Board member: Welcome Tariq!

Tariq Khokhar joins us as the new Chair of our board of trustees. With his extensive background in both international development and technology, we know he’ll be a driving force behind DataKind’s activities and mission.

Can you tell us about your background and your current role as Head of Data for Science and Health at Wellcome Trust?

These days, I describe myself as a nerd in the public interest. I’ve spent the majority of my career applying data and technology in the international development sector.

To give you a flavour — I’ve written software to compress web pages so they work over low-bandwidth internet connections; helped governments in low- and middle-income countries design to launch and run open government data initiatives; and co-authored a book of data visualisations showing progress countries are making in achieving the SDGs. I’ve had the privilege of working with incredibly talented people to use the tools of technology, finance, policy, and communication with the goal of improving people’s lives.

I joined the Wellcome Trust in December last year to lead a new programme on Data for Science and Health. Our goal is to see trustworthy data science transform how we solve urgent health challenges facing everyone. For example, this could look like new ways of using data to understand mental health interventions for young people living with anxiety and depression, or making better use of data on antibiotic use in East Africa to develop practices to combat antimicrobial resistance.

Fundamentally, we’ve realized that data and software are now central to the future of the scientific endeavor, and we have to invest in the tools and talents of data scientists and research software engineers in the long term.

What led to your interest in social sector data use?

Volunteering played a large role in the direction my career took, and it’s one of the reasons I’m so enthusiastic about DataKind.

While I was a student, I volunteered with Engineers Without Borders UK to work as a software engineer with an NGO called Aidworld. We were then building better communication tools for aid workers who struggled to access vital data and information over slow satellite phones when working in environments like refugee camps.

Since then, I’ve seen hundreds of examples where better use of data lets social sector organisations see problems clearly, create better solutions to those problems, and understand whether their work is making a difference or not. Today, more organisations need to be able to draw on the expertise of data professionals to achieve their missions — DataKind plays a valuable role in meeting this need.

What excites you about your new role as DataKind UK board member?

I’m lucky to have known DataKind for the last 10 years. When I joined my first DataDive at the World Bank in Washington DC, it was clear that the core idea of matching the talents of data scientists with well-scoped problems in the social sector was both essential and ahead of its time.

Today I’m excited to be both a champion for DataKind’s work in the UK and to work with the rest of DataKind’s fantastic board, staff, and volunteers to build on the team’s success to date. I’m especially looking forward to helping the organisation develop its new strategy over the coming months.

What else are you passionate about?

It’s a total middle-aged male cliche, but I do like cycling. Depending on who you ask, I have an embarrassing or wholly appropriate number of bikes, and when I lived in the USA I rode about 20 miles to work every day for seven years. That means I’ve cycled the equivalent of the Earth’s circumference at least once.

I also enjoy learning about the history of science. I live in Stroud, which today may be known as the home of Extinction Rebellion, but about 200 years ago, Edward Jenner was developing the world’s first vaccine against smallpox down the road from my house. While he’s often called the “father of immunology”, it’s possible to trace the related practice of variolation (then called inoculation) against smallpox back at least a century to parts of the Ottoman Empire.