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By Tom Watson in weeknote —

Weeknote 45

The importance of reflection, StackMap - a way to umm, map your stack, more work on TechFreedom, testing is good, oh shit moments, and the usual interesting things I've seen this week.

It's a short week, but a bit hectic cramming in as much as I can before hopefully taking a break. I'm hoping to head off in the van to Fontainebleau, the wonderful forest full of sandstone boulders and absolute sandbagging 'easy' grades. I need it. I feel thin, mentally.

What I did

  • Held a lovely reflection session for the Organisational Resilience cohort. I asked them what their win had been since we last met, there were so many good ones, big and small. Shifts in relationships, funding, health. It felt so nice that the trust has been built where people feel able to share things, but not just for show, it feels real. It's easy to skip things like reflection, there's so much more to be done. But there is real power in stopping and considering. Simple questions, deep thought.
  • Delivered the final docs and airtable base tidy up for the Digital Inclusion Mapping with T4GSW. The client seemed happy. I think there's a nice replicable taxonomy and structure that could work in other places around the country. People seemed to value the effort I'd gone to in scripting automated checks and built in mapping blocks.
  • Met with Doug to really clear up session two for our https://techfreedom.eu/ programme - it's really coming together I think. Doug put some solid effort in in creating a game and a deeper assessment dive. Come join the cohort!
  • I wrote a post about how this isn't just a nice thing to do, it's really the biggest thing not on your risk register and lots of 'oh shit' moments below.
TechFreedom — A clearer forecast for your organisation's digital future | Tom Watson
What will be your ‘oh sh*t’ moment? The whole #TechFreedom thing, its nice Tom, yeah we probably should but you know there’s more important stuff. I get it, some of the reasons for TechFreedom are the ‘nice’ things - like ethics and being values aligned. But honestly most of it is about the very real and boring stuff like risk. I define the things we look at as “the biggest risk that’s not on your risk register” - because I bet it’s not. But what risks? Well let me give you some examples.... Your provider can just... cut you off. In 2025, Microsoft blocked the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor from his own email account after the US imposed sanctions. All 900 staff were affected. The ICC has since announced it’s ditching Microsoft entirely for open-source alternatives. A single click can wipe years of work. A professor at the University of Cologne toggled off a data-sharing setting in ChatGPT and instantly lost two years of grant applications, teaching materials, and publication drafts. Permanently. OpenAI confirmed it couldn’t be recovered. https://lnkd.in/ewtZ3MFc Price increases you can’t escape. After Broadcom acquired VMware, customers reported price hikes of 800-1,500%. AT&T alleged a 1,050% increase. A Dutch government agency managing bridges and tunnels had to go to court just to get exit support. https://lnkd.in/erGAEh_B What about a little closer to home when Microsoft announced in 2025 it’s ending free grants for nonprofits - weeks of notice, no real alternative - anyone remember that? https://lnkd.in/e2aa5kAJ Your data isn’t yours if it’s in someone else’s country. Microsoft France’s own chief legal counsel admitted under oath that they cannot refuse a US government demand for data hosted in France. Even this post, it’s in Linkedin - there’s no easy way to get this out again except copy and paste. Yes that’s right, all your posts, content. There’s an api in...but there’s no API out. I could go on, every 2nd email these days is an organisation changing their terms & conditions ...have you read them??? I bet you wouldn’t like it if you did. None of these are edge cases. They’re the new normal. #TechFreedom isn’t about purity. This stuff is real, and a bit hard yeah. That’s why we are running the TechFreedom programme. Not for cash, blimey I could find easier ways of making money. It’s about making sure your organisation can still function when one of these happens to you, not if, when. If any of this is ringing alarm bells, that’s kind of the point. Come join us before the ‘oh sh*t’ moment arrives. Have a look at techfreedom.eu.
LinkedInTom Watson
  • I did some updates and brought in the TechFreedom risk assessment and a few other updates and put StackMap out into the wild. It's a tool to, umm, map your stack. It helps you map out the tools you use, what services they support, if and how they connect and who owns them. It's all in browser, so no data goes anywhere. You can export in CSV, JSON, .MD and image files.

You use the free tool below and the repo here

Stackmap — Map your organisation’s technology
A free, open source tool that helps charities, social enterprises, and councils map their technology — systems, costs, risks, and who’s responsible — in about an hour.
StackmapThe Good Ship and Tomcw.xyz
  • I did more work on the Race Report data platform. Have now given it over for feedback. A fair few minor issues, which is what testing is for. But on the whole they are super pleased with it and I think it will make a massive difference to them and the people contributing data.
  • Had to spend a fair bit of time on some trustee related stuff this week.

Met with Jo and Charlotte (who i'd not seen in so long, so it was good to catch up in general) about the now slightly viral post I wrote called The Grant Application Is Dead. What Comes Next?. I've spent a bit of time thinking on all the things others have said and showed me, and I've got a bit of a more technical post and sketched out architecture, building on some existing protocols and standards, and the things that are actually used and useful. I'm going to come back to it with a fresh mind after a break, but I think there is something there.

And that's about it I think. I'll likely skip next weeks weeknote, unless I just call it the pastry edition...which clearly would be my most viewed post ever. If I come back I see you all after.

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