Department for Transport Digital Data Index Discovery

Tender description

Summary of the work Discovery explores user needs to create an Index to provide a searchable register of all DfTc data, containing hyperlinks to data, and categories of metadata that can be shared on a more restricted basis. Ideally looking to recruit a Scrum Master, aSenior User Researcher/Analyst, a part-time Analyst and part-time Designer. Expected Contract Length 2 months Latest start date 14/11/2016 Budget Range Up to £60,000 Why the Work is Being Done The Discovery will test the hypothesis that a centrally-held Digital Data Index will be useful in: ● Assisting staff in locating and making use of relevant and up-to-date data sets quickly and easily. ● Providing canonical information on the data sets that the Department holds ● Generating a dynamic list of data consumers and providers in the Department in order to monitor demand and use. ● Providing an API to enable the Index to interface with other formats for internal and external use, including data.gov.uk. ● Providing ‘one version of the truth’ to better inform the work of DfT staff Problem to Be Solved Currently no such index exists, though local solutions (often based on Excel spreadsheets) do. The creation of such an index would enable these solutions to either be included (through links) or retired and the data they contained migrated to a central index. The Discovery phase is to identify user stories and map the current data landscape and generate sufficient evidence and analysis from which to elicit a clear Alpha phase with one or more options for each product to test. Who Are the Users Internal users who use data to help with planning, inform policy development and consultation, and develop improved services for the department’s users. Users also include those who answer ministerial correspondence, freedom of information requests and provide briefings and presentations to ministers and senior staff. Wider users include the open data and transport community worldwide. Early Market Engagement N/A Work Already Done A survey of central department staff was carried out in July 2016 and this information will be provided to the winning supplier Existing Team Working alongside the in-house Digital and Open Data team, 1 User Researcher and 1 Product Owner. Current Phase Not started Skills & Experience • ● Proven user research skills and experience • ● Knowledge and experience of a range of research methodologies and analysis • ● Proven experience of working alongside internal teams to create an agile team, building on existing capabilities in the organisation • ● Supplier must have recent experience of agile working practices • ● Experience of delivering digital research and projects in line with the Government Digital Service Design Manual and Digital Service Standard • ● Experience of delivering skills transfer to internal teams using shadowing, pairing and mentoring and other relevant techniques Nice to Haves • ● Experience of working with users and stakeholders at all levels in a large and complex organisation • ● Experience of carrying out research with a diverse mix of users including those with lower levels of digital literacy and accessibility needs • ● An understanding of the policy and approach the government and the data community are taking with data and open data and of the benefits this provides Work Location Great Minster House, 33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR (with ability to travel to other locations and agencies as required) Working Arrangments On-site with the ability to travel to other locations and agencies. This is to enable skills transfer and collaboration with internal resources, and enable user research on the ground. The supplier would need to have teleconferencing facilities and be familiar with online collaborative tools such as Trello to enable communication with members of the team off-site. Ability to commit to daily stand-up meetings, sprint planning and reviews, show-and-tells and other presentations. Security Clearance Basic No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 8 Proposal Criteria • Team Structure • Technical solution • Approach and methodology • Estimated timeframes for the work • How the approach or solution meets your organisation’s policy or goal • Discovery output proposal Cultural Fit Criteria • ● Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers • ● Be transparent and collaborative when making decisions • ● Take responsibility for their work • ● Share knowledge and experience with other team members Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 65% Cultural fit 15% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Hi there, please can you outline your expectation for the necessary tech resource / skills to create the API? Many thanks for your question. In the Discovery phase there will be no need to create the API, although there will need to be technical knowledge and expertise in order to identify the skills needed to move forward into an Alpha Phase (if the user needs identify such a requirement). 2. Hi there, please can you expand on how having "‘one version of the truth’ to better inform the work of DfT staff" would add value? How does the lack of this currently hinder you? And what benefits will arise from having a single view? Thanks. Many thanks for your question. The concepts of "one version of the truth" and a "single view" are different. "One version of the truth" looks to ensure that work and effort is not duplicated and we have authoritative datasets with relevant data. That is not to say there may not be different uses or interpretations derived from those datasets.It is part of the purpose of the Discovery to determine the business value of "one version of the truth" because at present this along with other assumptions is what the Discovery is designed to test through research. 3. The brief mentions "Ideally looking to recruit a Scrum Master, a Senior User Researcher/Analyst, a part-time Analyst and part-time Designer." Can you clarify to what extent the brief describes a resource-based requirement (e.g. looking for supplier to augment existing internal team and plan) or a consultancy request (e.g. looking for external experts to define and conduct a Discovery activity)? The brief is primarily a resource-based requirement. We are looking for a team to work with and augment an existing User Researcher and Product Owner to conduct a Discovery Phase. The work will include planning for and conducting user research, analysing the user research findings and generating user stories. It should also include quantitative research of the metadata we hold and creating a data catalogue and map this to current use. Per our specification towards the latter stages of the Discovery we are anticipating identifying the resources we will need to put together for the Alpha Phase. 4. Please can you clarify why you have asked for a Scrum Master as part of the team for a Discovery project? This role is not one we would usually supply during a discovery phase. It is a role which come onboard more during the sprints of an Alpha. Many thanks for your question. We have asked for a Scrum Master as we wish the entire project to be run using an agile delivery methodology. We are agnostic as to whether that role is referred to as a Scrum Master or a Delivery Manager but we do expect that the work is to be divided into timeboxed stages typically referred to as sprints and therefore we expect a role in the team to facilitate their efforts and remove blockers. 5. From our experience of running website Discoveries with comparable organisations (both fully and part-time on-site) it is perfectly achievable to meet the actual goals of high levels of skill transfer and collaboration, without being 100% on site. In fact, there have been instances of poorer collaboration and transparency when working 100% on site. If it could be demonstrated in a proposal how your need for excellent collaboration and skill transfer could be achieved without being on-site 100% (part-time 20-40%) would you give it due consideration? Especially as you seem to be based in several locations yourselves. Many thanks for your question. The brief asks for on-site working as it will be necessary for the user researcher in particular to be present in our locations conducting user research. It will also be helpful to have a Scrum Master on-site to conduct daily stand ups and lead the sprint planning,ceremonies and retrospectives. We would give a proposal due consideration if there were some off-site working, but it would need to be weighted towards an on-site presence and demonstrable experience of collaboration off-site and tools such as Trello, Basecamp etc. would need to be provided.