Hello, I’m Matt! I was born in late 1991 and raised in Northumberland. I currently live in South Tyneside with my partner, daughter, and the family pets after having spent over a decade living and working around Newcastle upon Tyne.
Table of Contents
Background
In broad strokes, my background is in Computing Science, Design, and Human-Computer Interaction with a focus on Participatory Design, Transparency, and Open Data. I completed my BSc in Computing Science at Newcastle University in 2014 and started a doctorate program later the same year. I succesfully defended my PhD thesis in June 2021, and received my doctorate after submitting my minor corrections in January 2022. I also have an MRES degree from earlier in the same program.
Since 2018 I have been gainfully employed at Open Data Services Co-operative where I put my open data, data engineering, and design skills to use supporting various clients, data publishers, and data users with all things open data. Since 2019 I have been a Director of the organisation as a proud worker-owner of the co-operative.
I’ve worked across a number of projects but I am happy to say that I have substantial expertise in the following areas: 360Giving, Open Contracting, and Open Referral. I consult on many aspects of data engineering for open data and data tooling but my current focus is schema development and standard governance.
I am also a trustee of The Patchwork Project — known simply as Patchwork or “Patchy” locally — a frontline Youth Work Charity located in Benwell.
I started working with Patchwork during my doctorate when they agreed to be my main research partners. They changed my life and I leapt at the chance to become a Trustee when they asked me.
Despite not pursuing an academic or teaching career at the moment I maintain an fairly-active interest in my previous research areas as well as some adjacent topics from my fields of interest. I have professional, personal, and political interests in: Anti-capitalism and Communism; Charities; Critical Pedagogy; Data Standards; Design and Design Methods; Digital Civics; Ethnography and Ethnomethodology; the Fediverse and the Indieweb; Human-Computer Interaction (HCI); Interaction Design; Open Data; Participatory Design; Transparency and Accountability; Working Class Culture and Movements; and Youth Work.
My philosophy and values
A person’s philosophy drives how they approach things and interact with others. As such you can sum up my philosophy as being heavily influenced by the following (listed alphabetically):
- Communism, especially Marxism-Leninism. Basically, I think the planet and human rights are pretty neat and that a better world is possible through organisation and hard work.
- Feminism, especially Marxist-Feminists such as Silvia Federici but although I have a Marxy critique of Identity Politics, I support some of the goals of Intersectionality and am staunchly Pro-Trans rights and support harm reduction for Sex Workers under capitalism.
- Minimalism, especially when presented as thinking about the most “simple” or “straightforward” way of accomplishing tasks and reducing clutter. I use it as a tool to evaluate how my own desires have been hijacked by consumer capitalism, and quieten my brain which can get distracted very easily
Interests and Hobbies
This is a very brief run-down of some of my interests and hobbies outside of work and politics. There’s a lot here and to avoid misrepresenting myself as some sort of super-man I want to be clear that I am not doing all of these things constantly. I have a few foundational hobbies and interests that I do all the time as part of my day or week, and the others tend to orbit these and I dip in and out of them when I have the inclination, time, and energy.
- Archery – I got into Archery in 2023 by taking a beginner’s course at a local club and subsequently joining the club as a member. I own a beginner’s level recurve bow and am a member of a local archery club in South Tyneside, where I shoot when I can. I also enjoy watching various international archery competitions online such as the World Cup and the Olympics.
- Creative Writing – I really enjoy writing fiction and poetry. I mostly write for myself although my friend and I often meet to discuss writing and our projects. I haven’t tried to publish any of my work but I may post some on the internet before I die.
- Computing – I love computing and using computers to accomplish other goals and tasks. I have strong opinions about computing which you can read about on my computing page.
- Exercise and Physical Training – I love using my body and enjoy several types of excercise, although primarily Strength Training via Calisthenics, and mid-distance running. You can read more about my approach to exercise on my exercise page.
- Hiking – I fell in love with the mountains in the UK after a friend and mentor at Patchwork dragged me up one. I’ve been addicted ever since. Our ability to get to the hills and walk fluctuates with the seasons and our lives, but both my partner and I crave the mountains whenever we’re not visiting at least every week.
- Languages and Linguistics – I love learning (or trying to learn) languages, and this has developed into a casual interest in linguistics. I am fairly fluent in Esperanto after starting to learn it in 2020, and I speak to my daughter solely in Esperanto. I plan to be studying languages in some capacity until the day I die, as I find it so fun. You can read more about my interest in languages on my languages page.
- Reading – I read a lot. Well I did until my daughter was born. I inhale fiction, mostly science fiction and fantasy, and read lots of academic and professional articles around my interests too.
- Sailing – I adore sailing. I hold a Competent Crew qualification which basically amounts to knowing the ropes and being able to follow instructions properly when on a vessel. I haven’t sailed in some time, so I plan to refresh this and follow it through with more sailing qualifications in the future.
Trivia
- I’m bisexual – I won’t go into the gory details but I am attracted to both men and women and know this for certain. I don’t participate in much LGBTQ+ spaces or in Pride for no reason other than I prefer to direct my energy into broader politics and I dislike the corporate and police presence at Pride. I retain a label of bisexual because it is the most accurate description of my sexual and romantic preferences; I am still very supportive of trans and non-binary folks.
- I’m neurodivergent – I have a diagnosis of ADHD with a strong indication of ASD. This tracks with my lived experience. I’m patiently sitting in the diagnosis queue for ASD with the goal of having the diagnosis to request reasonable adjustments to future employers if I ever leave my current position. I am medicated for ADHD and while I was very sceptical about medications they have proved to be very effective in managing my counter-productive behaviours. I wish I didn’t have to be medicated and believe I would’ve been much more suited to living either in an advanced stage of Socialism or perhaps in a less-overstimulating era of the past where labour was more physical and less alienated. I’ll never know.
- I don’t eat mammals or gluten – I have Coeliac Disease which means I can’t eat gluten much so I try to avoid it. I also used to be pretty strictly pescetarian, but I’ve recently re-added chicken to my diet as I needed a dense source of extra protein to support repair from all my physical hobbies. My diet mostly consists of leaves and vegetables with fish and chicken as the main protein sources. My main sources of carbohydrates are white rice, potatoes and sweet potatoes, and other starchy vegetables. I am trying to shift towards eating more beans and pulses as a source of both protein and carbohydrates but haven’t got head for where the balance should be and they also tend to inlame my gut.