Data Cymru Blog http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/blog http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification mojoPortal Blog Module en-GB 120 no Data Cymru – supporting our people to “really speak Welsh” Blog

Since 2017, Data Cymru has committed to comply with the Welsh Language Standards, as set out by the Welsh Government under Section 44 of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011. These standards set clear expectations for us to provide services in Welsh to our customers, and to promote the use of the Welsh language for all services. It includes standards we must comply with in service delivery, policy making, operations and record keeping.

Recently, there has been an internal drive to use Welsh more frequently and more organically at work and to be able to provide more services, where possible, through the Welsh language. To encourage Welsh learning and speaking in the office among staff in both informal and formal settings we’ve committed to a ‘Coffi Cymraeg’ once a month. These meetings are an opportunity for learners to practice, for fluent Welsh speakers to keep-up and even those with little to no Welsh* are welcome to come along and listen.

At Data Cymru we’re committed to continued development and learning for our staff and so, in July, our Chief Operating Officer, Richard Palmer, and I headed out on the road to Nant Gwrtheyrn in North Wales for a week-long residential Welsh language refresher course.

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Nant Gwrtheyrn is home to the National Welsh Language and Heritage Centre, offering both online and residential courses for every level of learning Welsh. Set on the idyllic northern coast of the Llyn Peninsula it’s private and secluded settings offer a unique, immersive experience.

Our five day course began with an introductory session, a chance to get to know our other course-mates and to set some goals. These were wide-ranging but the same themes emerged for everyone: the want for confidence, help with treiglo (mutations) and some practical improvements for using Welsh at work. I subscribed to all of these learning goals but also a want to enjoy using Welsh.

It amused me that we were all so impressed with each other’s Welsh language skills and quite ready to disparage our own. Why are the Welsh so reluctant to sing their own praises? Because, despite all of us being able to talk fluently and at length, on a range of different topics, we all felt we didn’t “have enough Welsh” or “weren’t good enough”. If you think the Brits over-apologise, wait ‘til you meet ten eager but nervous Welsh speakers trying to improve their language skills.

Our tutor for the week took us through some established course content as well as being flexible enough to help us with specific queries or goals. An ideal blend, of grammar lessons, presentation work and siarad fel pwll y mor “talking non-stop”.

We were fortunate, though I suspect this is a highly common phenomenon at Nant Gwrtheyrn, to have bonded as a group quickly and to all feel comfortable in sharing, challenging and quizzing each other.

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By the end of the third day, I found I was thinking and writing in Welsh without having to prompt myself to do so first. And by Friday, I didn’t feel like I was translating from English to Welsh before talking, I was, in the main, really talking Welsh! Not bad for someone who hasn’t used Welsh at any real length since my GCSE’s.

Both Richard and I couldn’t sing the Nant’s praises more highly - and we’d been lucky enough to enjoy a good sing-song with the group and fellow attendee, singer-songwriter Eve Goodman!

There are plenty of other Data Cymru staff who will now look to attend courses at the Nant, from beginners to refresher courses, online and residential. Richard has even signed up to the written refresher course.

As a result of my experience and support from Data Cymru I’ve now delivered several training courses in Welsh. I’ve also sent emails and hosted meetings in Welsh. It’s our ambition to offer Welsh language training sessions (rather than our current offer which is to provide simultaneous English to Welsh translation if at least 10% of those attending wish to use Welsh).

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It was a privilege to have attended Nant Gwrtheyrn and I’m delighted to be working at Data Cymru, where we encourage using Welsh not only because of our commitment to the Welsh Language Standards but because for some of us, working in Welsh just makes sense.

*Personally, I refute the idea that anyone living in Wales has “no Welsh” because, yes, “Rydw i’n hoffi coffi” does count and most people know at least a word, shwmai or Cymru, for example.

 

 

About the author

Cymraeg icon

Róisín Roberts

Róisín is our Data Insight and Engagement officer. She supports our engagement and improvement work. She also leads our capacity building work programme.


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http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/data-cymru-supporting-our-people-to-really-speak-welsh editor@dataunitwales.gov.uk (y Golygydd / the Editor) http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/data-cymru-supporting-our-people-to-really-speak-welsh http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/data-cymru-supporting-our-people-to-really-speak-welsh Fri, 22 Dec 2023 10:20:00 GMT
Teamwork makes the data work We, along with our colleagues in Welsh Government's Data and Digital team, drafted a blog setting out our vision for bringing people together from across the public sector to discuss the data issues we are all facing.

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Teamwork makes the data work

If the last year or two has taught us anything, it’s the importance of working together. We’ve seen first-hand how sharing knowledge and expertise can help deal with the most difficult of challenges.    

However, if you work with data, whether you’re a data scientist, a data management expert, involved in data sharing or just use data as part of your day job, this is sometimes easier said than done. Many of us work in organisations where we’re the only data expert in our field, if not data in general. However, how often have you wished for a chance to speak to like-minded people about the issues you’re facing, get some advice and possibly even test out your ideas? Well the good news is that in Wales we have an abundance of data people, perhaps the less good news is that we’re probably not as joined up as we could be. We want that to change.

So, what’s to be done?

Earlier this year, whilst developing the Digital Strategy for Wales, we brought together a range of data experts and data leaders. Whilst the focus was on developing the strategy, it became evident how useful it was for people from across the public sector to come together from different sectors to discuss common data issues that we’re all facing.

We were not alone in this thinking, with colleagues in Data Cymru also of the same opinion. So together we started to consider how we could bring, not only the data leaders from across Wales together, but the wider data community. Obviously this is easier said than done when we think about data in its entirety and the different areas of expertise.

The best solution seemed to be a two pronged approach; an overarching group of data leaders covering the more strategic work alongside a network of communities focussing on specific areas. Something along the lines of the following:

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The overarching group, which we’ve named the Wales Data Leaders Network, has just been established and recently held its first meeting. In a nutshell, the aim of this group will be to act as forum for data leaders with the aim of improving how data is managed, used and shared. In doing so it is hoped that they will provide clear direction to public bodies in Wales, take forward particular projects on a cross-sectoral basis or recommend solutions to problems we’re encountering. At the first meeting we discussed the current consultation on data protection reform, and the implications of the Inclusive Data Taskforce.

In terms of the data communities, the plan is for these to focus on specific areas such as geospatial data, data standards, open data etc. We understand there will be people actively working in these areas as well as those who are just keen to know more so we will need to take this into account when establishing the various communities. We also recognise that for these communities to work and be sustainable, we all need to work collaboratively. One way we hope to do this is through different organisations facilitating the different communities.

