Public sector innovator Dr Andrea Siodmok receives an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours

Dr Andrea Siodmok [Ne Cooper] has received an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in recognition of her innovative work in Government and her contribution to public service for more than two decades.   

Andrea is Human Connected Design Director at the Connected Places Catapult and leads the Catapult’s work using design to drive new innovative business opportunities.   

Dr Siodmok, Lately Deputy Director, Policy Lab and Open Innovation Team, Policy Innovation Unit, Cabinet Office received the honour for public service. Her work at the Cabinet Office spanned all areas of Government with projects focused on growing UK exports, space security, local economic growth as well as the future of autonomous shipping.  

Formerly Chief Design Officer at the Design Council, some of her best-known work has been in re-designing hospital furniture and equipment for the NHS to reduce the spread of healthcare associated infections, although this preceded COVID it will have helped reduce transmission of the virus in hard pressed hospitals. She also worked for the Home Secretary to reduce crime using better design and technology.  

Over 20 years her clients and commissions have taken her around the world working with global corporations, start-ups and inter-governmental agencies including the United Nations. She was previously an advisor to Innovate UK where she led ‘The Future is Here’ exhibition at the Design Museum and was a representative for the European Design Leadership Board. 

Dr Siodmok is a lifetime fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) where in 2015 she became the 10th female in its history to receive the distinguished Royal Society of Arts Bicentenary Medal.  In 2019 she was listed by apolitical as ‘one of the world’s most influential public sector innovators’. 

Andrea is both a practitioner and an advocate for design-led innovation. A first class honours graduate of Northumbria University Andrea studied Industrial Design on the internationally renowned undergraduate course attended by Sir Jonathan Ive of Apple computers. She also has a PhD in Virtual Reality and a Masters in Public Policy from the London School of Economics. 

Dr Siodmok said: “I am delighted to receive this honour as it acknowledges the importance of design and innovation in improving our public services at this significant time when organisations need to re-think and reinvent what they do – whether its climate change or COVID the future will need to be different by design.” 

In the Cabinet Office press release Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “The Queen’s Birthday Honours allow us to pay tribute to all those who have gone above and beyond in their service to this country.” 

Andrea received one of 206 OBEs awarded this year. 

The full list of recipients of Queen’s Birthday Honours is available on GOV.UK