Hello Barbora, it is a pleasure to have you in our CZEXPATS Interviews. For how long have you been living in London already and how do you like the city?

Hello, it is a pleasure to take part in your CZEXPATS project. Many thanks for this exciting opportunity.

I moved to London in 2008 to study at university so it has already been 13 years. I never thought I would stay this long but London has enchanted me. I love how each area has a completely different vibe and one never gets bored. There are plenty of cultural and sports events, beautiful parks (that I especially appreciated during Covid-19 lockdowns) and great restaurants serving food from all corners of the world. One can have multiple very different experiences in a single day. You may have an important meeting in a skyscraper in the City and then go swimming in a pond in Hampstead Heath or plant vegetables in your local community garden. London is a very unique capital.

 

You have graduated at one of United Kingdom’s most prestigious universities – the London School of Economics. Was studying at the LSE always your ambition and how did you enjoy your studies?

It was my secret dream to study International Relations at LSE. I first applied for an undergraduate programme, but my application was rejected. I was a bit disappointed but I did not give up. In the end, I was given an opportunity to undertake my undergraduate studies at Goldsmiths, University of London, another excellent UK university. I spent a lot of time studying and took part in a number of extra-curricular activities which really helped me develop new skills and improve my English. Then I applied to LSE for my Masters degree and this time it worked out and my dream came true.

I studied part-time because I worked at a restaurant in the evenings. It was challenging at times but it was totally worth the effort! LSE is truly a hub of excellent research and world-renowned scholars. Many of my lecturers were authors of the internationally famous textbooks that we learnt from. They were famous but never arrogant. They always seemed happy to talk to their students and listen to new ideas.

I met some really motivated and inspiring students during my time there too, many of whom came from countries far away. During the class, exchanging ideas coming from our diverse backgrounds was an eye-opening experience. LSE also organize interesting events with international speakers. I remember attending a presentation delivered by Mr. Petr Nečas, the Czech Prime Minister at the time.

To sum up, I enjoyed every minute of my studies at LSE as you can probably tell… I feel very grateful to have had this opportunity.

 

The major you have studied was International Relations. How did you end up working with data analysis?

My grandfather Stanislav Komenda was a talented mathematician and a Professor of Statistics at University in Olomouc, and he was always keen for us grandchildren to get into statistics. I was good at mathematics at school but I was more interested in social sciences and decided to study International Relations. During my Masters degree, I did an internship at the UN Refugee Agency in London and one of my responsibilities was to analyse data from online communications. I was advanced in Excel and really enjoyed this part of my role, to the delight of my colleagues who were not so keen on spreadsheets. I was lucky that my supervisor was very supportive and encouraged me to do more analytical work. I became passionate about data analysis and visualisations, did additional training and I have worked as an analyst since then. As much as I tried to avoid mathematics, it has caught up with me anyway. Now I love my job and I am happy that my career took this unexpected turn. I think my grandfather would be pleased.

 

You currently work as Senior Business Intelligence Analyst for the London Fire Brigade. For most people, it is hard to imagine for what purpose would a fire brigade need someone at your position. What exactly do you do and how does it help the firefighters in their work?

I understand that it may be hard to imagine why firefighters would need statistics and Excel spreadsheets to do their job. Surely there is no time for that when they are on their way to an incident! My role is to analyse historical data on incidents as well as other areas of LFB service to allow our colleagues to make informed decisions and make London safer. Before I joined the Brigade, I did not realise how many different types of incidents fire fighters get called to. In addition to fires, LFB attend road traffic collisions, flooding and water leaks, rescuing people that collapsed behind locked doors and many more.

The Brigade not only respond to incidents that are already happening, a lot of effort goes into prevention in the first place. My team provides data on trends in main causes of incidents, for example, and assist crews on the ground with identifying risks in their local communities so tailored fire safety advice can be provided. We also help to identify groups of people that may be at higher risk of getting injured or dying in a fire, based on historical evidence. Vulnerable people may receive a visit in person during which crews check their homes, share useful fire safety tips and install smoke alarms where required. And this is just one example, there are many areas where I believe the data we provide makes a difference.

 

Are you the only Czech person in the squad? And how do your other colleagues perceive you?

I am the only Czech person in my Team, but we are a diverse group with people from different countries and backgrounds and that is very inspiring. We can all learn from each other’s perspectives and experiences. I don’t think my colleagues perceive me differently from anyone else (perhaps other than getting confused with my first name which is spelled like Barbara in English but with an “o”).

In my experience, inclusion is extremely important to London Fire Brigade and a lot of work is being done to make sure the fire service is fully integrated into London’s diverse communities. Being Czech was not a barrier for me applying to join the Brigade and I’m proud to be part of an organisation that strives to have a workforce that is as diverse as the population of London. Everyone’s voice is heard, no more so than now, as LFB are asking all Londoners their views on the future of the fire service in the capital. It would be great if Czech people in London took part in the Community Risk Management Plan survey and helped scope the Brigade’s response to London’s ever changing risks.

 

Is using data analysis the usual practice among Fire Brigades in the UK and abroad, or is London a specific case in this matter?

I must admit that I do not know the details as to how fire rescue services work abroad, but it is a standard in the UK. Every fire rescue service in England provides data and reporting that can be analysed at the national level. London Fire Brigade is different due to its size. London’s population is over 9 million people, which is almost the same as the whole Czech Republic. LFB is the busiest fire rescue service in the UK and one of the largest fire rescue organisations in the world. You can imagine that we collect and process an enormous amount of data and that is also why our Business Intelligence Team is larger than some other fire rescue services in England. In some places, the Analytics Team may refer to a single person, while we have a whole Team of analysts.

 

Not a long time ago, you met with Professor Jan Marek from the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children at one of the Embassy events. By chance, you have discovered he was one of the doctors who saved your life when you were a 6 months old baby. How was that meeting for you?

It was unbelievable! I heard about Professor Marek previously and knew he worked in the UK but I had no idea he used to work at the Children’s Heart Centre in Prague at the time I had my surgery. I was so honoured to meet him in person.

I will always be extremely grateful to doctors like Professor Marek who devote their lives to helping young children with heart disease. I have a scarr across my chest, which I really like because when I see it, it reminds me how lucky I was that I survived.  I cannot even imagine what it must be like to work with small babies who are seriously ill and their terrified parents. I have a lot of respect for Professor Marek and his colleagues and I hope I will have a chance to see him again in the future.

 

You can send us suggestions for other interesting Czech personalities living in the United Kingdom who deserve to become part of the CZEXPATS Interviews to our e-mail press.london@embassy.mzv.cz.