Inaugural data and analytics engineering conference
Ministry of Justice hosts the first in-person Cross-Government Data Engineering Conference
In July 2025, the Ministry of Justice, in partnership with Amazon Web Services (Amazon Web Services) and Made Tech, brought together the UK Government’s data engineering community for its first in-person cross-government conference. Hosted at the Amazon Web Services office in London and the Made Tech office in Manchester, the event welcomed 115 data engineers from departments including the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Education, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Companies House and many more, for a day of collaboration, technical insight and community building.
Opening with impact: Keynotes from both cities
The conference opened with powerful keynote addresses in both locations. In London, Hugh Stickland, the Ministry of Justice’s Chief Data Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser, emphasised the strategic importance of data and the evolving role of data engineering in supporting better services and smarter policymaking.
In Manchester, Anis Khan, Head of Data Engineering at the Ministry of Justice, reflected on the exponential growth of the department’s analytics engineering and data engineering capability. He described how data now drives strategic decisions, even as teams navigate the complexity of modernising legacy systems and embracing new technologies.
Across both talks, one clear message stood out:
“Data engineering is the backbone of modern data governance, not a back-office function.”
This sentiment set the tone for a conference that recognised the data engineering profession as central to public service transformation.
Exploring the future: A panel discussion across both sites
After the keynotes, both venues hosted engaging panel discussions themed around:
“How has data engineering changed over the last five years, and where is it headed in the next five?”
Curated by the Collaboration & Engagement Squad (Priya Basker, Supratik Chowdhury and Lalitha Nagarur), the panels featured senior leaders and Heads of Data Engineering who shared insights into the profession’s evolution, its challenges, and opportunities for the future.
London Panel Members:
- Calum Barnett – Head of Data Engineering, Ministry of Justice UK
- Soumaya Mauthoor – Head of Data Engineering, Department for Business and Trade
- Deepak Shukla – Leadership in Data and AI, Amazon Web Services
- Francesca Bryden – Head of Data Engineering, Department for Transport (DfT)
Manchester Panel Members:
- Anis Khan – Head of Data Engineering, Ministry of Justice
- Martyn Lane – Head of Data Engineering, HMRC
- Peter Mylward – Principal Consultant, Made Tech
The discussion covered:
- Managing complex toolsets and transitioning from ETL to ELT
- Improving data quality and testing practices at scale
- Creating governance models that empower rather than hinder
- Attracting talent and embedding engineering earlier in delivery
There was strong consensus: data engineers are no longer behind the scenes — they are building the foundations of trusted, intelligent services.
Sharing ideas and inspiration
London Highlights
Speakers from across government and industry presented real-world case studies and technical insights:
- Department for Education – David Nelson, Chris Brown and Stuart Baillie on modernising data platforms using Databricks’ medallion architecture on Azure, with reusable tools for granular data access.
- Amazon Web Services – Greg Knowles showcased zero-ETL pipelines powered by Generative AI for real-time data transformation and efficiency gains.
- Department for Work and Pensions – Will Wilson presented a secure, container-based deployment pipeline improving compliance and deployment speed.
- Nuclear Decommissioning Authority – Carl Dalby delivered “No Data = No AI”, showing how unlocking structured legacy data enables advanced analytics and AI.
Manchester Highlights
The sessions examined the evolving landscape of data engineering in government with a particular focus on real-world delivery, modern tooling, and collaboration.
- Ministry of Justice - Anis Khan, reflected on the exponential growth of the Ministry of Justice’s Data and Analytics Engineering practice, highlighting how data now drives strategy despite the challenges of embracing new technologies.
- Ministry of Justice - Supratik Chowdhury, Laurence Droy and Matt Heery – Explored how the Ministry of Justice is using DLT to reduce technical debt, streamline processes and simplify data workflows.
- HMRC - Martyn Lane, explained how HMRC is transforming user access to data through Denodo-powered data virtualisation. He emphasised the role of strong data quality and governance in unlocking value at scale.
- Companies House - Myles Richardson, presented the work Companies House has undertaken to create a cloud-based analytics platform, aimed at improving data accessibility, self-serve reporting, and strategic insights.
- Made Tech & Ministry of Justice - Luke Williams (Made Tech) and Matt Heery (the Ministry of Justice), shared the ongoing efforts to modernise compliance systems like SARs and EARs, with a focus on the role of better data infrastructure in enabling meaningful compliance insights.
- Amazon Web Services - Joy Andrews, led a technical session on evaluating Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines using Bedrock, LangChain and Ragas, giving teams a practical approach to assessing AI-driven pipeline performance.
Building a profession together
The day wasn’t just informative, it was energising. Many attendees commented on the strong sense of community and openness:
“I just wanted to say a massive thank you … I’d love for us to do more of them as a community in the future.”
Sam Taylor, Head of Engineering, Competition & Markets Authority
“Each talk was thoroughly engaging and thought-provoking … Huge thanks to Amazon Web Services for hosting us …”
Hannah Goode, Senior Data Engineer, Office for National Statistics
“It was incredibly useful and valuable to hear first-hand the work going on across government…”
David Nelson, Lead Data Engineer, Department for Education
“I thoroughly enjoyed participating … such an engaging event.”
Rhea Mirchandani, Data Scientist, Bank of England
The event helped reveal a shared sense of purpose. Discussions about data mesh, automation, reusable tools, and modern architecture felt collaborative—more like building a profession across government rather than individual departmental efforts.
What’s next?
This was just the beginning. The energy, engagement, and shared ambition of the day showed how valuable cross-government collaboration is. the Ministry of Justice is proud to have hosted this milestone event and looks forward to supporting future opportunities to connect, share and build the cross-government data engineering community.
Interested in joining? The x‑Gov Data Engineering network is open to new members. Contact the organising team to find out more or get involved in future events.
A big thank you to Priya Basker, Supratik Chowdhury, and Lalitha Nagarur from the Collaboration & Engagement Squad for organising and delivering a successful event.