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Blog posted by: Dawn Duhaney, 20 July 2017 — Data science, People and skills.

Across government, departments are beginning to realise not only the value of the data they hold, but also how they can use data science to make more effective, data-informed decisions.

The Government Data Science Partnership is a collaboration between the Government Digital Service (GDS), Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Government Office for Science. It was formed to help government realise the potential of data science. And to support the development of skills and tools to kickstart greater take-up across departments and agencies.

How are we supporting the community?

In the past year, we’ve been focused on building data science capability, working with departments to develop projects, delivering training to build new skills and facilitating a thriving community of interest.

Expansion of the Data Science Accelerator programme

We’ve expanded the Data Science Accelerator. It’s a capability buildingprogramme which gives analysts from across the public sector the opportunity to develop their data science skills. They do this by working on real business challenges with the support of experienced mentors.

This year, we’ve scaled our Data Science Accelerator hubs across the UK from three to five. Our hubs are in London, Newport, Bristol, Sheffield and Newcastle, and to date over 60 civil servants have graduated from the Accelerator programme.

The first Government Data Science Conference

In April 2017, the partnership hosted the first Government Data Science Conference. We brought together over 250 data scientists, analysts and policymakers from across government to share knowledge and best practice, and to learn from each other. The conference featured over 30 talks.

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