What do we need from you?

Well as you can imagine none of this will work without your involvement, whether that’s sitting on the Data Leaders Network, participating in a data community or even facilitating one. This is about us all coming together and working together. As the saying goes, “you get out what you put in”.

In the first instance we’d really appreciate if you could let us know your thoughts on the following questions about data communities by emailing: Suzanne.draper@data.cymru

  • Are there any specific data communities you think we need (the image above has a few suggestions)?
  • What data groups or communities are you aware of that already exist?
  • What data communities should we focus on setting up first – perhaps give us your top three?
  • Would you be willing to facilitate a data community (come on, you know you want to)? If so, which one?

Also please feel free to drop us a line if you have any other thoughts or suggestions about how you think we can all work together better on all things data. Or if you think you are a data leader in Wales who feels they haven’t been included in any of this, do please get in touch.


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http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/teamwork-makes-the-data-work editor@dataunitwales.gov.uk (y Golygydd / the Editor) http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/teamwork-makes-the-data-work http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/teamwork-makes-the-data-work Thu, 16 Dec 2021 11:01:00 GMT
DataBasicCymru: The lessons I’ve learnt… Blog

As we launch our DataBasicCymru training programme and our DataBasicCymru+ training package, developed in partnership with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Data Orchard, I thought I’d share with you the top three lessons I’ve learnt from being immersed in the development of DataBasicCymru over the past 18 months.

 

1. We all have something to learn

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I’m pretty data savvy – I have worked for Data Cymru for ‘many’ years in a variety of roles so would like to think I know a thing or two about data. In this time I’ve collected data, validated data, analysed data, presented data, used data and advised others on how to collect, use data etc. However, I came away from the very first pilot session of the DataBasic programme (where I was part facilitator, part learner) feeling…inspired! Some of the exercises simply reinforced my knowledge (when collecting data, clear definitions are really important); others served as a useful reminder (take time to understand your audience and your message when presenting data) and others taught me new tricks (there’s more to disseminating data than infographics and dashboards). DataBasicCymru has something to offer everyone, whether you’re a beginner or a self-confessed data geek like me.

2. Confidence is key!

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If you are looking to build a data culture within your organisation, you need to make sure that all staff, whatever their role and no matter how senior they are, have the confidence to interact with data. Key to this is ensuring that all staff understand the fundamentals (the ‘basics’) of data and how to use it effectively. After all, it is these ‘basic’ skills on which your data culture will be founded.

As the name suggests, DataBasicCymru focuses on the ‘basic’ skills that we all need to be able to use data effectively. Crucially, it does so in fun and creative ways - most of the workshops rely on pen, paper and, most importantly, your imagination (and, on occasion, play-doh)! The tools that are included in the programme are very easy to use and are simply there to make what could be complex manual tasks a lot easier (let’s be honest, no-one wants to count how many times Katy Perry says ‘Love’ in her complete back catalogue).

Data has been given a boost recently in the most unlikely of circumstances. While there haven’t been too many positives from the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 12 months, the recognition of the important role data plays in both helping to drive policy and inform the public has to be one. There are more conversations happening about data than ever before – let’s build on this together. Next slide please!

3. Stop, collaborate and listen

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We all see things differently - data is no different. Some people are more analytical, some more creative; some people will focus on the big picture, others prefer to see the detail – understanding these different perspectives and how they impact on our interaction with data is key to improving the way you approach working with data.

This is why the DataBasicCymru training package is founded on the principle of shared learning. It works best when many people from within or across organisations run through the workshops together. Listening to and learning from others makes you consider perspectives you may not previously have thought about - it can help you see things you may not previously have seen, ask questions you may not have previously thought to ask and, as a result, try different ways of analysing and/or presenting data that you would not previously have tried.

There are of course tangible data collection, analysis and presentation skills that you will learn by engaging with the training programme. However, perhaps more importantly, you will have taken an important step towards developing your data culture - one based on ensuring everyone has the confidence and ability to engage more effectively with data.

To learn more about DataBasicCymru and to get involved please see our website.

About the author

Suzanne Draper

Suzanne is our strategic lead for data collection and governance, with overall responsibility for data governance and all of our data collection, performance management and benchmarking work.

Contact

029 2090 9516

Suzanne.Draper@data.cymru


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http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/databasiccymru-the-lessons-ive-learnt editor@dataunitwales.gov.uk (y Golygydd / the Editor) http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/databasiccymru-the-lessons-ive-learnt http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/databasiccymru-the-lessons-ive-learnt Thu, 10 Jun 2021 12:02:00 GMT
New tomorrows Blog

So, my last week at Data Cymru has arrived. As my retirement (early!!) becomes a reality, I have found myself reflecting on my time at Data Cymru and my career more generally.

What has struck me most, is how quick the time has gone. Does time go by increasingly faster as you get older? As a maths and science graduate, I want to say it cannot. However, my 18 years in Data Cymru have certainly flown by. As has my 40 years in public service. Younger colleagues beware!

I’ve been reflecting on how fortunate I have been to have had a career with so many differing roles in broadly the same field, all of which of which I’ve really enjoyed.

While statistical roles in public sector are by no means glamorous, I’ve even managed a few foreign trips. A fantastic trip to Ottawa and Toronto (and Niagara Falls!) to look at innovative Canadian data collection methods, including a great lunch at a French restaurant in Québec. A great conference trip to Stockholm with a memorable dinner at the Vasa museum. And not forgetting the magnificent antipasti provided by the Italian statistical service in Milan. Some great foody memories! Less glamorous, I can still recall the horror and panic of arriving at my first European meeting only to find my luggage had not. And of walking the streets of Luxemburg at dawn the next morning on the off chance that a clothes store might be open.

And what of my time at Data Cymru?

There have been many highlights during my time here. However, the memories I’ll take with me will largely revolve around the people I’ve worked with, both within Data Cymru and across the local government and statistical communities. One of the most rewarding things for me has been to see staff who have joined Data Cymru flourish and progress within the organisation, and often go on to achieve further success in other organisations.

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I have also reflected on the opportunities my role has given me personally to learn and develop, including the learning I’ve gained from the people I’ve met and worked with. I am certainly not the shy and retiring civil servant who turned up at the Cardiff office back in 2003. More’s the pity some would say!

I’m a bit of a hoarder, and when clearing out my desk, I came across a report I wrote prior to joining Data Cymru. I was assessing the likely technological and related developments that might impact on society and the world of work in 2025. While we’re not there yet, several elements have become a reality. Others remain fanciful. Reading it reminded me of how much technology has influenced and changed our work with data and dissemination. How we’ve moved on from my early days in the Office for National Statistics (ONS), when my team spent weeks working on the annual business monitor on the UK motor trade. Only those who were prepared to pay for the hard copy monitor got the data. How access to and the way we consume data has changed.

