Code The City currently has five trustees.
Ian Watt
(Co-founder, Trustee)
Ian is an active champion of Open Data, having led Aberdeen City Council to be the first Scottish Local Authority to publish any open data. Ian won two national UK awards in 2013: SOCITM Member of the year and the UK Local Government Category of 2013’s Digital Leaders 50. Ian was one of the author’s of Scottish Government’s Open Data Strategy 2015. Ian, an active trainer for Wikimedia UK, was shortlisted in their awards in 2019 and 2020. He was shortlisted in the Open UK awards 2021. Ian was a non-exec director of Democracy Club from Nov 2017 to Sept 2022. He has written extensively about open data, including a paper, as lead author, for the David Hume Institute.
Bruce Scharlau
(Co-founder, Trustee)
Bruce is Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Computing Science at the University of Aberdeen. He is very active in the community, organising events throughout the year including Play4Agile and facilitating the open space at agile events.
Karen Jewell
(Trustee 2021 – )
Karen is a Data Scientist and former Business Analyst, with plenty of experience in using data to solve organisational challenges. She is based in Edinburgh and thoroughly enjoys the highly collaborative nature of Open Source projects.
Jack Gilmore
(Trustee 2022 – )
Jack is a full stack software developer with experience of working in the public sector and academia. He graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Computing Science and Spanish from the University of Stirling in 2019. As an advocate of free and open-source software, many of the projects he has worked on either consume or produce open data. Jack took a lead role in creating and developing Open Data Scotland (for which won the Young Person award at the 2022 Open UK awards). He also makes use of his skills with GIS datasets, helping to create OpenWasteMap, a web application which uses data from OpenStreetMap to display recycling centre locations, their accepted materials and opening hours.
Steve Shearman
(Trustee, October 2023 – )
Steve brings a balanced blend of technological know-how and business insight to Code The City. Known for guiding start-ups on their journey from initial concepts towards commercial viability, his expertise will be a valuable resource for those involved in the charity’s diverse tech initiatives.
With a broad network and boundless energy, Steve is well-positioned to help Code The City secure essential resources from across the business community. His experience can offer a fresh perspective on harnessing external support, aligning well with the charity’s need for sustainable growth.
His practical approach to problem-solving resonates with the charity’s mission to utilise technology for societal benefit. Steve’s commercial strategy know-how will also enhance Code The City’s ongoing efforts in open data advocacy and educational outreach.
Former Trustees
Andrew Sage
(Co-founder. Trustee to October 2023)
Andrew, a graduate from University of Aberdeen, is a developer and creative with an interest in rapidly turning ideas into workable prototypes. Currently undertaking a part time distance PhD in Business Management History, via University of York, looking at 1970s Megaprojects. Completed a MA in Railway Studies via University of York. As a historian he enjoys finding ways to use data to bring the past to life.
Pauline Cairns
(Trustee 2021 – 2022)
Pauline enjoys using code to analyse data with the aim of providing new insights into the data through the use of visualisations. Being curious in nature, Pauline is always interested in hearing stories of how people are using data to solve problems.
Steve Milne
(Co-founder. Trustee to July 2020)
Steve is Head of Digital at Fifth Ring delivering b2b digital marketing and creation of web properties. He is passionate about lifelong learning, digital empowerment and design. He is also quite tall.
Code The City 