The OCSI team

Dr. Tom Smith, Managing Director Tom is co-founder and Director of Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion (OCSI), with extensive experience in helping public sector organisations to use information effectively for policy and decision-making. He is an IDeA Local Improvement Advisor, supporting senior management in local partnerships in building analytic capacity and strengthening performance management, a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, and currently sits on the External Advisory Group for the Audit Commission "Use of Information" programme. With a background in University research, Tom has worked with a wide range of academic, public and commercial organisations, and has led projects to develop and analyse the evidence base for policy-making with more than 60 public sector clients at local, regional and national levels.

David Avenell, Director David is co-founder of OCSI, and specialist in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), GIS database development, algorithm design and applications development. He has extensive experience of managing GIS implementation within Local and Central Government, and coordinating GIS services provided by a number of commercial consultancies. Since 1993, David has worked as principal GIS consultant to the Social Disadvantage Research Centre at Oxford University, providing analysis and mapping for projects including the Indices of Deprivation, New Deal for Communities and the 2001 Census Research Programme.

Michael Noble, Director Michael is co-founder of OCSI, and Professor of Social Policy at the Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Oxford, and Director of the Social Disadvantage Research Centre and the Centre for Analysis of South African Social Policy. His major research interests are in the areas of poverty and social exclusion, housing and homelessness and income maintenance policy. He is an advisor to the UK government on small area indicators of poverty and deprivation, and is currently working with the South African Government on developing the evidence base for pro-poor policy. He is an acknowledged international authority in research on poverty and deprivation, receiving an OBE in the New Year Honours 2001.

Rosemary Westbrook, Non-executive Director Rosemary is Corporate Director of Housing at Westminster City Council, and previously Director of Housing and Services at Slough Borough Council. Rosemary was appointed to the OCSI Board in February 2004, bringing over twenty years experience at senior level in the public sector to the OCSI management team.

Stefan Noble, OCSI Researcher Stefan has wide experience of using and analysing administrative data for area-based deprivation projects. He leads on identifying and assessing indicators for the CLG Data for Neighbourhoods and Regeneration (Data4nr) project, as well as modelling key datasets such as the Indices of Deprivation down to Output Area level. He has carried out analysis for a wide range of local area studies as well as regional and national level projects. He was part of the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007 and 2004 development teams.

Dr. Emma Scott, Project Coordinator Emma is OCSI Project Coordinator, and manages the 'Planning4care' project, as well as supporting delivery of all OCSI projects. Emma's background is in social sciences - her Ph.D. explored the differences between the Indian and UK IT sectors, with a focus on gender.

Graham Lally, Technical Consultant Prior to OCSI, Graham worked as a technical developer for five years on a diverse range of projects, including several for Local Government and for the European Commission. He completed a Masters in Science and Technology Policy at the University of Sussex, before joining OCSI as Technical Analyst where he is responsible for technical development within OCSI projects.

Elisabetta Marinelli, Research Associate Elisabetta is an economist by training, currently studying for her Ph.D on regional inequality in Italy and the UK. As an associate she contributes to the team through her quantitative expertise, analysing large datasets through advanced statistical techniques.