Hello all.

My name is Dave Loudon and I am proud to say I grew up in a council house in a small town on the Ayrshire coast called Saltcoats. Just across the water was the island of Arran, which still to this day I consider one of the most beautiful places you could ever visit.

Below you will see snippets of my story and in time will shortly be adding more. I will talk about the great highs, but also great low’s. It will tell you why I consider social housing as one of the greatest achievements in recent UK history, but also highlight its failings. It will highlight my passion for getting things right for the many that live in social housing through the adoption of technology and it will also show why I care, why I am dedicated and why I will never give up.

I am a technologist at heart and dedicated to applying technology solutions to better the lives of those living in social housing or indeed needing social housing. My story will show you why I believe in social housing and technology as a force for good.

My mum brought my brother and I up in a warm, welcoming house rented from the Council at the time. My dad had passed away while we were young, but my mum provided and made our house a home. She was also responsible for buying me a ZX Spectrum, to this day I believe is the cause of my career path in Engineering and IT.

I was lucky to get a place studying Naval Architecture and Offshore Engineering at Glasgow University where I obtained an Honours Degree and then to follow this up with a Masters in IT Business Systems from Strathclyde University.  I am a big believer in allowing education to be accessible and available for all.

After years of leading IT and Tech teams in many sectors from Oil and Gas to Telecoms, I joined a Scottish Housing Association as head of Corporate Services. After that I set up DTL Creative. As a consultancy we delivered over 100 projects for landlords, but in October 22, Covid had had taken its toll and I took the decision to close the business. However, bouncing back stronger, Digital Bark is now the focus as a force for good in delivering technology in the sector that focuses on the improvement of the customer experience as the ultimate goal.

You can always see more on LinkedIn.

After closing DTL Creative I decided to give myself some time for individual projects and much needed time with the family.

My dedication to the social housing sector and the best possible use of technology continues with Digital Bark and also with advisory roles such as Simplicare. I do what I do to make a change in the world of housing and care.

A more recent move was to join the board of Muirhouse Housing Association, an amazing community based landlord in Edinburgh.