So, what of data and its role?

What a terrible time to be leaving the arena of data and insight. The pandemic has shone a light on data like nothing I’ve experienced in the decades I’ve worked in this field. Almost overnight we saw the emergence of a nation of armchair consumers of COVID-19 data, many of whom soon became self-appointed ‘expert’ analysts. At the same time, decision makers and service providers have wanted new and more up to date data to support them. Data providers have risen to the challenge, but now need to build on this momentum. There has never been a better time to reinforce the need for using data, or to make the case for the resources necessary to produce data and associated insights. Very exciting times. I’ll be sorry not to be part of it.

As I sign off, I’ll finish by reiterating that I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to lead Data Cymru for an extended period, and to have worked with such a fantastic team of people. I have had a great time. I know I am leaving the organisation in good hands and that its future is bright and exciting. I wish it and the wider local government family every success. 

About the author

Andrew Stephens

Andrew our Executive Director of 18 years had overall day to day responsibility for the management of the organisation. 


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http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/new-tomorrows editor@dataunitwales.gov.uk (y Golygydd / the Editor) http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/new-tomorrows http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/new-tomorrows Tue, 25 May 2021 09:00:00 GMT
2020/21: A year in review Blog

This annual roundup is like no other. The last twelve months have been extremely challenging for communities across Wales and for the organisations (both public and private) that serve them. Families have lost loved ones, services have been put under pressure, and the economy has been strained. However, amidst these difficulties there are reasons for optimism. Services continue to be delivered, the rollout of the vaccination programme is progressing at pace, most children are returning to school, and deaths and case numbers are declining. None of this would be possible without the dedication and professionalism of our public, private, and third sector colleagues.

Working from home

On 16 March 2020 we made the decision to work from home. Like most organisations, we thought this arrangement might last a few months. Clearly this turned out not to be the case.

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We were able to adapt to this arrangement very quickly due to our flexible IT infrastructure; all staff have laptops, we use cloud storage, and made the move to Microsoft Teams over the winter of 2019/20.

Nevertheless, this is not to say that working from home has been without its challenges. Clearly, a lack of social interaction was a concern for the well-being of staff and for the running of the organisation. To mitigate, we asked line managers to engage with staff regularly via video chat, we hold more frequent management meetings, and we encourage regular and flexible use of annual leave.

A particular challenge faced was the recruitment of a Statistician and Senior Statistician in September. We undertook this recruitment and onboarded the successful candidates (Hayley Randall and Jonathan Owens) entirely virtually.

As a result of this experience we are committed to working more flexibly. Going forward, this will open up exciting opportunities around how we work, where we work, and what we can deliver.

COVID-19 response - existing data

The pandemic has made statistics mainstream; every day we read of case numbers, transmission rates, death rates, the R number and so on. It is likely that policymakers, journalists, and the public have consumed more statistics in the last year than at any other time in recent history. Specifically, we have noted a significant increase in demand for real-time data that allows users to understand the here and now, and act on it.

To meet this demand and ensure the COVID-19 outputs we produce are as useful as possible, we spent a great deal of time understanding what data are available, their strengths and limitations, and how timely they are.

Off the back of this work, we produced a series of dashboards that chart the number of cases of, tests for, and vaccines against coronavirus, the number of deaths related to the pandemic, and the impact the pandemic has had on the economy.

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Furthermore, we produced ad-hoc reports and briefings for partners that drew on less well-known data sources. For instance, we used Google COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports to understand how different spaces were used during the lockdowns in Wales.

We continue to work closely with the wider public sector in Wales to ensure that the right data are available to the right organisations at the right time. Data sharing was, and remains, critical to linking up understanding of, and response to, the pandemic. The increased cooperation that has occurred over the last year is extremely positive and has been essential to delivering services across Wales.

Given the current spotlight on data and statistics, we have an opportunity to cement these data sharing successes and to carry forward good practice. We will work with local government and the wider public and third sectors to support this work into 2021/22.

COVID-19 response - data collection

Given the novelty of some of the policy responses to the pandemic, often there were no existing data to call upon. As such, we designed and ran a series of data collections over the last year. These can be broken down into education, economic, and enforcement collections.

Our education-related collections included gathering data on the number of children using education hubs during the first lockdown, Free School Meal (FSM) eligibility and uptake, and the numbers of electively home-educated children.

Our economy-related collections included working with local authorities to record the roll-out of small business grants and to understand the likely financial impact of the pandemic.

Our enforcement-related collection recorded enforcement activity undertaken to uphold legal instruments related to the pandemic.

We are proud of the speed with which we were able to undertake these important collections and are in a strong position to build on this success into 2021/22.

COVID response – engagement

The pandemic has highlighted the need for clear and regular engagement and, at the same time, has reduced our ability to do so face-to-face. It is not all bad news, though! Whereas we may previously have visited partner(s), incurring travel time and costs, during the pandemic we have instead met over a series of video calls. This has allowed us to dedicate more focused time to partners and projects, driving up productivity and engagement in the process.

Furthermore, an important part of our engagement has always been to seek and listen to their insights to provide context to the data. Without being able to visit, input from partners ‘on the ground’ has become increasingly important in painting a picture of what is happening in local communities. Given that the impact of the pandemic has not been evenly distributed across Wales, it’s no surprise that we are seeing more and more ‘oddities’ in the data we work with. Local partners have been, and continue to be, invaluable in unpicking these nuances.

For example, through our work with the Regional Skills Partnerships, we have been able to gain a much better understanding of the labour market and Claimant Count in Wales by drilling down on areas which appear to be holding up relatively well in the face of rising unemployment.

As we move out of the pandemic we must continue to build on these relationships, as local insight must be at the centre of recovery planning and the ‘new normal’.

COVID-19 response – dissemination

Distilling meaning from information has never been easy but has, at times over the last year, been particularly difficult. To ensure that messages cut through the noise, clarity has become more important than ever. To this end, we have invested heavily in new technology that allows us to simplify and target our outputs. Specifically, we have dramatically ramped up our use of PowerBI. This dissemination tool allows us to create outputs that are interactive, streamlined, and user-friendly.

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Additionally, we have produced outputs in Microsoft Sway. This tool allows us to embed outputs from other software packages, such as Excel and PowerBI, turning a traditional report into an interactive experience.

Furthermore, we are currently testing the compatibility of R and Python coding languages with PowerBI to create bespoke outputs. This exciting work will allow us to have complete control over the functionality and feel of future outputs.

