Daniel Pocock was born in the suburb of Coburg in Melbourne, Australia, close to where Irish broadcaster Jill Meagher disappeared. His mother is an Irish immigrant.

During his primary school years, Pocock’s family resided in Wandong, which would later be significantly affected by the Kilmore East bushfire. He attended St Patrick’s primary school in Kilmore, and later Catholic College Bendigo, where he was a contemporary of Jacinta Allan, the current Premier of the State of Victoria.

At age 14, he was one of the youngest in the state to complete amateur radio exams, acquiring the callsign VK3TQR.

Education:

Pocock earned a Bachelor of Computer Science from the University of Melbourne in 2002. His undergraduate team project involved the JACK software, subsequently used in the first autonomous drone trial, a detail described on the Pentagon website.

He also completed the MicroMasters in Data, Economics, and Development Policy from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2020.

Career:

Pocock founded his first consultancy business, SkySoft Pty Ltd, as a student in 1997. He has worked for Barclays Capital in Canary Wharf, Thomson Reuters in Paris, and UBS in Zurich.

In 2021, he founded the Software Freedom Institute, aiming to put humans "in charge of technology." Pocock's professional background includes significant roles in software engineering and financial markets, specializing in FX and derivatives.

Community Service:

Pocock has been actively involved in the Free Software community, developing a Content Management System in PHP and using it to assist hundreds of local groups to go online in the early days of the Internet. He has faced significant online harassment for his outspoken views on social issues within the free software communities.

Political Candidacy:

Daniel Pocock is standing as an independent candidate in the Midlands-North-West constituency for the European Parliament Elections 2024, set for polling on June 7. He aims to address real problems facing the district, including defective construction materials that have left families homeless.

With his extensive experience in multiple countries and sectors, Pocock advocates for bringing an outsider's perspective to tackle Ireland's most pressing issues, such as healthcare crises and construction scandals.

Platform and Advocacy:

Pocock is committed to scrutinizing the work of parties elected at all other government levels and bringing practical solutions to the forefront. His campaign emphasizes the need for professional engineering expertise in politics to tackle infrastructure and technology-related challenges effectively.

Pocock also supports software freedom and aims to enhance transparency and accountability in technology use.