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

Progress to March 2025

Commitment 3: open data and digital

Objective

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.

Milestones

Continue to support the Fiscal Transparency Programme, climate change policy and other areas relevant to the open government themes to encourage open data reuse and share best practice on data standards, FAIR and open data principles.

Improve our understanding of the technological solutions for deliberation, to support the Scottish Government Participation Framework and to inform potential future applications to expand participation around public good uses of public data and AI.

Progress

We are collaborating with the University of Edinburgh on a 10 week project to develop a framework for purpose-driven open data case studies. A team of MSc students studying Innovation and Entrepreneurship are leading the work, which aims to highlight the value and impact of open data. By making these benefits more visible, we hope to encourage organisations to publish open data. Creating a better understanding of the real-world impact of open data will strengthen connections between publishers and users.

We are working with internal and external stakeholders to scope work to improve the transparency and use of data standards for grants data. This work is focused on the 360 Giving standard, which is endorsed by the UK Data Standards Authority for government use. As this work is at an early stage, an important success factor will be our ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders with differing motivations and perspectives.

The CivTech Accelerator phase has begun with the successful challenger CrownShy, formed around the challenge by a Scottish-led global team. With experience from existing open source development communities, standards initiatives, and successful digital democracy transformations, CrownShy's solution is an Open Source service for combining existing digital participation tools into seamless workflows that can be tailored and compared more easily by those seeking informed and representative public input.

The Accelerator phase will conclude in May 2025, delivering a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that will allow workflows using Polis and the collection of interoperable data from facilitators of in-person deliberations. Alongside this will be a research piece on past use of consultations within Scottish Government, and the online extension of a Scottish AI Alliance public panel event on AI and the Environment.

The Accelerator phase may be followed by a Pre-Commercial Agreement to continue development beyond the MVP, which could incorporate a larger suite of tools for more diverse participation workflows, as well as more implementations of the tools for use cases supporting government decisions.

Next steps

• review outputs from the University of Edinburgh MSc project
• involve stakeholders in discussions about the use of data standards and open grants data.

Status

On schedule.

Objective

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

Milestones

Develop a considered approach to dataset sourcing and management for Find.Data.Gov.Scot to improve the discoverability of identified datasets, and by November 2025, add 10 more data sources to Find.Data.Gov.Scot.

Deliver an improved user feedback channel and run workshops with data producers and consumers to identify missing areas, address data quality issues and promote use. Investigate whether Find.Data.Gov.Scot can be linked to the UK Data Marketplace Government Data Catalogue.

Progress

Find.Data.Gov.Scot is established and we are working with its developers to incorporate feedback and develop new features through an ongoing annual contract.

Developments are included in the site’s roadmap which is openly available on the platform.

The site is also included in the Scottish AI Register to ensure transparency about the use of artificial intelligence that is part of the tool.

Next steps

• we will develop a roadmap for the next phase of work as part of the annual contract with the developers
• to raise awareness of the site and publicise new features we will publish a series of blogs on metadata and Find.Data.Gov.Scot on the Digital Scotland blog site

Status

On schedule

Objective

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.

Milestones

Launch the data maturity network for cohort alumni on KHub, to provide post-project support and networking; including published resources for data standards and data governance (complete and test by summer 2024).

Start to develop resources for data ethics, innovation and architecture and provide strategic guidance on the four foundations to data improvement that align to these pathways.

Develop and launch self-supporting data maturity guidance.

Complete cohorts 3 and 4 of the Data Maturity Programme by June 2024, launch cohort 5 in September 2024 (if funded).

Progress

Planning for the sixth cohort of the Data Maturity Programme is underway with an information session taking place at the end of May. An interactive programme summary for managers has been added to the information session details to raise awareness of the benefits of the programme and the improvements organisations are likely to see when they join. Further promotion of the e-learning leaflet is planned in the next phase.

Some changes to the programme are being trialled based on learning from previous cohorts. These include onboarding organisational support teams earlier, to ensure the implementation of changes is sustainable. We are also considering clearer milestones for different phases of the data maturity programme to support progress and momentum within organisations.

The Data Maturity Network, which was launched for alumni of the data maturity programme is becoming established, with regular conversations and thematic sessions. Engagement is good and we will continue to encourage and develop peer support opportunities.

Writing guidance for the four foundations of data transformation (governance, strategy, leadership and data discovery) is continuing. We are reaching out to stakeholders to develop content to support the pillars of the Data Transformation Framework (DTF). We are also considering options for where to publish the materials we have already developed.

The next phase of work will look at gathering intelligence to scope self-supporting e-learning for the Data Maturity Programme. Recent feedback suggests that a prototype covering the entire programme may not provide the indepth exploration of specific topics needed. Creating a modular approach may be more suitable.

Next steps

• discuss options for publishing the DTF content
• hold the information session for cohort six of the Data Maturity Programme

Status

On schedule

Objective

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

Milestones

Initiate and run a discovery, which aims to gain a better understanding of the current service.

Complete discovery and produce a report which advises on options and recommendations for next steps.

Based on evidence and recommendations from the discovery, either move to next steps in improving the service in an alpha phase; or make small/limited changes to the service.

