Hadley Beeman

Hadley Beeman

@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

Architect for #openstandards, the Web and barcodes of all types. Tech policy. Ex-UK gov. Active in GS1, NHS & W3C. @hadleybeeman@w3c.social

3.1K followers120 following299 posts

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

There will be somebody responsible for the NATS outage that has disrupted 1,000 flights today. And I feel for them. Their code, systems, or assurance processes appear to have failed — and that’s awful. (And I say this as someone who is stranded at a foreign airport, keen to get home.) BUT.

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

As an industry, we have layers of defences against this. Code review. Testing environments. Independent safety assurance. Redundancy. Failover. Rollback. Incident-response procedures. This shouldn’t be happening in 2026.

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

These are the questions I hope Heidi Alexander is asking Martin Rolfe. A failure with a recovery time measured in seconds… it’s manageable. The failure isn’t the problem. Why was this recovery lasting hours and days? What became so complicated? What processes and practices WEREN’T in place?

Hadley Beeman reposted

Brian Kardell
@bkardell.com

📢 Ever wondered why the Web is the way it is, or who decides where it goes next? The W3C TAG and Van have organized an open panel in #Vancouver 🇨🇦 next week, on 9 September: "Ask the Web Platform Anything" Bring your questions, ideas and wishes for the Web. Free to attend: luma.com/nxgs9837

luma.comVanJS × W3C TAG: Ask the Web Platform Anything · LumaEver wondered why the web is the way it is — or who decides where it goes next? The W3C's Technical Architecture Group (TAG) is a group of 12 people tasked…
Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

Between her Covid vaccine finding, her literacy efforts and of course her music, I feel like we’ve lost both a friend and the best kind of leader. What a legacy to leave. RIP Dolly Parton

Bo Thompson@gaudipern.bsky.social

(1/3) With Dolly Parton's passing, I want to put good words on the wind for her. Feel free to quote reply with your own. Dolly became the single largest donor for the Moderna COVID vaccine because of a chance encounter and friendship with a Vanderbilt researcher Dr. Naji Abumrad years earlier. She

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

Not good! Having a gov dept for tech means it gets •Cabinet-level focus •the priority from Treasury •the resources (people) to plug tech into other Depts’ agendas If DSIT is merged with another dept—tech gets lost in the shuffle…along with UK’s global leadership in tech. www.ft.com/content/fec8...

ft.comBurnham eyes Jonathan Reynolds to lead beefed-up business departmentIncoming prime minister discussing plans to give ministry more powers over science policy
Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

To be clear, there is lots of other stuff in this article that I think is great, and I do rate Jonathan Powell. I don’t know if he’d be up for it, but he would be a solid choice to head the Tech/Science/Innovation agenda.

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

[With vibe coding] “Standards do not get softer just because building gets easier. In fact, they become more load-bearing.” Sing it, @bmwelby.bsky.social. This is 100% true. Standards are what makes that vibe code work with anything else. It’s where the vibe-coded app becomes useful in the world.

Alex@blangry.bsky.social

This might be the most sensible thing I've read in months.

Hadley Beeman reposted

Rhodri Marsden
@rhodri.biz

Replying to @rhodri.biz

Unbelievably, #DuvetKnowItsChristmas generates such good will on social media that over the years we've raised somewhere approaching a quarter of a million quid for homeless charities. If you can spare a bob or two, sling some to Centrepoint, and here's the link: www.gofundme.com/f/duvet-know...

gofundme.comDonate to Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2025, organized by Rhodri MarsdenUnbelievably, it's the 15th year of this thing. What is it? Improbably, the nig… Rhodri Marsden needs your support for Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2025

Hadley Beeman reposted

Rhodri Marsden
@rhodri.biz

This is the 15th year of #DuvetKnowItsChristmas, which is preposterous. Rules: if you find yourself dealing with unusual / claustrophobic / gaudy sleeping arrangements this Christmas Eve, share a picture with the world. Use the hashtag (with capitalisation) and cc me if you can be bothered.

Hadley Beeman reposted

Jonty Wareing
@jonty.bsky.social

Replying to @jonty.bsky.social

Thanks to @rhodri.biz for the inspiration, after running #duvetknowitschristmas for a decade. I'll be reposting the best ones throughout the evening. Tell me your nightmares.

Hadley Beeman reposted

Jonty Wareing
@jonty.bsky.social

Along with #duvetknowitschrismas, time for a new yearly tradition: #ITschristmas, where we share IT support horror stories from helping family over Christmas. Here's mine to start:

Jonty Wareing@jonty.bsky.social

Time between walking through my relatives door and fixing a tech issue that has been "driving them mad": 8 minutes. The TV was in demo mode. It has been in demo mode for several months.

