libya. https://bit.ly/4ayBb8S
The killing of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is the end of a political era in Libya
Saif al-Islam wielded little influence over the current running of the state. But his presence was still a political and potentially military threat to his rivals.
www.chathamhouse.org
February 7, 2026 at 9:47 AM
I'm old enough to remember when he was a New Labour darling complete with ghosted PhD at SOAS
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
seriously!!!
From @acyn.bsky.social (posted on X)
"Reporter: Do any of you have a favorite animal?
Child: My favorite one is a gold snake that can move. It has gold eyes, and it has a super-duper tail…
Reporter: Mr. Mamdani, the second question for you.
Mamdani: Yes. It’s also the golden snake."
"Reporter: Do any of you have a favorite animal?
Child: My favorite one is a gold snake that can move. It has gold eyes, and it has a super-duper tail…
Reporter: Mr. Mamdani, the second question for you.
Mamdani: Yes. It’s also the golden snake."
February 6, 2026 at 7:59 PM
seriously!!!
The work on making National Conversations about digital happen in the May elections is starting to heat up.
Working on prelection hustings on Digital Society and the Private Sector and Economy as well as a post-election event on the State and Public Sector
nationalconversations.org
Working on prelection hustings on Digital Society and the Private Sector and Economy as well as a post-election event on the State and Public Sector
nationalconversations.org
National Conversations
Help put digital technology at the heart of political life in Scotland and Wales.
nationalconversations.org
February 6, 2026 at 1:35 PM
The work on making National Conversations about digital happen in the May elections is starting to heat up.
Working on prelection hustings on Digital Society and the Private Sector and Economy as well as a post-election event on the State and Public Sector
nationalconversations.org
Working on prelection hustings on Digital Society and the Private Sector and Economy as well as a post-election event on the State and Public Sector
nationalconversations.org
[Laughing in Berlin]
You child, you full, a single winter fortnight you say
You child, you full, a single winter fortnight you say
Wondering where the sunshine has gone?
Spare a thought for northeast Scotland; Aberdeen Dyce hasn't recorded any sunshine since 21 January! This is provisionally the longest sunless period here since records began in 1957 ☁️
Spare a thought for northeast Scotland; Aberdeen Dyce hasn't recorded any sunshine since 21 January! This is provisionally the longest sunless period here since records began in 1957 ☁️
February 6, 2026 at 8:56 AM
[Laughing in Berlin]
You child, you full, a single winter fortnight you say
You child, you full, a single winter fortnight you say
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
Child at the podium: “A woo woo woo.”
Mamdani: That’s how I felt when we came up with this plan. Together, we will expand the idea of what is possible in our city—and what sounds and noises we can make at a press conference.
Mamdani: That’s how I felt when we came up with this plan. Together, we will expand the idea of what is possible in our city—and what sounds and noises we can make at a press conference.
February 6, 2026 at 4:11 AM
Child at the podium: “A woo woo woo.”
Mamdani: That’s how I felt when we came up with this plan. Together, we will expand the idea of what is possible in our city—and what sounds and noises we can make at a press conference.
Mamdani: That’s how I felt when we came up with this plan. Together, we will expand the idea of what is possible in our city—and what sounds and noises we can make at a press conference.
This is for all you that remember the Hypernumbers days 😂
Experience: I am the Excel world champion
Experience: I am the Excel world champion
I have been called the LeBron James of spreadsheets, but I try not to take myself too seriously
www.theguardian.com
February 6, 2026 at 8:31 AM
This is for all you that remember the Hypernumbers days 😂
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
This whole fucking thread is on point.
Correctly observing that state systems are being captured & used to subvert & suppress opposition is not “doomerism.” That shit is simply pertinent information.
February 5, 2026 at 5:54 PM
This whole fucking thread is on point.
MLK had 2,000 people arrested a day for 2 weeks and collapsed the Birmingham, AL police force
This tactic of flooding & clogging systems of repression was central to the success of civil rights organizers who mobilized to overturn Jim Crow. They didn’t *vote* it out bc they were legally blocked from doing so. Instead, they made it impossible to maintain.
February 5, 2026 at 6:18 PM
MLK had 2,000 people arrested a day for 2 weeks and collapsed the Birmingham, AL police force
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
Ta-da! The finale of 'The Backstory':
Lesson 8—Legacy: starting with "legacy tech" starts in entirely the wrong place
Lesson 9—A Self-Inflicted Crisis: the 30+ year failure to rewire government leaves it struggling to tackle social, economic, and geopolitical challenges
Lesson 8—Legacy: starting with "legacy tech" starts in entirely the wrong place
Lesson 9—A Self-Inflicted Crisis: the 30+ year failure to rewire government leaves it struggling to tackle social, economic, and geopolitical challenges
‘Fracture’ serialisation part 6: The Backstory (conclusion)
This is the sixth instalment in a series of articles based on the Second Edition of my book Fracture: The collision between technology and democracy—and how we fix it. You can read the earlier Part…
ntouk.wordpress.com
February 5, 2026 at 7:29 AM
Ta-da! The finale of 'The Backstory':
Lesson 8—Legacy: starting with "legacy tech" starts in entirely the wrong place
Lesson 9—A Self-Inflicted Crisis: the 30+ year failure to rewire government leaves it struggling to tackle social, economic, and geopolitical challenges
Lesson 8—Legacy: starting with "legacy tech" starts in entirely the wrong place
Lesson 9—A Self-Inflicted Crisis: the 30+ year failure to rewire government leaves it struggling to tackle social, economic, and geopolitical challenges
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
I think the Public Accounts Committee should ask accounting officers (perm secs) to come to Parliament and show that they themselves can use the public services for which they are responsible. Live, and on camera.
February 5, 2026 at 12:08 PM
I think the Public Accounts Committee should ask accounting officers (perm secs) to come to Parliament and show that they themselves can use the public services for which they are responsible. Live, and on camera.
Reposted by Gordon Guthrie
This is powerful - without increasing administrative capacity (without budget increases), public administrations and public services will increasingly disappoint citizens and disenchant them about democracy.
As always digitisation needs to hack the bureaucracy, not just replicate old ways online.
As always digitisation needs to hack the bureaucracy, not just replicate old ways online.
Here's the first in a series of instalments from my book ‘Fracture' in which I'm going to explore:
— why decades of digital initiatives have failed to deliver the desired modernisation of government
— what a modern, adaptive democracy could look like
— what changes are needed to get us there
— why decades of digital initiatives have failed to deliver the desired modernisation of government
— what a modern, adaptive democracy could look like
— what changes are needed to get us there
‘Fracture’ serialisation part 1
The first in a series of articles based on the Second Edition of my book Fracture: The collision between technology and democracy—and how we fix it. “You would think that governments would pl…
ntouk.wordpress.com
February 2, 2026 at 10:58 AM
This is powerful - without increasing administrative capacity (without budget increases), public administrations and public services will increasingly disappoint citizens and disenchant them about democracy.
As always digitisation needs to hack the bureaucracy, not just replicate old ways online.
As always digitisation needs to hack the bureaucracy, not just replicate old ways online.