Learning outcomes from Analysis in Government (AiG) Month 2024 live events
Missed an Analysis in Government Month 2024 session? Take a look at our collection of learning outcomes to find out more about the topics covered throughout the month.
How to drive innovation
This session was presented by Matt Gurden and Adrian Richards. In this blog, Matt and Adrian share some of their reflections from the event, as well as the thoughts of others on the call, to really understand what works well in driving innovation: How to drive innovation
Matt is the Deputy Government Actuary. He has spent 13 years in the public sector after 14 years as a consultant in the private sector. He is responsible for engaging with the wider Civil Service supporting robust decision-making, effective policy development and transparent reporting. Matt is the former chair of the joint Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) and Institution of Civil Engineers Risk Group and of the IFoA wider fields working party. Adrian is the co-director of Knowledge, Analysis and Intelligence (KAI) at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
All mouth and no trousers? Putting accessibility innovations into practice
This session was presented by colleagues from Office for National Statistics (ONS). Download the “Putting accessibility innovations into practice” slides (PPTX, 3.2MB).
Expand your knowledge with the following resources:
- Analysis Function e-learning: introduction to data-visualisation
- guidance on making publications accessible
- GOV.UK guidance on publishing accessible documents
- WebAIM colour contrast checker — check your colours have sufficient contrast to be accessible
- Hemingway App — a useful app that highlights lengthy, complex sentences and common errors in your writing that may make your work less accessible
- resources to use with the AF releasing statistics in spreadsheets guidance
- Dumbbell plots in ggplot2 — learn more about producing dumbbell plots
- Gypsy or Irish Traveller populations, England and Wales: Census 2021 — this is the publication Hannah referred to in her presentation
Innovate to educate: Making the most of your learning
This session was presented by colleagues from Cabinet Office and KPMG.
Expand your knowledge with the following resources:
- Government Campus learning curriculum — this offers a wide range of high quality learning designed to meet your needs, whatever your requirement and whatever stage of your career
- a Civil Service Learning course giving an introduction to writing skills
- a FutureLearn course on the foundations of writing using the JASPER technique
Transport User Personas: Putting people at the heart of our decisions in the Department for Transport (DfT)
This session was presented by colleagues from the Department for Transport (DfT).
Expand your knowledge with the following resources:
- guidance on bringing people to the forefront of Department for Transport (DfT) policies to ensure transport systems work for everyone
- a news article on DfT user persona work
- a technical report on DfT user persona work
- guidance about developing user personas from the Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Developing an award winning Environmental Noise Modelling System
This session was presented by colleagues from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Expand your knowledge with the following resources:
- information about noise management in the UK
- guidance on Noise Impact Assessments involving calculations or modelling
Our experience of completing 252 hours of Community Payback
This session was presented by colleagues in Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
Expand your knowledge with the following resources:
- information about the MoJ Community Payback scheme — Community Payback is unpaid work like removing graffiti, clearing wasteland and decorating public places and buildings, such as community centres
- a video about the MoJ Community Payback scheme
- a blog post about a day in the life of a Community Payback supervisor
Innovative Ways of Working: Devolution for analysts
This session was presented by colleagues from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Expand your knowledge with the following resources:
- information about ONS initiatives and priorities for producing UK-wide data
- the UK Parliament definition of devolution
- a research briefing giving an introduction to devolution in the UK
- a research Briefing about reserved matters in the UK
- the Devolved Parliaments and Assemblies webpage
Use of artificial intelligence (AI) in government
This session was presented by colleagues from National Audit Office (NAO).
Expand your knowledge with the following resources:
12 months of AI
This session was presented by colleagues from the Data Science Campus at the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Expand your knowledge with the following resources:
- data from the Opinion and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) on the use of AI and how people feel about its uptake in today’s society
- an article about using large language models to improve website search experience — see the coding for the project to improve web search on GitHub
- Data Science Campus website
Setting up rapid response surveys to support displaced Ukrainians
This session was presented by colleagues from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Expand your knowledge with the following resources:
- experiences of visa holders entering the UK under the Ukraine Humanitarian Schemes, from Wave 3 of the UK Humanitarian Response Insight Survey
- guidance from Imperial College on writing surveys
Data First: Harnessing the potential of linked administrative data for the justice system
This session was presented by colleagues from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
Expand your knowledge with the following resources:
- MoJ: Data First — Data First is an ambitious data-linking programme led by the Ministry of Justice and funded by ADR UK
- MoJ Data First, application form for secure access to data — this form covers applications for data held by the MoJ, the Department for Education (DfE), and HM Courts and Tribunals
- MoJ research and analysis
- Splink: free software for probabilistic record linkage at scale
- an article about administrative data
- an exploratory analysis of returning defendants and the potential of linked criminal courts data from 2011 to 2019 in England and Wales
- an article about ethnic inequalities in the criminal justice system
- a video demonstrating how research findings can be shared innovatively
Visual Storytelling: International comparative analysis at the centre of government
This session was presented by colleagues from Cabinet Office.
Expand your knowledge with the following resources:
- guide to comparative analysis
- guidance and examples on data storytelling from the ChartExpo Content Team
The following resources may give some inspiration for your own data visualisations:
- Pew Research Centre newsletter
- DataWrapper blog
- R chart library
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chart of the Week
- Financial Times — generally looking at the visualisations they produce for their publications
- John Burn-Murdoch on X
- Our World in Data
- Information is Beautiful
You may find the following colour palettes and style guides useful:
- a detailed guide to colours in data visualisation style guides
- ColorBrewer — a tool to help you design palettes
- Viz-palette — a tool to test the accessibility of your colour palette
Embracing diversity in analytical talent
This session was presented by colleagues from Government Actuary’s Department (GAD).
Expand your knowledge with the following resources:
Hackathon approach to analysis collaboration
This session was presented by colleagues from Ministry of Defence (MOD).
Expand your knowledge with the following resources:
- article about the first Ministry of Defence Hackathon
- article about the Defence Hackathon developing solutions to real-world problems
- information about hackathons
- information about hackathons at Evidence House
- information about ‘superforecasting’
More Than Words: Using Languages expertise to support government thinking
This session was presented by colleagues from Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).
Expand your knowledge with the following resources:
- information about the GCHQ National Language Competition 2024 — the competition will run from Monday 18 to Friday 22 November
- GCHQ Language Resources — resource packs for Key Stage 4 language students
- information about careers as a Language Specialists at GCHQ
- a literature of ancient languages in primary schools in England
- Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN)
- Centre for Latin Excellence
You can contact Professor Arlene Holmes-Henderson by emailing Arlene.V.Holmes-Henderson@durham.ac.uk. You can also:
Student-level equalities analysis
This session was presented by colleagues from Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual).
- Ofqual equalities analysis interactive report
- information on equalities analysis of GCSE, A level and vocational and technical qualifications awarded in 2023