Open Government action plan 2021 to 2025 - commitment 3: data and digital commitment

Progress to August 2022

Milestone: Open up data relevant to other open government themes, such as key climate change datasets used by government for modelling and reporting, data on public transport and public sector expenditure

Update and next steps

We wish to open up data relevant to other open government themes. In the coming months, we will link with colleagues who work in the three open government commitment areas where data acts as an enabler (financial transparency, climate change, health). We firstly want to understand what specific questions which are being asked for these commitments and we seek to explain how data can be used to help answer these questions.

Following this scene setting we intend to work with colleagues to establish datasets which meet specific needs. This will be accompanied by specific data standards and metadata requirements to enable sustainable publication. This will likely serve as one of the data commitment milestones for 2023.

Status

On schedule.

Milestone: Run a CivTech challenge to evaluate if technology can make public sector data easy to find, assess outcomes and set out the way forward.

Update and next steps

The Scottish Government has been working with the Data & Intelligence Network and NatureScot on the CivTech Data Discoverability Challenge to evaluate if technology can make public sector data (held across multiple portals) easier to find, access and use.

The solution, named ‘Dtechtive’, developed by Dtime, enables easy and efficient data search using simple language and contextual information. It identifies datasets and provides indicators of popularity, quality and age. The solution will be available through an open API and the Beta release of the open data search is proposed for November 2022.

Status

On schedule.

Milestone: Set up the Data Transformation Framework stating what ‘good data’ looks like and the process by which organisations can improve – this focuses on opportunity for organisations to improve data maturity, data literacy and adoption of standards, through collaboration and engagement with local government and other public sector bodies, to be useful for civil society.

Update and next steps

The Data Transformation Framework (DTF) provides the scaffolding and support to empower and sustain improvement projects and is supported by the Data Maturity Programme (DMP), which is the driver to activate change in public sector organisations.

The first cohort of the Data Maturity and Pathways Programme (DMPP) has completed, delivered with seven public sector organisations, five local authorities (Aberdeenshire, East Lothian, Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian) Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership and Transport Scotland. Whilst this has been very much a learning project it has shown that there is a strong need for strategic leadership, direction and guidance to enable public sector organisations to achieve desired data improvements and to become data driven in their thinking and decision making. The main challenges from this first cohort were:

• limited internal capacity – it’s hard to create the space and time required to undertake the research and planning required to pursue data transformation
• securing buy-in for data transformation from others – data transformation and its potential benefits are not well understood
• identifying what to prioritise – the opportunities for data transformation can feel limitless and overwhelming

The next cohort can expect to face similar challenges in undertaking this project and will be encouraged to think how their approach to the tasks can mitigate or avoid them. The design of the programme has also been adapted to allow more time for buy-in prior to undertaking the data maturity assessment.

Results from the assessments themselves show that for each individual organisation, there was considerable range of opinions about data maturity. However, overall, the strongest themes for data maturity were data, culture and use and the areas most identified for improvements were tools, analysis and skills. The overall conclusion for the Scottish Government and cohort members is that public sector organisations have lots of data, they spend a lot of staff time working with it, they use it for many different purposes, however they are not optimising its value as a strategic resource.

For the second Cohort, starting in August, initial contacts with a range of organisations have already produced significant interest. Ten organisations will be involved in this round. To ensure organisations are prepared for the cohort, their readiness will be reviewed through a readiness questionnaire. 

Work is also underway on a personas project, the primary purpose of which is to develop personas that embody typical DTF users (direct and indirect) and their needs. The personas will provide a core tool for the user centred development approach the Framework is using, to ensure the product developed is responding to a range of potential users. A report on the personas will be available shortly.

Status

On schedule.

Milestone: Review the front end of our official statistics open data publishing platform, statistics.gov.scot.

