Benjamin Barnard

Head of Technology Policy

Benjamin Barnard leads Policy Exchange’s research into Technology and the Digital Economy. He joined Policy Exchange in July 2019 after graduating from Christ Church, Oxford with a First Class degree in History. Prior to joining Policy Exchange, he has worked in a variety of roles in Westminster including for a senior Cabinet Minister, a leading public affairs agency and for a number of technology companies.

Daylight Robbery

by Benjamin Barnard | Jul 11, 2020

Related Content Uncovering the true cost of public sector fraud in the age of COVID-19 Research by Policy Exchange finds that fraud and error during the COVID-19 crisis will cost the UK Government in the region of £4.6 billion. The lower bound for the cost of fraud...

The policy implications of the NHS’s covid-19 contact tracing app

by Benjamin Barnard | May 5, 2020

Related Content Digital contact tracing looks set to dominate the political agenda for the coming weeks, if not months. Without a vaccine, and in the absence of widespread population immunity, the only methods to stop the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 are those of...

FinTech for All

by Benjamin Barnard | Jan 14, 2020

Related Content Ensuring that everyone benefits from innovative financial services Why do 1.23 million people lack access to a bank account? What can be done to help the 10 million people who rely on non-standard credit? How can the Government ensure that everybody...

How to transform the Government’s digital leadership

by Benjamin Barnard | Jan 3, 2020

Related Content The call from the Prime Minister’s Senior Adviser, Dominic Cummings, for “data scientists, project managers, policy experts and assorted weirdos” has sent heads spinning in Westminster and on Twitter. But what does this mean in practice and where...

Whitehall Reimagined

by Benjamin Barnard | Dec 29, 2019

Related Content A strengthened Civil Service for a post-Brexit Britain The Government should use the opportunity of the stability created by the election result to reform the civil service to make it more democratically accountable and better able to deliver on the...