Peter King

My background is investigative journalism on hard topics that require the ability to grasp the essentials of technology, economics or politics quickly, and convey them simply, accurately and, of course, without being sued. At school I studied Philosophy and later Applied Statistics. While I have had a lifelong interest in information technology and national development for most of this century I have specialised in transport policy, covering just about every aspect of society on the move from economics to emerging technology, infrastructure, climate change, safety to equity. I was extremely lucky to have Jayne Gale as a mentor, who taught me so much about transport economics from a feminist perspective. When I began officials were hugely knowledgeable, practical people who were happy to share their knowledge and wisdom. Sadly I increasingly find them inexperienced, idealists who are reluctant to share much but politically sanitised and simplistic memes. The transition from independent Westminster style to a partisan Washington style of public service is, in my view, deplorable. The other part of my role is to research public opinion. Thanks to great mentors like Kim Saffron, I have learned a lot about survey design, and the role of bias not only in framing questions but also in the response various sampling regimes produce. Bias is inescapable, but the most important thing is understanding how it is produced or manifested. Rather than focus on seeking mandates my view now is that the object of surveys is to identify sources and strengths of disagreement. Discord is expensive, creates delay and conflict. Finding common ground is good for everyone. I am proficient with a wide range of digital tools depending on the task at hand. I have a background in publishing and design ( so use Adobe or Affinity tools) for graphic design, I do data analysis (with Excel, Juypter notebooks and R Studio), and am comfortable with sound and video editing tools, as well as ordinary office tools. This makes me something of an information swiss army knife. I can contribute to any task whether it is writing, design, analysis or management of those who specialise in such things. When I am not at work I paint (acrylic on canvas), write (eight books to date) and research stuff (for books). I am currently interested in the ontology of Artificial Intelligence, Mars, Idaho, Chicago, 11th Century Scotland, and Dr Dee. To relax I play chess, xbox games (Red Dead Redemption and Skyrim especially).