 

Business as usual activity

Alongside our pandemic response, we also delivered our core business offerings.

We undertook our regular data collections, developed bespoke websites, data portals and dashboards, as well as delivering a number of quantitative and qualitative (evaluation) reports.

Furthermore, we are developing an exciting training offering to be rolled out in early 2021/22; survey design and focus group training, as well as summary statistics and presenting data guides.

Looking ahead

Looking ahead, we are working actively to build upon the increased interest in statistics and data generated during the pandemic, to strengthen relationships with partners, and to fortify the data culture that is emerging across local government in Wales. More details will be published soon via our strategic plan. Watch this space!

If you have any questions or queries we would love to hear from you.

About the authors

Sam Sullivan

Sam is our statistics and research lead, with overall responsibility for all of our data dissemination, survey and analysis work. Sam is also part of our senior management team.

Contact

029 2090 9581

Sam.Sullivan@data.cymru


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Developments at Data Cymru: Open data, social research and data science Blog

This week sees the publication of three new webpages; focusing on open data, social research and data science. These webpages are designed to introduce you to the topic, to explain our vision for implementing across the Welsh public sector, and to set out what we plan to do to help make the vision a reality. We also include some useful resources for further reading, such as links to relevant blogs, case studies, and user guides alongside information about future events and any other news that might be of interest. So, keep your eyes peeled! 

Here we explain why we’ve chosen to focus on these topics, highlight some of our work to date, and set out what you can expect to see in the near future. 

Open data

As an organisation we’ve been pushing the benefits of publishing data openly for some time. We started by making the data we publish open (where appropriate) and then started to look at how we might help embed the concept across the public sector.

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So far, our efforts have focused on engaging with our public sector colleagues through a series of events and workshops we’ve run, both alone and with our Welsh Government colleagues. These have helped us to understand the challenges faced by publishers of data and how we, along with our partners, can help overcome them. They have also helped inform our vision and action plan for the next few years. 

And then COVID-19 hit… 

The importance of data has become very clear over the last few months – the need for quick and easy access to robust data has underpinned the Government’s response in Wales (both nationally and locally) to the pandemic. We’ve seen many organisations and individuals (including ourselves) repurpose published data to help policy makers and the public understand the ever-changing situation. This is open data in practice. It is essential that we build on this appetite for, and appreciation of, open and accessible information. So, what can you expect to see from us over the next few months?

We are currently putting the final touches to our national open data portal - a ‘one-stop-shop’ resource for public sector open data in Wales. The aim is that the portal will be a platform to which public sector organisations can publish their open data. It will also bring together open data that are already published elsewhere. We had originally planned to publish the portal earlier in the year, but as many of you will understand, circumstances meant we had to prioritise the assistance we provided to national and local government in their response to the pandemic. We are now planning to publish the first iteration of the tool this summer. Watch this space for news about its launch! 

As part of the rollout we will once again liaise with our colleagues, in particular the members of our Open Data Virtual Network (see the website for more details). We will re-start the discussions about what data local authorities could and should be publishing openly. We are also keen to work directly with individual local authorities to help kick start their open data culture. We are also hopeful that we will publish some of our own data. After all, we must practice what we preach! 

Social research and data science

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Data science and social research are relatively new areas for us at Data Cymru. However, we have come a long way in a short time. We have recruited highly skilled staff, developed internal strategies, and proved how effective these analytical approaches can be.

As with our approach to open data, we have worked closely with local partners to build our social research skills and reputation, taking on commercial work as appropriate. To help embed social research within our analytical toolkit, as well as that of our partners, we contribute to a number of panels and forums. Furthermore, in a similar spirit to making data open and available, we are committed to sharing new knowledge and have published guidance on how to undertake evaluation work. We have developed specific knowledge on the creation and evaluation of logic models and theory of change models, as well as strengthening existing knowledge around qualitative data analysis, from focus groups to interviews to text analysis.

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Similarly, we recognise the power of data science techniques to enhance analytical insight, streamline management processes, and introduce new technology to our analytical infrastructure. We have been highly successful in utilising data science techniques to improve internal data management processes and, having proved the concept, are ready to apply this learning more widely. In line with this, we are upskilling our staff in the R and Python languages, as well as exploring ways to make better use of complementary technologies, such as Azure DevOps.

We see the growth of open data practices and the strengthening of our data science and social research skills as exciting growth areas for Data Cymru and partners. These new approaches allow us to provide deeper analysis, from a wider range of (open) data sources, more quickly and efficiently than ever before. At a time of ever-increasing demand for analytical insight that can only be a positive. Watch this space!

 

About the authors

Sam Sullivan

Sam is our statistics and research lead, with overall responsibility for all of our data dissemination, survey and analysis work. Sam is also part of our senior management team.

Contact

029 2090 9581

Sam.Sullivan@data.cymru

Suzanne Draper

Suzanne is our strategic lead for data collection and governance, with overall responsibility for data governance and all of our data collection, performance management and benchmarking work.

Contact

029 2090 9516

Suzanne.Draper@data.cymru


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Building a ‘data savvy’ public sector Blog

Back in 2016 a study published by IBM ("10 key marketing trends for 2017") suggested that 90% of the world’s data had been created in the previous twelve months, with many data analysts predicting that the digital universe would be 40 times bigger by 2020. While on the surface, this figure seems staggering, perhaps it isn’t so surprising when we consider the amount of data we collect on a daily basis, particularly in a professional context. The opportunities this presents to learn more about our communities, their needs and their experiences is inspiring. And yet, it can also be overwhelming – how do I unlock the insight? Where do I begin?

Luckily these are just some of the questions that the DataBasic training programme will help you answer and we, in collaboration with Data Orchard CIC, are bringing it to Wales!

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The DataBasic training programme

The aim of the DataBasic programme is quite simply to help anyone in an organisation, whether or not they have data responsibility and no matter how senior they are, get more confident with data. Originally developed by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (the original can be found here), the programme comprises a series of exercises, workshops (most of which rely solely on paper, pens and discussion) and a small number of online tools all designed to help you build the fundamental skills needed to use data more effectively.

So, if you want to be more ‘data savvy’, to be able to ask the right questions and make best use of the data you have, then look no further. Whether you are a data specialist or a ‘spreadsheet-phobe’ we believe this programme has a lot to offer.

Creating a ‘data savvy’ culture

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The programme isn’t only aimed at individuals. In fact, DataBasic works best when lots of people within an organisation sign up to follow the programme. Whilst some people need specialist analytical or technical skills, all employees need to have basic skills around using data more effectively and the confidence to have conversations about data.

