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Analysis Function Innovation Hub

“To deliver analysis with impact, we need to unlock the potential of new tools and techniques.”

— Matt Gurden, Deputy Government Actuary, Innovation Sponsor for the Government Analysis Function

What this hub is for

This page gives information about the guidance and support available to help you work more innovatively in your department. This includes information on both innovative tools and examples of how innovative techniques have been applied within government.

We want to hear from you about anything to do with innovation. Let us know if you:

  • would like to share your own innovative work
  • have any suggestions for how we could support innovation further
  • have anything else you would like to say about innovation

You can contact us by emailing the Analysis Function Central Team at Analysis.Function@ons.gov.uk.

Who this hub is for

The information on this page is for all analysts working within government who want to find new and exciting ways of working to provide outstanding outcomes for the public.

What we mean by innovation

Innovation refers to the development or adoption of new ideas, tools, and ways of working. This includes all aspects of producing quality analysis such as:

  • data collection
  • data access
  • user engagement
  • analysis processes
  • quality assurance
  • working together with colleagues
  • communication of outputs

Not everything needs to be innovative, but where possible we should strive for innovation and encourage the sharing and learning of experience across the analytical community.

Innovation is essential to analysis in government. It is a core element of the Analysis Function Standard and each of the analytical professions refer to innovation in their standards and expectations.

Innovation can help us to:

  • improve the efficiency of analysis
  • improve or maintain the quality of analysis
  • enhance the range and effectiveness of analysis
  • develop skills and capability
  • revisit existing challenges with new approaches

Find out more about innovation and what it looks like in the Analysis Function by visiting the learning resources we created for Analysis in Government Month 2024.

Analysis Function innovation showcases

This is a quarterly series of Analysis Function (AF) show and tell events which highlight extraordinary innovation across the AF. The showcases are hosted by Professor Sir Ian Diamond, Head of the Analysis Function and National Statistician.

Join us to learn more about the great innovative analysis work going on across government, share best practice, build communities and get inspiration for your own innovations. Teams from across Government will showcase the innovative work they are doing at each event. You can find more detail about previous examples of innovation included in the showcases in the “Innovation case studies” section on this webpage.

You can find out more about upcoming innovation showcases and register to attend on Eventbrite.

Innovation case studies

There are many excellent examples of innovation across government.

Select a heading to find out more about each piece of work.

The Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) developed an app that uses artificial intelligence methods to help with analysis of thousands of audit reports. The tool has been used internally and externally to analyse text from board minutes, surveys, consultation responses and more.

You can find out more about the GIAA Insights Engine on GOV.UK.

Kitchen Life 2 is a behavioural research project by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). It used video capture to understand real-life behaviour in household and commercial kitchens.

Kitchen Life 2 was the winner of the 2022 Analysis in Government Award for Innovation. You can read the Kitchen Life 2 research reports to find out more about the project.

The Oflog data explorer presents performance outcome metrics for local authority services, recognising that services are provided differently in different locations. You can find out more about the data explorer by:

The Department for Transport (DfT) and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) used new techniques to understand how people view self-driving vehicles and how to effectively communicate safety information about them. You can find out more about their work on self-driving vehicles on GOV.UK.

Social Researchers in the Department for Transport (DfT) developed ‘Transport User Personas’, an engaging, evidence-based tool that helps put people at the heart of decision-making within DfT. Twelve Personas have been developed from a mixed-method research study that segmented people aged 16 and over in England into nine segments based on shared demographic, attitudinal and behavioural traits. You can find out more about the user personas by:

Data First is a pioneering data-linking, academic engagement and research programme led by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and funded by ADR UK (Administrative Data Research UK). Data from the courts, prison and probation services in England and Wales have been linked to enable new and innovative analysis of user journeys, interactions, and outcomes across the justice system. Data First enables researchers across government and academia to access these datasets in an ethical and responsible way via secure platforms in the ONS Secure Research Service and SAIL Databank. You can find out more about the Data First programme on GOV.UK.

Innovative resources

There are several resources that can help you with innovation in your department, including:

  • the Analysis Function Learning Curriculum — this contains a range of technical learning and development opportunities relevant to innovation
  • the Data Science Campus — this provides an evolving range of learning and development programmes, which concentrate on using data to encourage innovation for public good
  • the Integrated Data Service (IDS) — this securely enables co-ordinated access to a range of high-quality data which are critical to informing policy decisions and improving public services
  • Reproducible Analytical Pipelines (RAPs) — these are automated statistical and analytical processes which incorporate elements of software engineering best practice to ensure the pipelines are reproducible, auditable, efficient, and high quality
  • Splink — this is a Python package for probabilistic record linkage that allows you to deduplicate and link records from datasets without unique identifiers
  • Evidence House — this is an initiative led by Downing Street to find solutions for problems that affect the public, whilst also upskilling civil servants in the newest data science and analysis techniques
  • the Database for Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) – this enables analysts to search, browse or analyse ARIs from UK governmental bodies
  • Turning knowledge into action – this guidance created by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) explains how Knowledge to Action (K2A) can help decision-makers connect knowledge with decisions
  • the UK Data Service’s Quali Bank – is the UK Data Service’s search and browse interface for qualitative data objects allowing searching of the content of text files, such as interviews, essays, open ended questions and reports

There are several tools that can help you with innovation in your department, including:

  • the Hemingway Editor – a useful app that highlights lengthy, complex sentences and common errors in your writing. This supports accessibility of publications
  • the WebAIM: Contrast Checker – a useful app to check your colours have sufficient contrast to be accessible. This supports accessibility of publications and data visualisations
  • the Dumbbell plot in ggplot2 – this offers guidance on how to produce dumbbell plots
  • the The R Graph Gallery – the most extensive compilation of R-generated graphs on the web
  • the ColorBrewer – a tool to help you design palettes for maps
  • the Viz Palette – a tool to test the accessibility of your colour palette
  • the GeoConvert tool – a tool that makes it easy to match UK postcodes, census geographies and convert data between them

Innovative reading list

There are several blogs from analysts and cross-government teams on how to drive innovation and support innovative teams, including:

Contact us

If you would like more information or support with innovation, please email the Analysis Function Central Team at Analysis.Function@ons.gov.uk.