Digital and Data Blog

This week it’s Digital Leaders Week which felt like a good time to write my first blog as Chief Digital Officer in Welsh Government since I started in July (not quite the famous “100 first days” that politicians refer to but not far away). It’s been a whirlwind few months learning what is going on across the organisation and outside, and at the same time trying to take forward some key pieces of work which we think are important in terms of responding to the pandemic and getting ourselves ready for the future. As with many other work places we have of course primarily been working from home since March. This of course has huge benefits which have been well described over the past few months, but it does present a very different experience in starting a new job and not being able to have face to face contact with my new teams!

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Unlocking the value of our information with data science

Posted on October 2, 2020 by CDO

What is data science? I don’t think there is an agreed answer to exactly what it is – but using it we can provide knowledge and insights into almost any information. Many public sector organisations have been developing their data science capability and back in April the data science unit in the Welsh Government was established. This blog gives an introduction to the unit.

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Reflections on a placement year in Welsh Government, with a difference

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Chief Statistican

Darllenwch y dudualen hon yn Gymraeg

Each year, Welsh Government recruits a number of university students to do a year-long placement as part of their degree. Continue reading →

Guest Blog: Using Geospatial data to underpin research and policy decision making in Wales

Posted on August 14, 2020 by CDO

Dr Richard Fry is a Senior Lecturer in Geography and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at Swansea University Medical School. Here he explains the role that geospatial data and geographical mapping are playing in producing research to inform policy in Wales.

Wales is a geographically and socially diverse country meaning that where we live and work plays a huge part in our health and wellbeing. With the impact on health and wellbeing at the forefront of all policy decisions in Wales, it is clear that as a nation we need to understand more about how, and why our geography affects us in Wales.

Guest Blog: Introducing Unlocking the power of location: the UK’s Geospatial Strategy

Posted on August 10, 2020 by CDO

The Geospatial Commission is an expert committee that sets the UK’s geospatial strategy and promotes the best use of geospatial data. In this guest blog the Geospatial Commission introduce their National Geospatial Strategy.

This blog is part of a blog-exchange with the Welsh Government.

geospatial image Location is a defining element of the way we live, work and socialise. It can impact the services and spaces we have access to, the language and accent we speak in, even the quality of our wifi connection. Understanding the world in terms of location, using location-based data, is crucial to the functioning of modern society. This is most strikingly demonstrated today by the role location data continues to play in the response and recovery to the coronavirus pandemic. Has the question of ‘where?’ ever been more relevant?

Corrected 2018-based local authority population projections and local authority household projections

Posted on July 20, 2020 by Chief Statistician

On 28 May 2020, the Welsh Government’s Chief Statistician withdrew the 2018-based local authority population projections and the 2018-based local authority household projections from the Welsh Government’s website.

Chief Statistician’s update: a few final reflections as Chief Statistician

Posted on July 17, 2020 by Chief Statistican

Today is my last day as Chief Statistician after just under ten years in the job (depending on how you define my starting date, in true admin-data style).

Chief Statistician’s update: Trade Survey for Wales

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Chief Statistician

In a previous blog, I wrote about our plans for a pilot Trade Survey for Wales. The pilot is now complete and the results are published today. Continue reading →

A beginners understanding of what user research is

Posted on July 2, 2020 by CDO

Throughout school I always enjoyed taking part in making and designing new things for others (my favourite lesson being Textiles). I’m not implying that creating a dress is the same as implementing a policy, but they have very similar needs. These include, a (hopefully) happy user, an end product and that feeling of success! It turns out that by finding out what people wanted, and adapting to their needs I was actually carrying something called user research.