What’s more, if lots of people and/or organisations across local government and the wider public sector in Wales followed this programme, it could have a real impact on the culture around collecting, interpreting and using data. 

Help us take the first step

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Over the last few months we have been adapting the content of the programme to better fit the Welsh public sector. As part of this we have a run a couple of pilot sessions (our thanks to Data Cymru staff and Powys County Council for their co-operation and feedback) to check that the techniques are as useful as we think they are (which, thankfully, they are).

We now plan to roll it out wider.

The first step is to invite individuals from across the public sector to run through the programme, most likely over a 2-day period. We hope this will not only produce some additional feedback about how we can refine the content, but, perhaps more importantly, generate some interest and encourage organisations to get involved with the programme.

We are also interested in finding teams or groups within public sector organisations in Wales who would like to try the DataBasic Cymru materials in their own organisations via a series of lunch and learn sessions over a couple of months.

By the autumn we hope to have a full, bilingual set of tested, remixed workshop approaches, with accompanying datasets and examples which we can make available to Welsh public services.

If you would like to be involved, please get in touch.

About the author

Suzanne Draper

Suzanne is our strategic lead for data collection and governance, with overall responsibility for data governance and all of our data collection, performance management and benchmarking work.

Contact

029 2090 9516

Suzanne.Draper@data.cymru


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Progress on our Open Data Hub is steaming ahead! Blog

In our previous blog, we explained how your engagement at our inaugural open data events had highlighted the need for us to create an online ‘hub’ to support you in publishing your open data. We recognised the need for this to be a collaborative effort. After all, we want to make sure that the hub is easy for everyone to use.

So, what have we done so far?

We decided that we’d create the Hub over several stages, with your input becoming increasingly more important as it proceeds. Our first task has been to create a minimum viable product - a system with the basic operational features, which can be built on in response to user feedback and ideas. This is a crucial bit of our work – we need to lay the foundations now to make sure the Hub develops seamlessly in the future. We want our Open Data Hub to be adaptable to your needs.

During this initial stage of development, we are focusing the data itself and specifically the ability to search for and download it. Therefore:

  • All the data in the Hub will be open and anybody will be able to download it;
  • Data will be available in a variety of different formats;
  • Datasets will be browsable by local authority; and
  • A basic user-friendly metadata standard will be included.

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Additionally, in order to upload data to the Hub, special access will be given to nominated Users and Managers. Both Users and Managers will be able to load and remove datasets from their organisation. Managers will also be able to add and remove local Users.

 

 

 

Over time, we’re planning to:

  • Offer all users the ability to browse data by other details and fields – such as by region, theme, or keyword;
  • Expand the metadata standard so datasets are more accurately described and labelled, ensuring metadata is approaching the best global standards; and
  • Offer users the ability to share various forms of restricted data through the system - we recognise that not all data can be made open and want to offer local authorities a simple method of sharing data with specific individuals or groups.

We need your feedback

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We’re also thinking about our long-term roadmap – and that’s where your feedback will be vital. We’ve spoken previously about identifying some datasets which could be made available via APIs. We’re also thinking about exactly what ‘standard’ of open data we should offer – do we want to work towards the global best standard or try something different? No doubt, as you begin to see more of our Hub in the coming months, you will have ideas and thoughts to share with us.

So, in early 2020 we’ll have a working prototype of our Open Data Hub to show to you. We would really like local authorities to begin adding their data into the Hub and to also test its basic features. Keep your eyes peeled for more information.

If you’d like to know more or would like to help in testing the system – do get in touch.

About the author

Daniel Cummings

Dan is our lead officer for open data. Dan also supports our partnership work across all sectors and provides support to a range of data collection work streams.

Contact

029 2090 9526

Daniel.Cummings@data.cymru

 


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Where next on our open data journey? Blog

We hosted our first open data event in Colwyn Bay in July and our second in Ebbw Vale in September. A big thanks to everyone who attended. We got some good insight and positive feedback. Overall, I was impressed by just how much work was already going on in Wales and the appetite to really kick on and do more. There’s a real sense of momentum brewing.

I said it at our events, but since taking up the open data mantle at Data Cymru, one of the most intriguing challenges has come with our somewhat unique position within Wales. We’re an organisation involved in almost all aspects of data – we collect it from local authorities and other public bodies, we source it from data providers, we manage it in our internal systems, and we disseminate/share it through a plethora of tools. Put simply, we cover almost anything to do with data!

So, we’re in a great position to promote and make Wales a pioneering country in its use of open data. But to do so, we need to make sure our package of support is appropriate and well targeted.

Our events have really helped to clarify the challenges you face and the solutions we can offer.

So, what are the main challenges?

Making the business case

We’d previously heard a lot about how a business case can be made within public bodies by focusing on things such as Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. These can be time consuming and costly – why not just release the data in an open format? What we hadn’t considered is just how difficult it can be to quantify the time and money spent on releasing this information – both via FOIs and in open data formats. How can a business case be made to open data if the business efficiencies can’t be measured?

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Overcoming fear

People can be fearful of putting data in the public domain – whether that be because of data protection concerns, a fear the press will run with potentially negative figures, or concerns about the quality/robustness of the data.

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Disconnected teams

Releasing data can be tricky when service delivery teams, IT staff, and data analysts are often disconnected sitting in different ‘silos’ across a local authority. We know from experience that everyone needs to be involved in the process.

Standards

Many colleagues expressed concerns about the quality of internal data and the potential difficulty in comparing it with others. They felt that for many pieces of data, local authorities were probably doing things slightly differently to each other and so were unsure whether the data could be of use. We know from our own experience that it can take some time and work for datasets to become standardised and common across Wales.

Bilingualism

The need to release data bilingually – especially with a good set of Welsh metadata can be a challenge.

Scaling up/doing things 22 times

And to add to all of this, we have 22 local authorities in Wales. It doesn’t make sense for all 22 to be doing the same things individually, for example translating names of data items… But on the other hand, some colleagues expressed their frustrations with previous attempts to work collaboratively and the challenges in ‘scaling up’ the open data agenda.

People had some great ideas, some of which correlated with our thinking and some which were fresh…

What can we offer?

An Open Data Hub

Many are calling for a central place to host open data for Wales. With 22 local authorities, it doesn’t make sense for each to create their own. Some authorities have told us ‘going it alone’ is not financially viable. Also, by bringing data together in one place, makes things a lot easier for users of open data – plus we can tackle many of the challenges we face collectively. We’re currently developing a spec for what such a Hub might look like and the features it’ll have. More details to follow!

