Tom Steinberg

An international non-profit group that aims at helping people become more powerful in the civic and democratic parts of their lives through digital means, mySociety runs the popular UK transparency websites, TheyWorkForYou and WhatDoTheyKnow, and the problem-fixing sites, FixMyStreet and FixMyTransport. It also builds open source software to enable international re-use of mySociety’s projects.

Tom’s job is to help ensure that mySociety’s UK sites are as helpful as possible to the people who need them, to enable and encourage overseas groups to deploy their own versions, and to supply products and consulting services to media companies, campaign groups and public sector clients.
Tom’s interest in technology and government comes from an unusual background in both fields. Having worked as a sysadmin and junior think-tank researcher, he became a policy analyst at the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit from 2001 to 2003.

Outside of mySociety, Tom is frequently asked by governments to help formulate policy advice relating to digital issues. Tom has also advised governments and parties across a spectrum of countries, and a range of ideological positions. He believes that good digital government services, usable community tools and powerful transparency sites are not the preserve of any one political ideology.