Update and next steps

Scotland’s Official Statistics open data publishing system, statistics.gov.scot, was launched in 2016. Since then, the open data team within Scottish Government has continued to improve the site and to increase the number of relevant datasets which it holds. As the site has been live for a number of years, we wanted to review it. We worked with a company called User Vision to carry out user research on the site. The main objectives were to determine what tasks users came to complete on the site, and whether they were successful in doing so. We ran a script on the site and only ran limited promotion of the survey to reduce potential bias amongst respondents.

57% of respondents had visited the site in a personal capacity, rather than for professional reasons. The findings were supplemented with one-to-one in depth interviews with a selection of individuals who had completed the survey, and with other stakeholders. This research indicated that people have not always been able to complete the tasks they intended to do on the site.

We worked with stakeholders and contractors to develop a new more simplified home page for statistics.gov.scot. This was launched in July 2022. This improvement is the first of a series of longer term activities to develop the site. We intend to work in an iterative, “agile” manner to achieve further improvements. We recognise that some of these changes are likely to be substantial.

Further information on the new home page and next plans can be found with the Scottish Government digital blog.

Status

On schedule.

Milestone: Increase the amount of Scottish public sector open data being published, through collaborations such as the Data Standards and Open Data Community of Practice.

Update and next steps

The Scottish Government is keen to collaborate to increase the quantity and quality of relevant open data to help inform decision making for citizens and to grow the economy and improve people’s outcomes.  For open data publication to be sustainable, we need to ensure that useful and relevant datasets are being published and the data are sufficiently mature.

We are building a Community of Practice amongst those in the public sector, in the first instance, with an interest in data (including data standards, open data and data innovation). The Community of Practice (CoP) on Data Standards and Open Data is a network of representatives from public sector organisations aiming to share knowledge, experiences and lessons-learnt on data standards and open data.  The broad aim of this community is to further our common goals of increasing the adoption of data standards and the publication of open data within the public sector, which are vital if Scotland is to succeed in its economic, social, and environmental ambitions.

The CoP does not meet regularly but has a SharePoint site and events throughout the year, the CoP Champions meet quarterly. We have had a couple of meetings with the core champions network and we are looking to refresh our focus on our work.

We have also been linking with stakeholders in the third sector and the private sector, through alliances such as ScotlandIS and the Open Data Institute (ODI).

Status

On schedule.

Milestone: Develop a public register of AI algorithms.

Update and next steps

Scotland’s AI strategy aims to make Scotland a leader in the development and adoption of trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI.

Earning the public’s trust through a meaningful and effective dialogue is foundational to achieve this aim, and the Scottish Government is leading by example by developing a public register of AI algorithms used in the public sector.

The register will not be a simple static platform to inform the public, but a fully-fledged system and set of processes for the development and deployment of AI systems, enabling dialogue inside the organisation, with key stakeholders and the public throughout the lifecycle of the system.

The register is currently being developed as part of a Pre-Commercial Agreement with Finnish start-up Saidot.

Milestones for this activity will be developed for year 2 of the Open Government Action Plan.

Status

On schedule.

Milestone with end date December 2022: Make initial steps with CivTech challenge on finding data. We plan to engage with civil society around findability of data as part of this challenge.

Status

In progress.

Milestone with end date December 2022: Pilot Data Maturity Pathways project which will guide six public sector organisations through an end to end journey.

Status

Completed.

Milestone with end date December 2022: User research to inform user journeys on statistics.gov.scot - and agree next steps on improvements for statistics.gov.scot.

Status

Completed.

Milestone with end date December 2022: Agree and establish communications channels and understand user needs. This includes setting up the Data Standards and Open Data Community of Practice.

Status

Incomplete.

Milestone with end date December 2022: Make initial steps on CivTech challenge on what data people are looking for through the finding public sector data challenge.

Status

In progress.

Milestone with end date December 2022: Identify thematic areas, such climate change and public transport; financial transparency.

Status

In progress.

Milestone with end date December 2022: Review and develop future milestones.

Status

To be completed – plan to achieve in November / December 2022.