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Building the open data community

How do we reach the people who will do innovative things with open data? What do they want? Do we ask them “What data shall we release?” or do we adopt a “Build it and they will come” approach? This is a conversation we’ve heard again and again. We need to work with our networks to reach out to the private sector, citizen-activists, and academia… but we also need to recognise there is a community out there who will look at what data is available, have a ‘play’ with it, and produce great things.

Agreeing an initial open data dataset

There was a strong desire for us to work with local authorities to agree an initial all-Wales dataset to be released as ‘Open Data’. By doing this, Data Cymru could work with local authorities to create a high-quality fully bi-lingual standardised dataset quickly.

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Toolsets

We recognise that when it comes to day to day work, some colleagues need help in understanding what open data is and what can be released. Outside of Wales, there are too many examples of shiny all singing and all dancing ‘Open Data Hubs’ which contain very little data. We’re working to create our own tools and adapt some used by the Open Data Institute (ODI) to help on this front.

So, what next? We’re hoping to keep the conversation going as we develop concrete proposals. We’ve created the Open Data Virtual Network to keep in touch with colleagues and to keep you up to date with what’s going on. The group is “open” so please get in touch if you’d like to be part of it. We’ll be sharing some of our ideas via this blog so keep an eye out for more details about the Open Data Hub as work progresses!

About the author

Daniel Cummings

Dan is our lead officer for open data. Dan also supports our partnership work across all sectors and provides support to a range of data collection work streams.

Contact

029 2090 9526

Daniel.Cummings@data.cymru

 


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http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/where-next-on-our-open-data-journey-2019 http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/where-next-on-our-open-data-journey-2019 http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/where-next-on-our-open-data-journey-2019 Thu, 26 Sep 2019 08:30:00 GMT
Open data: unlocking your data’s potential… Blog

Open data is, I’m sure, a phrase most of you will have come across over the last few months/years. Some of you have already begun to embrace the concept and have started making some of your data openly available. Others are about to embark on the journey and others still may be consulting the map to determine the best route. No matter where you are on your open data journey, we are here to help!

What is open data?

Quite simply, open data is data that is published in a way that allows anyone to freely and easily access and use it. This may be in the form of an open, machine readable spreadsheet (.csv) published on a website or an open data feed that allows users to link directly to your data. Whichever format you chose, the data must be clearly labelled as open data.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, it is, particularly when you have organisations like ours that can help!

Starting the ‘open data’ journey…

One of our key aims over the next 5 years is to see significant increases in the availability and use of open data in Wales. We plan to work with local authorities, and other public sector organisations, to develop a public sector open data eco-system. To do this, we need your help! We want to understand where you are on your journey, what barriers/challenges you are facing and, crucially, how we can help you.

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We will be running a series of events, the first of these scheduled for the summer, where we’d like to start exploring these questions with you. The workshop-style events will allow you to learn from each other and, hopefully, come away with both the motivation and the knowledge to take the next steps.

We are also keen to explore developing a national open data portal – building on the work we are already doing via InfoBaseCymru and our other data dissemination platforms. This might be a ‘one-stop-shop’ resource for public sector open data in Wales, acting as a publishing platform for public sector organisations from which to publish their open data. It would also bring together data that is already published elsewhere in an open format into one place. We are keen to hear your views on this.

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Walking the walk…

As well as working with you to support more availability and better use of open data across the public sector, we are also looking at our own open data - we want to improve the quality and amount of open data we publish and use.

We are also developing the open data area of our website. As well as providing links to useful resources it will contain further information on our open data strategy, our plans for delivering the strategy and our open data.

In the meantime, if you have any suggestions, would like to discuss our plans further or would like to be involved in our open data workshops, please get in touch.

About the authors

Suzanne Draper

Suzanne is our strategic lead for data collection and governance, with overall responsibility for data governance and all of our data collection, performance management and benchmarking work.

Contact

029 2090 9516

Suzanne.Draper@data.cymru

Daniel Cummings

Dan is our lead officer for open data. Dan also supports our partnership work across all sectors. He also provides support to a range of data collection work streams and internal data systems.

Contact

029 2090 9526

Daniel.Cummings@data.cymru

 


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Do we want to be ‘better’ or ‘happier’? When I started out working with data in Wales, way back in 2006, it was a very different environment!

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My first needs assessment, to support the 2008-2011 Merthyr Tydfil Children’s and Young People’s plan, was a fairly rudimentary affair. It contained lots of flowing prose (which added nothing!), and a whizz through all the performance measurement data I could include. It showed how Merthyr compared to the other 21 local authorities in Wales for that year, and a little bit of timeline data to show direction of travel. There was no secondary evaluation, no situation analysis, no context, and almost no low-level geography data. Fortunately, I’ve got a bit better at this data stuff since then!

As has everyone else, including those who provide leadership and guidance in this area. Everyone with responsibility to complete Well-being assessments, or population assessments, or any form of assessment or analysis, is now well-versed in the art of accessing, analysis and contextualising data to better understand the situation or population they are looking at.

This shift in technique and focus equally applies to how we measure impact. Previously, we’d use much the same data as we’d used to complete a needs assessment (how antiquated does that seem now!), but now we are far more sophisticated in how we measure impact. The use of qualitative data is now routine and compliments the quantitative data that has always been available.

There has also been a gradual, but fundamental shift, in what we measure. The introduction of the Well-being of Future Generations Act and the Social Services and Well-being Act ask that we consider how we measure impact. What is it that we are trying to achieve, what is it that people want from services and service providers and how can we best show impact.

Perhaps the biggest shift has been the development of ideas around what our end goals are. Why are we here? What are we trying to achieve with all our planning and effort and services? Do we want to make things ‘better’ or do we want people to be ‘happier’? These are fairly big philosophical questions, but obviously pretty central to ensuring we are doing the right thing for people. It is an interesting tension between organisations who are responsible for strategically planning and providing the services (sometimes required to provide by legislation), and the public who are supported by, and consume the services. Which of those two groups gets to decide which services should be provided and what the outcome of those services should be? And what success should look like?

This position does raise an interesting philosophical question – it is entirely possible to run a good service that makes no impact on people’s well-being. Using all sorts of standard service performance measures (attendance numbers, raised awareness, attendee satisfaction, etc.), an intervention can be a success. But the trickier thing to measure is what difference an intervention has made to people’s well-being, are people actually better off because of what you have done? And is that difference tangible and long-lasting, or just a fleeting emotion? All challenging stuff, but if we are really trying to understand what makes a difference to people’s lives, are these the sorts of questions we need to answer?

