Winning strategies are built on simple principles; identify your audience, communicate the right messages and persuade people to act.
But changing hearts and minds isn’t easy. Without the right data and insights, communications and campaigns can become a stab in the dark.
PoliQ founder Dr Colin Jacobs was determined to improve those odds. To accelerate progress towards a fairer and more sustainable society, he established PoliQ to change the way data is applied to real-world challenges.
By synthesising a wide range of datasets, he and the PoliQ team offer unrivalled access to information about the demographics, behaviour and preferences of Australian residents.
These insights are unlocking new opportunities for politicians, advocacy organisations and the private sector to develop winning strategies and change our world for the better.
The PoliQ team
Dr Colin Jacobs
Director, Data & Analytics
Colin has a diverse background spanning technology, politics, public policy and science… (read more)
After graduating with degrees in applied mathematics and history, Colin spent over a decade in the technology industry, working in several venture-funded companies in Silicon Valley, ultimately as co-founder of fintech company HedgeFlex. Subsequently moving into consulting, Colin founded and ran Q9 Software from 2005-2011, exporting technology services to the US. As an expert in technology policy, Colin was appointed first to the board and later Chair of Electronic Frontiers Australia, and made frequent media appearances on related subjects in print, radio and TV including as technology commentator on 10’s The Project.
From 2011-2015 Colin worked in the Australian Senate as senior advisor and later national Director of Policy and Strategy for the Australian Greens. He has also served as state co-secretary and co-convenor of the Australian Greens Victoria. This work has spanned campaigning, psephology, policy and legislation, and party administration at both state and federal levels.
Colin completed a PhD in astrophysics and machine learning at the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing in 2019, and was subsequently appointed Laureate Data Scientist for a project working on James Webb Space Telescope data.
Colin applies his unique blend of campaigning/political, public policy and quantitative skills to designing campaigns that are based on solid foundations but tempered in the realities of on-the-ground campaigns.
Alistair Perkins
Director, Strategy & Communications
Alistair is a communications specialist with a passion for disruption… (read more)
Since beginning his career as a journalist and writer, he has become a trusted advisor to politicians, government agencies, startups and the private sector.
Dissatisfied with the status quo, Alistair has dedicated his working life to tackling the most pressing public policy challenges. From repowering Australia with renewable energy, to reforming child protection and delivering climate justice across the developing world, his clients value his ability to gather the data and insights needed to develop winning campaigns.
In todayโs fragmenting political and media landscape, Alistair is determined to equip more change-makers with the tools they need to succeed.
He supports a roster of clients to achieve their strategy and communications objectives and acts as a mentor to talented young campaigners.
Sam Vaughan
Data Scientist
Sam has swapped studying the Cosmos for crunching elections data here on Earth (read more)
Originally from the UK, Sam has a PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Oxford. He moved to Australia in 2019 to work as a research scientist at the University of Sydney and Macquarie University before making the move into data science. He brings a deep understanding of mathematics, statistics and machine learning to the political sphere, creating the novel models and algorithms that power our Policast simulations.