Ellen Broad

I’m a data policy wonk and data tinkerer, who moved back to Australia in September 2016 after working in London, the Hague and Paris.

While in the UK I was Head of Policy for the Open Data Institute, an international organisation headquartered in London and co-founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, and Sir Nigel Shadbolt, a leading expert in artificial intelligence. I also worked for a senior UK Cabinet Minister as expert adviser on data.

Since moving back to Australia I have held roles leading the technical program within CSIRO’s Data61 developing API standards and software to support implementation of the Australian Government’s Consumer Data Right, and as an Associate Professor with Distinguished Professor Genevieve Bell’s 3A Institute, and subsequently the School of Cybernetics at the Australian National University. I have also worked as an independent consultant for a range of organisations, including CSIRO’s Data61, federal and state government departments and universities. Since 2022 I have been working for the Australian Government.

I write about artificial intelligence, open data, data ethics and privacy in various places. Some are linked to from my blog. I’ve been published in Harper’s Bazaar, The Guardian, the New Scientist, Griffith Review, the Royal Statistical Society’s StatsLife, the Australian Centre for Ethics and a range of technology and policy publications. I also speak about data issues in various settings in Australia and overseas, including for ABC Radio National, ABC News Breakfast, at SXSW and Australian writing and science festivals. In 2018 my first book, Made by Humans: The AI Condition was released by Melbourne University Publishing.

I like science fiction films, board games and pop music and I like incorporating these into data-related work wherever I can. I even co-designed a board game about open data with Jeni Tennison that’s been picked up in 19 countries.

I’m on hiatus from writing and publishing at the moment, but am looking forward to returning to it in the future. I am not monitoring messages through this website closely while on hiatus.