So, these questions are now shaping how we decide what data to collect and disseminate. Our traditional range of indicators covering performance and health, education, transport, the economy, etc. remain absolutely relevant and important to our partners. But we have been expanding our range to meet their changing need. So, we now hold far more survey data and we are looking to develop our ability to hold other sources of qualitative data as well.

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In April 2018, we launched the first version of Thriving Places Wales. Developed in partnership with Happy City, it was our first venture into well-being data, and it looks at the prevalence of conditions for well-being, which are focused on health, community and happiness rather than income and services. 

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The tool is based on several years of development work by Happy City, who provided the expertise and methodology. We, along with the Public Services Boards in Gwent, provided a distinctive Welsh perspective, by sourcing and including data from Welsh sources that gave the tool a different feel to the Thriving Places Index for England.

It keeps company with lots of other resources that are developing and becoming more useful to partners, such as the ONS National Well-being dashboard, the Well-being of Wales indicators and the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation, which looks at the absence of well-being rather than the prevalence of well-being.

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And in addition to the increased focus on well-being, the issue of loneliness and isolation is also having a raised profile now. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) are bringing together several sources of administrative and survey data to look at loneliness, and Welsh Government has recently closed a consultation on tackling loneliness and isolation, which will led to the publication of a national strategy. 

This does not begin to look at what well-being data might be available to you locally from services, community groups, schools and other sources where surveys and other data gathering exercises may have been commissioned. All these additional sources of data give partners options in terms of the data available to them. And whilst having too much data to choose from is obviously better than the opposite scenario, it does mean you have to make choices!

So, the real kicker to all this is that there is probably not one right answer, no single course of action that you can take. As with all these things, a combination of data and data sources probably works best to give you the fullest picture possible, and (as always) your ideal solution will look just a little different from everyone else’s!

Perhaps the key is to try different things, to speak to colleagues and partners and to have the time internally to make sure you know what your end goals are and what questions you need to ask to find out if you are getting there! Which sounds like the start of a Theory of Change model, but we’ll leave that for another blog!

Since writing this blog, we have published a 2019 update to Thriving Places Wales.

About the author

Duncan Mackenzie

Duncan is our strategic lead for partnership support. He works with PSBs and public bodies to support their data and information work, and manages a number of our online data portals and dissemination tools.

He is also an internationally qualified basketball statistician, which means he spends much of his time outside of work looking at data!

Contact

029 2090 9527

Duncan.Mackenzie@data.cymru


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Lessons learnt or always learning? The time has come to move on. I’ve been with Data Cymru for 16 years and during that time some things have stayed the same and many things have changed. This is a reflection on all that’s happened and the joys I’ve experienced working for this unique organisation.

Square 1

I joined the Local Government Data Unit ~ Wales in 2003 when the Welsh Government had commissioned us to manage the Living in Wales surveys. These national household surveys had a house condition element built in. My role as the statistician was working with policy leads to develop questionnaire topics. I was fresh from university and quickly learnt everything there was to know about surveys and house conditions. Information that I plan to use again in my new role at Newport City Homes.

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I also learnt there’s a right and a wrong way to present data. I wish I had seen our guide to Presenting Data sooner as my PhD thesis is almost a perfect example of how not to publish tables and charts! Over the years I’ve given lots of advice on improving data presentation as well as delivering training courses. It’s come full circle as this year we are planning on giving all our Good Practice Guides a revamp, it seems that the need for good advice never goes away.

As part of the Statistics and Surveys Section I was involved in the Free Swimming pilot which ignited my interest in social research.Blog The scheme is still going strong and is a constant reminder of the power of policy to change culture and opportunities. Over recent years we have seen an increase in the need for high quality social research to contribute to the policy cycle and we have introduced more social research roles. I’ve developed our Social Research Strategy and we plan to make even more of a splash in future years.

Stronger together

Long before the introduction of the Future Generations Act we were working collaboratively. I’ve had the pleasure of being on a range of networking and advisory groups with colleagues from local and central government.

The Welsh Statistical Liaison Committee will always have a special place in my heart. I’ve learned so much, met such interesting people, been inspired and supported. I’ve always come away from those meetings with a list as long as my arm of things to follow up on or to share with colleagues. Those days have been tiring and stimulating in equal measure. The vision of a very small side plate piled with sandwiches will remind me of how much we crammed into such small gatherings!

Wales has come together on numerous occasions to create Welsh specific data and the introduction of the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation in 2005 is the epitome of this. I’ve been involved in the calculation of indicators, spending a week in Probation Service offices working on sensitive offender data, and advising on the dissemination of results. I have a feeling that I will continue to be involved by using the data and promoting the usefulness of such a well-constructed index.

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It is with a wry smile that I note that I will be working with the Welsh Housing Quality Standard in my new role. During the 2004 House Condition Survey I worked closely with Welsh Government and HouseMark colleagues to find a way to measure this aspirational standard. In 2018, 91% of social houses are compliant, this compares with a figure of 0.8% reported in 2004!

I’m staying on the Housing Statistical Analytical Resource working group to continue to contribute to Welsh housing statistics. Data Cymru will continue to have representation and I look forward to bringing greater links between Housing Associations and local government in a data sense.

Making my mark

By 2006 I was expecting my first child, a daunting time and a very different one in terms of maternity rights. I returned to work after just 6 months and shortly after the Wider Data Environment team was expanding. I took on a role to support access to data and population statistics. I thought I knew about most of the data available by this point, but I was proved wrong! There was so much more than I had imagined. It became clear that we had to do more than just publish a CD of data to help local government colleagues find what they were looking for.

In 2009 I gave birth to my second child just weeks before my Data Unit child, InfoBaseCymru, was born! Whilst I can’t lay claim to thinking of the name, it is with great pride that I look upon it as the solution to many people’s data needs. This year marks the 10th anniversary of InfoBaseCymru and we have plans to improve it and promote it. It continues to go from strength to strength and I will continue to use it as my first port of call and am looking forward to being the customer, someone we are so keen to understand.

The good, the bad and the ugly

If InfoBaseCymru is the good then there have definitely been the bad and the ugly too! In house condition surveys we used the good the bad and the ugly method to provide us with lots of “ugly” or poorer quality housing in the sample. This means we can more accurately measure housing quality and therefore target resources for improvement.

This is also true of statistical work, the more projects of a tricky nature you work on the better a statistician you will become. With this in mind, I look back fondly on the work for the Go Safe partnership to analyse traffic speed cameras. We knew this would be an important one to get right. Methods had to be spot on and details just right. It was with a sigh of relief that the results were verified by a professor in the field. Of course, not everyone was pleased with the results, nor the methods. Conversations with a campaigner and with the Office for National Statistics gave me sweaty palms, but also made clear the responsibilities we have when producing such material.

