Initial Scottish Government Reproducible Analytical Pipeline (RAP) Strategy Implementation Plan 2023

As part of the Analysis Function Reproducible Analytical Pipelines (RAP) Strategy, public sector organisations have been asked to create an implementation plan to:

• explain how they will meet the strategy’s goals
• describe what success looks like for their organisation
• develop local plans to implement the actions against three strategic goals: tools, capability, and culture

This Implementation Plan sets out how the Scottish Government will begin implementing the RAP Strategy during the 2023 calendar year. Our plan sets out how the Scottish Government will start to respond to the requirements of the strategy to provide the right tools, develop the right capability, and create the right culture. We will also explain how we will measure our progress towards achieving the aims of our plan.

Analytical Tools Statistical Community Group

One of the main success factors for the Scottish Government’s Implementation Plan in 2023 is to establish an Analytical Tools Statistical Community Group. The Group will promote the use of RAP in the Scottish Government. We anticipate that the Community Group will help to maintain this Implementation Plan, develop it for the future, and monitor progress. Beyond this, we hope the group will play a significant role in championing RAP, supporting change, and encouraging engagement across the organisation to strengthen our approach.

Our local strategic plan recognises the positive high-level steps that are underway to support RAP. More detailed actions will follow once the Statistical Community Group is established. These will include:

• creating links with Statistical Community Groups for learning and development
• improving publications to ensure that analysts have the capability to implement and maintain RAPs

RAP Strategy and the Analytical Tools Strategy

There are parallels between the RAP Strategy and the Scottish Government’s Analytical Tools Strategy. The Analytical Tools Strategy was approved in 2021 and sets out a series of actions to improve the working environment and IT offering for analysts to enable greater innovation. One of the strategy’s actions is to promote RAP to improve quality and consistency in statistical processes.

Some of the needs outlined in this Initial RAP Implementation Plan were originally identified in the Analytical Tools Strategy. We have included them in this plan to build a consistent understanding of the practical steps needed to support the wider themes of tools, capability and culture that are common to both strategies.

Making 2023 a successful year for Scottish Government

Scottish Government will concentrate on four main areas to achieve success in 2023:

1. A new Statistical Community Group will promote the effective use of analytical tools and support the implementation of RAP.
2. The Statistics Group 2023 efficiency priority includes RAP by default.
3. We will run two further rounds of the Fit for the Future leadership programme for statisticians to promote the uptake of R and RAP.
4. We will support the completion of six RAP projects.

Local strategic plan

The right tools: summary at the start of 2023

A range of tools and platforms are available to analysts in the Scottish Government. We will work with the teams supporting platforms to provide clarity and best practice guidance on how to maximise the potential of our available resources to support statisticians and enable RAP.

The Principles for our Analytical Software recognise the aim to use open source, open standards, and cloud computing. The results of the Scottish Government’s learning and development survey for statisticians from April 2022 show that Excel is the most commonly used analytical tool, followed by SAS, then R. The survey results also show that confidence and experience in R was lower than it was with SAS.

R and R Studio are both available for installation on Scottish Government devices.

A fully supported Analytical Workbench for the Scottish public sector provides a range of analytical software, computing resources and secure, shared workspaces to help people work together across organisational boundaries. It features up to date, stable software, increased computing power and a Shiny server to host interactive content. Three zones offer standard, protected and private security for different analytical needs.

The Analytical Data Management system (ADM) is a platform for analysts across the Scottish Government to store, access and share data. It offers:

• secure data storage
• descriptive metadata
• access to a variety of analytical software
• access to bespoke publishing platforms for outputs

Version control is supported through Git and GitHub with guidance and learning resources for the analytical professions.

Actions

We will:

• work with the Data Platforms Team and Scottish Government IT service to give analysts access to the right tools, in the right place that are easy to access
• provide easily accessible, flexible, and responsive platforms
• work with analytical teams to make sure that analysis code and code repositories follow best practices so analysis can be reproduced — this includes using version control

The right capability: summary at the start of 2023

Scottish Government analysts are increasingly using open-source software. We are supporting approaches to share best practice, training and advice to widen the use of R and other open-source programming languages.

The Data Innovation team is supporting individuals and teams thinking about introducing RAP in their work. This includes:

• reviewing project requirements and mapping out a process
• deciding where to start when transitioning a process to a RAP
• understanding what software is available and how to make best use of it
• following best practices for structuring scripts, files and folders for your RAP
• using Git and GitHub, ensuring your RAP project is setup within a repository
• using GitHub Pull Requests to develop your RAP with other people
• code reviews and applying best practices to your R code — for example, this includes avoiding repetition and following coding conventions from a style guide
• options for data visualisation, ensuring your charts are accessible
• deciding on the best format for outputs — for example, R Markdown, HTML documents, or Shiny dashboards
• developing and maintaining central resources that are made available across the broader analytical communities

The Analytical Tools Statistical Community Group will be responsible for identifying ways to promote more effective use of analytical tools and support the implementation of RAP. The group will also oversee the Scottish Government’s R User Community, which includes supporting with the R User Day and offering support for R users.

Actions

We will:

• establish a Statistical Community Group for Analytical Tools
• provide relevant learning opportunities
• build commitment to introducing RAP by default in team plans
• support individuals and teams who are thinking of introducing RAP to their work
• form an understanding of the current state of open-source software use in Scottish Government

The right culture: summary at the start of 2023

Our communication around RAP is helping to develop an understanding of the benefits. This means colleagues can engage with support and apply RAP processes in their work.

We are communicating the benefits of RAP through newsletters and showcase events as well as through more direct help and advice.

Scottish Public Sector R User Day

This event provides an opportunity to share knowledge and experience of using R, including examples of RAP projects. The day is organised by the R User Community and it is an important part of building a culture that will enable RAP.

Fit for the Future Leadership Development Programme

This is a six-day programme for Scottish Government mid to senior level analysts which includes examples of RAP. The programme improves awareness and understanding of a wide range of factors, including the promotion and use of open-source software. This will support senior analysts to influence and encourage improvements in their area.

Data Masterclass for Senior Leaders

We promote the Data Masterclass for Senior Leaders through the Scottish Digital Academy to:

• help leaders ask the right questions of their analytical colleagues
• improve data and analytical literacy
• build support for high quality analysis to inform decisions

Supporting new ways of working

We understand that to fully realise the benefits of RAP we need to support new ways of working and invest in our staff and the tools and platforms they use.

Actions

We will:

• choose leaders responsible for promoting RAP and monitoring progress towards the RAP Strategy
• build capacity for sustainable improvements, including RAP
• grow the network of RAP champions and practitioners
• communicate the benefits of RAP

Local implementation plan