Progress

In 2024, the Scottish Government’s open data team ran a discovery to review Scotland’s Official Statistics open data platform, statistics.gov.scot. We have published a full report on the programme of user research, conducted in partnership with Storm ID. We would like to thank everyone who continue to use the site, is publishing open data, and an especially large thanks to those that supported our discovery by being involved in our user research. We’ve also written a blog about our project.

Statistics.gov.scot has the potential to become a trusted and valuable tool for a wide range of users. The findings suggest the need for a comprehensive, iterative overhaul of the site, focusing first on making datasets easy to publish, update, find, and access, before implementing any additional features. Any improvements to the site should be based on clearly evidenced and regularly assessed user needs, as well as being aligned with the Scottish Government Statistics Group strategic priorities (Users, Efficiency, Data and People).

We have recently launched an Agile alpha to build prototypes to test different ideas and explore new approaches. Prototypes will be focused on addressing the high priority user needs that were identified during discovery, as well as addressing the key problems and challenges our users face.

As always, we are always interested in hearing from you. You can get in touch with the Scottish Government’s Open Data team directly at mailto:statistics.opendata@gov.scot.

Next steps

• design, build and test prototype solutions to meet high priority needs of our users and data publishers
• create an evaluation framework to test and access the viability of each solution in meeting needs
• involve users and data publishers through all stages of development and evaluation
• continually refine and develop our understanding of who are users are, what they need, and what our service should look like
• ensure recommended improvements to the service are clearly evidenced.
• produce a findings and options paper to present options considered and recommend next steps towards improving the service

Status

On schedule

Objective

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

Milestones

Publish the independent report and recommendations outlining a more strategic approach to supporting open data in Scotland.

During the remainder of 2024 initiate a project plan and develop a roadmap, with the outcome of creating a clear vision for purpose-driven impactful open government data in Scotland, and priorities for its implementation.

Set up an open data external reference group to provide accountability to the open government data commitment and to foster and long-term collaborative approach to open data.

Build on the series of open data events held with the Better Data Community of Practice in March 2024 with a series on data standards in May 2024 and encourage knowledge sharing about common challenges in making data better, smarter and more open.

Progress

We are in the process of running a series of activities as part of an agile discovery in which we are testing out our thinking from the recommendations from the Open data in Scotland: a blueprint for unlocking innovation, collaboration and impact report.

Some of the key activities include:

• running interviews with stakeholders in the sector to assess what their view of the current state of play with open data is, and what we should focus on to ensure success
• running a project with Edinburgh University Business School students on developing a framework for assessing the impact of open data which adopts a purposed-approach using case studies
• learning more about high value datasets and Essential Shared Data Assets
• contributing to specific topic based projects – including (1) a collaborative project with NatureScot to assess the value of habitat and land value data; and (2) working with community stakeholders on exploring making grants data open, using the 360 giving standard

Between January and March, the Better Data Community hosted six events aimed at supporting the public sector in creating opportunities for effective change by understanding the impact and value of data. These events offered valuable insights and resources to inform decisionmaking and drive better outcomes. Moving forward, the community will focus on events that encourage the public sector to consider ‘Responsible and Inclusive Data Practices.’

Next steps

• complete the activities in the open data policy discovery and assess how well they have met our original aims as well as the recommendations from the Open data in Scotland: a blueprint for unlocking innovation, collaboration and impact report
• summarise the findings of the discovery and use these to begin considering the next steps for open data policy in Scotland
• continue to build stakeholder engagement to assist with the shaping of data and digital’s role in a future open government action plan for Scotland
• the Better Data Community will run events on the theme of ‘Responsible and Inclusive Data Practices’ and will provide an update on the working groups

Status

On schedule.

Objective

Develop a public register of AI algorithms.

Milestones

Begin a phased approach to the public sector wide roll out of the Scottish AI Register.

Initial stage to produce SG specific guidance and support materials for the creation of AI.

Identify existing use cases and new SG AI projects to be added.

Work with SG Data Science colleagues to ensure the adequate recording of all corporate AI use.

Work with procurement colleagues to build guidance into purchasing processes.

Continue promotion of the product through the Scottish AI taskforce to help future roll out.

Progress

Work is on-going to develop the extended risk management function within the Register governance module, including input from wider public sector organisations.

Work continues to transfer the existing recorded cases to the new ‘governance’ version of the Register. Once complete this will facilitate the full tracking and reporting of AI systems as they develop.

There has been extensive promotion of the AI Library function including extensive Local Authority engagement, resulting in tripling of user numbers, (now over 110 users).

Initial draft of a new contract for the on-going Register support is now underway. Work is also continuing in relation to adding AI/Data terms into standard SG contract terms.

Next steps

• internal promotion via Scottish Government intranet and learning platform and in person team meeting/away day presentations, will continue to identify new use cases to be recorded
• early work to consider how the Scottish Government might develop its own AI policy and supporting documentation, in conjunction with data science colleagues has been undertaken and looks very positive. This will continue and expand to link up risk management and shared documentation options.
• initial consideration of how the mandate can be rolled out to organisations outwith the core SG/Agencies
• on-going work to develop training and guidance materials to support use of the governance module
• full integration of governance and live site expected by May/June

Status

On schedule.