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Our work for Sport Wales probably falls into all three categories as it has provided me and the team with both highs and lows over the years. I have worked on both the Active Adults and School Sports surveys since 2012. The work involved analysing the huge data samples and producing the thousands of dissemination tables. Every iteration of the work has spawned improvements around the methods that we use and highlighted the need for me to bring so many skills to the work. This is the ultimate test of project management to stick to timetables, budgets and changing needs. A detailed understanding of the statistics you are working with is needed and being able to manipulate large quantities of data is essential. This is one of the few pieces of my work that really hits the headlines. Thanks to great publicity by Sport Wales there are numerous news stories showing the value and use of data that I help to provide.

The measure of time

Statisticians count, or so the badge I picked up from the Royal Statistical Society conference in Cardiff last year says. It’s thanks to Data Cymru’s support that I gained the status of Chartered Statistician. I’ve strived to do the continued professional development required and to keep my skills up to date.

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It’s true that statisticians do love to count everything, that’s one of the things that my Data Cymru colleagues and I have a in common. We record employee and project time and this has been both a burden and benefit during my working life. On one hand you are acutely aware of the minutes that you spend trying to work something out, but on the other, we can reflect on the value for money we provide and find efficiencies to drive improvement. Using this type of administrative data in different ways has been a focus of mine for a few years. During the development of our recent business strategy I championed the need to build our data science capacity. It’s one of those sexy new titles that is being used; analysts are now more commonly referred to as data scientists and their voice is being listened to all the more for it.

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I started my working life with an interest in programming and I am continuing it, but now I call it coding. I find myself reflecting on the fact that I may have always been a data scientist, but never have known the name for it! We have taken on more data science colleagues and have produced a Data Science Strategy to integrate this into all we do. I know Data Cymru will go from strength to strength in this area and my skills will be used to support my new organisation as they begin their journey.

The unwavering constants

The one thing that stays the same is that everything must change. This is true of both the work and the people.

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I joined Data Cymru just as the 2001 Census results were being released and we were running a roadshow to promote the results. For the 2011 Census I was on the Census Advisory Group for Wales and helped to produce a Welsh language section in InfoBaseCymru. For the 2021 Census I’m on the same groups to advise on the digital by default approach and I’ll look on with interest as I complete my online form. I also advise on the census transformation to an Admin Based Data Census. This will see greater use of routinely collected data and potentially do away with the need for a traditional census. This really shows how nothing stays exactly the same.

While the people in the organisation continue to come and go I feel privileged to have worked with great people at Data Cymru throughout my 16 years. That is one of the few things that hasn’t changed. We have laughed, cried and shared the highs and lows that all jobs provide. It has been like a family to me. We have moved home on more than one occasion, but in typical Welsh style we haven’t moved far. Despite having been in three different buildings and had countless desks (mostly due to our hot-desking policy) I have always been surrounded by the best technology to enable me to do my job. Combined with the enthusiasm, creativity and intelligence of the people this has been the most successful formula to help me grow and flourish.

Lessons learnt or always learning?

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I’ve been reflecting lately on my Ikigai, my reason for being. It’s made up of a variety of areas and helps you identify what you are good at to help you live a full and prosperous life.

At Academi Wales’ Summer School in 2018 we were asked to give ourselves a hashtag. I choose #alwayslearning. I think this sums me up, whilst my thirst to learn remains insatiable I have so much more to give and I also know that my desire to teach is ever present.

From my postgrad days of teaching SPSS to doctors through the delivery of training courses on surveys and data and to a more recent focus of delivering undergraduate modules I continue to complete the circle and feedback what I’ve learnt by teaching others. I think it is in my nature. I have realised that I love data and I need to continue to help others find their love for data too.

Life is a journey and through it we gain experience. My need to grow has made me brave enough to leave an incredibly rewarding and varied job. I take with me a sense of pride and accomplishment and the knowledge that all there is yet to do remains in safe hands. I need to thank all those that have contributed to this experience and wish those that remain the best of luck as I know they will continue to work tirelessly in areas that will forever remain close to my heart.

I’ll continue to check in on Data Cymru and hope that our paths cross again as the world of data really is a small one.

About the author

Dr Jenny Murphy

Jenny, our senior statistician at Data Cymru had overall responsibility for all of our data dissemination, survey and analysis work.


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Understanding the places where we live and work - Challenges and opportunities

Place based evidence is essential, both to plan and deliver services and to understand how places are changing over time. This is being brought into stronger focus in recent work to better understand well-being at a community level. However, painting a picture of a place and being able to distinguish its characteristics from those of other places brings its challenges. Firstly, how best to define our places in a consistent way, while providing information on a geographical basis which service providers (and citizens) will recognise as towns, communities, etc. Secondly, the challenge of limited robust quantitative data being available at a sub-local authority level.

We’re always up for a challenge and have spent the last 18 months looking at what might be possible. With support from the Cardiff Capital Region we have developed a successful pilot tool as a ‘proof of concept’. In terms of defining a ‘place’, we have used the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Built-up Areas (BUA) geography. Given that ONS recommends caution when using statistics for BUAs with a population of less than 1,500 people, we settled on BUAs with a population of 1,500 or more. This gave us 80 ‘places’ in the Cardiff Capital Region. We were able to source an initial set of data for these places.

So, where are we now? Feedback from demonstrations of the pilot tool over the Spring and Summer of 2018 was very positive. So much so, we’ve pressed ahead with the development of a fully bilingual tool covering ‘places’ across Wales. Profilingplaces.Wales will launch in the coming weeks as a beta version. While aimed at supporting local government and its partners, we hope it will be useful to a wider audience.

We have an exciting route map planned for the tool, with a long-term focus on its potential to support understanding of the data coming out the 2021 Census. In the meantime, we’ll be looking for input from users as we seek to add further data and extend its functionality.

To keep in touch with the launch of the new tool please follow us on Twitter. If you’d like to discuss this work further, or have a demonstration of the new tool, please drop me an email.

About the author

Andrew Stephens

Andrew has been the Executive Director of Data Cymru for 15 years. He has overall day to day responsibility for the management of the organisation. This includes responsibility for both strategic and operational management. Andrew also provides senior leadership and oversight on a range of Data Cymru projects and deliverables.

Contact

029 2090 9500

Andrew.Stephens@data.cymru


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http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/profiling-places http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/profiling-places http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/profiling-places Tue, 09 Apr 2019 13:32:00 GMT