Young Scot Data Advisory Group
In partnership with the Data Lab, we’ve created our Data Advisory Group (DAG) – to support us to use our data to improve how we deliver products and services to Scotland’s young people.
The group’s purpose is to help us create ideas for data projects; prioritise our data projects; give us technical advice and connect us to new network/partners.
We are thrilled that so many data professionals and young people with an interest in data were keen to volunteer their time to support us. Our DAG members have a breadth of experience, diversity of thought, background, industry and geography. We are incredibly thankful for their support and are looking forward to working closely with them in the future.
Our DAG members are:
Fraser Macdonald, Chair, is Deputy Director at Data for Children Collaborative and a member of the Young Scot board. Fraser is also the 2023 DataIQ national ‘Data for Good’ champion. Based within The Data Lab, the Collaborative is an ambitious programme aimed at using data to improve the outcomes for children locally, nationally, and globally. Fraser has developed and led a broad portfolio of data and AI projects, bringing extensive knowledge in cross-sector engagement and multi-partner collaborations. He has worked with UK and international research communities, designing and delivering innovation initiatives across public, private, and third sectors. You can follow Fraser on Twitter.
Surya Ramesh, is a Data Consultant and Trainer with over a decade of experience working with young apprentices, from her previous teaching career. After transitioning to the field of data with an MSc in Data Science, she has focused on various data topics such as Data Literacy, Data Visualisation and Storytelling, Data Analytics, and Machine Learning. She is passionate about empowering young people by introducing them to the potential of working with data at an early age. Surya aims to contribute her perspective as a Data Scientist, STEM Ambassador, and parent to this group. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.
Dr Mhairi Aitken is an Ethics Fellow in the Public Policy Programme at The Alan Turing Institute (the UK’s national institute for data science and AI). Mhairi’s research examines social and ethical dimensions of digital innovation. At the Alan Turing Institute Mhairi leads research on AI and children’s rights, as well as working across a range of topics including data justice, ethics of Generative AI and emerging AI policy and regulation. You can find out more about Dr Aitken here.
Dr Kevin Guyan (he/him) is the author of Queer Data: Using Gender, Sex and Sexuality Data for Action (Bloomsbury, 2022) and a Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Edinburgh Business School. He is currently writing his second book, which explores queer encounters with different classification systems in the UK, from hate crime reporting to dating apps.
Alessandra Fassio is a data and AI ethics specialist, with experience designing and deploying ethical frameworks and strategies in data-driven environments. She is currently the Senior Data Ethicist at the Ministry of Justice UK, where she leads on the department’s data ethics strategy across the prison, probation and courts teams. Prior to joining the Ministry of Justice, Alessandra worked at the Data for Children Collaborative where she was responsible for their ethical innovation process. She has also participated in various Scottish Government data ethics initiatives, including the Data & Intelligence Network ethics framework and the independent report: ‘Building trust in the digital era.’
Alessandra holds an MA (Hons) Philosophy and an MSc Mind, Language and Embodied Cognition from the University of Edinburgh.
Alex Anstruther is an interdisciplinary student and part time data scientist at The London Interdisciplinary School and Winning Scotland, respectively. At Winning Scotland, Alex works to strengthen the communities that support the young people growing up in Scotland.
Julie Edington works for the Improvement Service. She works in the Digital Public Services (DPS) team and her role as Business Development Manager involves a wide spectrum from offering solutions to business problems to showcasing the ever-growing catalogue of digital products available to Scottish Local Government and the wider public sector. The DPS team strives to help councils and partners deliver high-quality digital public services aimed at producing efficiency savings, providing sustainable frontline local services and better customer experiences. She’s passionate about Digital technology and user-centric design and she works with Local Authorities & partners all across Scotland. Most of her career has been spent in central government but in the last couple of years she has joined the local government family.
Emma Nylk is the founder of East Neuk Analytics, which supports headteachers to improve their data literacy through training and bespoke tools for their schools. She is passionate about supporting teachers to improve their confidence in their data led decision-making, thereby giving them more time to spend with the children and young people in their school. You can follow East Neuk Analytics on Twitter.
Tash Ayton is a data consultant primarily focusing on the public sector and policing clients. She has a wide experience across data strategy and analytics and is an advocate for transparency and ethics in the use of data. Tash is also passionate about young people and often acts as a mentor for both school and university students.
Tristan Henderson is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of St Andrews and serves as the Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance representative on the DAG. He has worked in the broad area of data and measurement for over two decades, involving large-scale network measurements, privacy and security, data archiving and data sharing. His current research interests revolve around data protection and data ethics and in particular how technology, ethics and the law can jointly regulate behaviour. As part of this he teaches a popular module at St Andrews named "Data Ethics & Privacy". You can find Tristan on the Fediverse.
Robbie Nicoll is a Research Officer for the Office for National Statistics supporting the integration of administrative data sources into population, migration and demographic statistics. He has engaged with national, devolved and local government stakeholders on improving data quality and research sharing as part of this role. He previously graduated with a Masters in Political Research which focused on using emerging methods of engaging with text data. He is very passionate about supporting enhanced data literacy to better inform decision-making across all sectors.
Moryam Akanji is a medical student at the University of Glasgow and has volunteered with Young Scot, initially on the Education Recovery Panel during her fifth year of secondary school, and continued volunteering in other panels. She greatly enjoys learning about digital media, particularly related to young people and ensuring they are included in conversations regarding digital literacy to practice safe internet usage. Most recently, she was invited to speak at the Scottish AI Summit on Ethics and Young People.
Kenneth MacKinnon has over 10 years of experience as an Enterprise Data Architect across a number of financial services organisations formulating business and technical strategies and providing advice to senior stakeholders. He also has experience with parent councils, previously chairing 2 parent councils in the Falkirk area and currently volunteering as Vice Chair of Falkirk Area Parent Forum. He is also the Falkirk area representative to the National Parent Forum of Scotland. You can follow Kenneth on Twitter.