Back at the lab …

It’s been almost a week since the Edinburgh Festivals Innovation Lab announced that I was to be their first Geek in Residence. It’s an honour to be asked to participate in the festivals ecosystem here in Edinburgh, and I’ve been truly delighted by the warm welcome I’ve received.

But gardens aren’t made by sitting in the grass. I’m pleased to announce our new Projects site, on which we’ll be showcasing a series of digital projects and experiments around the festivals and Edinburgh itself. The first set of these are going to appear very soon, so keep checking back – and let us know if you have any great ideas for the kinds of things we should be building and providing. As part of my Geek in Residence role, I’ll be curating these projects, and actively engaging with both the digital and arts communities.

I come from an open source background, having co-founded Elgg, a popular social networking platform. More recently, I’ve written about the festivals for Central Station, co-organized a series of conferences on the future of publishing, and served as tech team leader for Latakoo. More than anything, I’m about creating technology that serves real, human needs, and bridging technology to new sectors. Edinburgh’s arts community is second to none; its digital community is going from strength to strength. I’m looking forward to working with both.

Photo: Vibration isolation system by Andra Mihali. Shared under a Creative Commons license.