mySociety is a non-profit, open source organisation that runs many of the best-known democracy websites in the UK. These include the Parliamentary transparency website TheyWorkForYou and the somewhat self-explanatory FixMyStreet. mySociety’s missions are to build websites that give people simple, tangible benefits in the democratic and community aspects of their lives, and that teach the public and voluntary sector how they can use technology better to help citizens.

By trade Tom was a policy analyst who cut his teeth at the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit from 2001 to 2003. He grew up in Oxford, and lives in Whitechapel, East London.

Tom’s most recent publication is The Power of Information Review, co-authored with Ed Mayo and the Strategy Unit, launched in 2007. The Power of Information Review aimed to help the UK government understand the value it has locked in datasets, and the help that can be done for citizens by simply being willing to go into and answer questions in places like Netmums and MoneySavingExpert. Following the publicaton of economic analysis commisioned by the review, Tom is convinced of the urgent need for substantial reform in the provision of public sector information from organisations like the Ordnance Survey.

Government 2010 will be broadcast live on the web on the 22nd of October.  The event is free to view but registration is required. 

Other keynote speakers include Peter Kellner of YouGov; Tom Watson MP; Iain Dale, the political blogger and Adam Afriyie MP, Shadow Innovation Minister.  The event is organised by Quadriga Consulting Ltd and Switch New Media. 

The team behind Government 2010 today announced that IBM is to be a lead-sponsor for the first live web-broadcast Government 2010 conference from London.  The conference will be streamed from the Grange St Pauls Hotel in London from 9.00am to 5.00pm on October 22nd 2009. 

The web broadcast will be free to view and will focus on how technology - especially Web 2.0, social media and open data - are set to transform government and the provision of government services.

Jeffrey Peel of Quadriga Consulting Ltd, joint organisers of Government 2010 said, "it's really encouraging that IBM is supporting this event.  We're only seeing the early stirrings of how web 2.0 technologies, social media and cloud computing will impact how citizens interact with government.  Government 2010 is about stimulating the debate.  Because we're streaming live we are encouraging anyone interested in these issues to participate - not just civil servants or politicians."

He continued, "The government 2010 event is going to play an important part in the debate about how government at local, regional and national level can create innovative, compelling online public services."

More information about Government 2010 is available from the web site and blog: http://g2010.co.uk/ - the event will stream live on the web from 9.00am to 5.00pm on October 22^nd and there are also a small number of tickets available for purchase to attend the live conference. 

Keynote speakers include Peter Kellner, President of YouGov; Tom Watson MP, former Cabinet Office Minister; William Heath, founder of Government Computing and Bill McCluggage, HM Government's Deputy CIO.  Adam Parker of Realwire is participating in a session chaired by Iain Dale, the political blogger.  The full agenda is available here.