Hadley Beeman reposted

UK Health Camp
@ukhealthcamp.bsky.social

We’re looking for a venue partner who can help with physical space to support this open, community-driven, and free-to-attend event. 🗓️ When: A Saturday in Spring 2026 (Flexible) 👥 Size: 100-120 people 📍 Where: Accessible UK location, ideally Leeds Please get in touch! ukhealthcamp.com/venue

ukhealthcamp.comUK Health Camp the free ‘unconference’ on digital, design and data for health and careCome and enjoy a full day having conversations about #health, #digital, #nhs, and more. Register at ukhealthcamp.com
Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

I have a new job. To explain it, let me tell you a story. Have you ever been in the hospital, or with a family member in the hospital, when all the chaos is surrounding you — the busy nurses, the other patients talking, the machines going beep-beep-beep, the occasional… 1/

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Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

I’m based in GS1’s Global Office, the standards body for barcodes. And I’m working with a phenomenal community of working groups, experts, and industry leaders. It’s an honour to be joining them. 10/10

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

I have a new job. To explain it, let me tell you a story. Have you ever been in the hospital, or with a family member in the hospital, when all the chaos is surrounding you — the busy nurses, the other patients talking, the machines going beep-beep-beep, the occasional… 1/

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Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

And it is how this stuff gets written into laws and regulations. And it’s not just linear, “zebra-striped” barcodes — it’s also 2D barcodes like QR codes and GS1 DataMatrix, RFID tags and NFC. And globally unique identifiers. 7/

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

This is more than how things work now. The future we’re all working on, where AI safely revolutionises our daily lives… that’s only possible when we can identify — in our software and algorithms — each of the things we’re talking about. The products, the parcels, the prescriptions. 8/

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

I have a new job. To explain it, let me tell you a story. Have you ever been in the hospital, or with a family member in the hospital, when all the chaos is surrounding you — the busy nurses, the other patients talking, the machines going beep-beep-beep, the occasional… 1/

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Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

So that’s my new job. I’m the system architect for the standards around barcodes, which means that everything from how they get encoded (how a number becomes those zebra stripes or QR code etc) through to what info goes in them so it can go beep at the bedside or cash register. 5/

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

And it includes how the numbers in the code can be turned into a web address, linking the physical world with the virtual. It’s not just healthcare, it’s shopping at the supermarket, it’s buying clothes online, it’s shipping stuff around the world. Supply chains. Logistics. 6/

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

I have a new job. To explain it, let me tell you a story. Have you ever been in the hospital, or with a family member in the hospital, when all the chaos is surrounding you — the busy nurses, the other patients talking, the machines going beep-beep-beep, the occasional… 1/

View full thread
Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

It’s a scary moment, easy to feel powerless. And the stakes feel high. But then the nurse comes to take observations, and scans the wrist band. Beep! Medications are scanned before they’re put in that tiny paper cup. Beep! 3/

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

The phlebotomist takes blood, and attaches barcodes to the vial. (That will beep in the lab.) And I know everything is going to be okay. The people and things in the real world are connected to the electronic records by those barcodes. It gives me a massive sense of relief. 4/

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

I have a new job. To explain it, let me tell you a story. Have you ever been in the hospital, or with a family member in the hospital, when all the chaos is surrounding you — the busy nurses, the other patients talking, the machines going beep-beep-beep, the occasional… 1/

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

…sirens outside — and wondered, “How will we get the right medication? Are we sure those are our test results? How will they know who it is in this bed?” I have. And I have wondered all those things. And thought about the consequences if they go wrong. 2/

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

Starting day 1 of the W3C/IETF TAG & IAB workshop on Age-Based Restrictions on Content Access. Adult content, alcohol, social media restrictions, advertising/tracking…We’re looking at the technical and architectural choices in solutions.

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

Do I know anyone who publishes children’s books? A close friend has inherited several wonderful books originally published in the 1960s, and they’d like to bring them back to the world. Can anyone help?

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

This is such a shock. Nick was one of the most human, funniest (often inappropriately so), and kindest people I know. He often reminds me (reminded? reminded) me that it’s not about the tech, it’s about the people. What a loss to our world. Thank you for many years of everything, Nick.

Lloyd Davis@lloyddavis.eurosky.social

I lost a dear friend, a most generous soul. We've all lost a fine blogger, podcaster and community builder. perfectpath.co.uk/2025/04/16/n...

perfectpath.co.ukNick Booth (1965-2025)I was going to write something on Facebook, but Nick was a blogger and so this belongs here. I heard this afternoon that my dear friend Nick Booth died yesterday after a fall at the weekend. It&#82…

Hadley Beeman reposted

Trish Greenhalgh
@trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social

Looking for good teaching material: case study from a low or middle-income country of a healthcare innovation that was successfully adopted and transformed patient outcomes. Got some old examples, looking for a recent one. THANKS if you can suggest. #healthpolicy #digitalhealth

Hadley Beeman
@hadleybeeman.bsky.social

One of the best parts of Christmas… it’s #duvetKnowItsChristmas A laugh about where we are sleeping tonight, and a few pennies for those who don’t have a bed. Merry merry, all 🎄

Rhodri Marsden@rhodri.biz

So I'll be back around then. We'll be trying to raise a bit of money for Centrepoint, bearing in mind that there are a bunch of people who have nowhere to go this evening. gofund.me/637d21d0 ENDS FOR NOW 🎄🛏️

gofund.meDonate to Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2024, organized by Rhodri MarsdenUnbelievably, it's the 14th year of this thing. What is it? Improbably, the nig… Rhodri Marsden needs your support for Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2024

Hadley Beeman reposted

Rachel Coldicutt
@rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social

If you run an indie or community web service of some kind and are worried about the incoming Online Safety compliance duties, we’ve put together a @carefultrouble.bsky.social mailing list and been in touch with Ofcom to see if they’ll do some engagement buttondown.com/indie-and-co...

buttondown.comIndie and Community Web ComplianceTl;dr not really a newsletter, but an informal community list for indie and community web makers who want to maintain a vibrant Web that works for everyone :-) Before 16 March 2025, UK providers of “...