Giuseppe Sollazzo

I'm a digital, data, and technology leader, specialised in setting up high-performing teams working predominantly with data technology and digital transformation.


I am currently a Senior Civil Servant, leading the 150-people Data Enablement division at the Department for Work and Pensions.


This, however, is my personal website where I collect my geeky projects and freelance commissions, and featured talks and articles.


You can get in touch with me via e-mail, LinkedIn or Bluesky. Some of my coding can be found on GitHub.

Projects

Better Word Counter
Better Word Counter
Personal project
Personal word counting tool providing counts by sections as well as totals, privacy-focused
View Project →
Average Face of US Congress
Average Face – US Congress
Client: BBC
Calculated average face of US Congress, building on earlier UK MP face project
View Project →
EU Twinnings
EU Twinnings
Client: EU Commission
App calculating similarity matrix between EU province-level areas, selected through EU Datathon
View Project →
Parli-N-Grams
Parli-N-Grams
Personal project
N-grams viewer for parliamentary debates using Hansard extracts
View Project →
Ward-le
Ward-le
Personal project
Worldle clone based on UK Local Authority geography game that went viral
View Project →
Faces of Fashion
Faces of Fashion
Client: Neo Mammalian/My Voucher Codes
Created average faces of fashion across 7 countries
View Project →
Berlin Wall App
Berlin Wall App
Personal project
Android app identifying whether user location was in former East or West Berlin
View Project →
Chatbot Charlie
Chatbot Charlie
Client: European Food Safety Authority
Led team developing NLP chatbot to automatically answer questions about EFSA's Register of Questions
View Project → View Slide Deck →
Brexit at the Commons
Brexit at the Commons
Personal project
Scrollytelling page tracking 121 House of Commons votes related to Brexit
View Project →
PACSMAN
PACSMAN
Personal project
Satirical videogame with pun on Pac-man/Paxman, featuring politicians from 2017
View Project →
LiveRugby
LiveRugby
Partner: Opta Sports
Real-time stats app for Six Nations rugby with over 15,000 downloads
View Project →
Swing 2017
Swing 2017
Personal project
Election swing simulator for 2017 General Election
View Project →
EMAG Today
EMAG Today
Client: Newington Comms
Campaign website for Equitable Life collapse victims with secure petition and MP e-mailing processes
View Project →
House of Commons 2017-2019 Divisions
House of Commons 2017-2019 Divisions
Personal project
Interactive animation of MP voting patterns using UK Parliament open data
View Project →
Election 1997 Bot
Election 1997 Bot
Personal project
Twitter bot recreating 1997 General Election in real time, 20 years later
View Project → Read Write-up →

Writing

Nightingale article
The Bus Station That Didn't Exist, and Other Data Epiphanies
Client: Nightingale, Data Visualization Society
Exploring data epiphanies and unexpected discoveries in data visualization work
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Eurovision and Brexit article
When the EU won Eurovision... and what it teaches us about Brexit
Client: The New European (now: The New World)
Analysis of Eurovision voting patterns and their implications for understanding Brexit
Read →
Power to Change Data for the Community report
Data for the community
Client: Power to Change UK
Taking a look at how data assets are being used at a local level
Read →
Broken Toilets article on the Open Data delusion
The Open Data delusion
Client: Broken Toilets
Critical analysis of open data initiatives and their real-world impact
Read →
Open Data in the Health Sector report
Open Data in the Health Sector
Client: NHS England/OpenHealthCare
Exploring the challenges and opportunities of open data in healthcare
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Open Data User Group National Information Infrastructure
The National Information Infrastructure
Partner: Open Data User Group (ODUG) - Cabinet Office
Policy paper on national information infrastructure development
Read →
Vietnam travel article
I travelled to Vietnam and you should too
Publication: Medium
Travel blog (6.4k views and 1.4k reads)
Read →
PayPal account closure article
PayPal closed my account with no explanation. It could happen to you.
Publication: Medium
The story of PayPal's decision to close my account (147k views, 50k reads)
Read →
Civil Service recruitment experience article
When I spent 202 days in the jaws of civil service recruitment
Publication: Medium
A recollection of my first Senior Civil Service recruitment experience in 2014 (32k views, 8.9k reads)
Read →

Speaking

Me speaking at TRGCON '24
Effective Data – Building the Foundations of High-Impact Software and Stories
2024 • TRGCON, Madrid
Conference talk on building effective data foundations for impactful software development and storytelling
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Me speaking at csv,conf,v7 in 2023
Talking with data
2023 • csv,conf,v7, Buenos Aires
Keynote presentation on effective data communication and visualization techniques
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Me speaking on live radio
Dato un dato
2020 • Radio3Scienza, Italy
Live radio show interview discussing data use during the COVID-19 pandemic
Recording →
Me giving a Battistini Lecture in 2020
Data in public communications
2020 • Institute of Advanced Study, University of Bologna
Academic lecture on history and key elements of data communication in public sector and media
View →