Discovery for Department for Education Statistical Dissemination options

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done DfE produces 50+ statistical series’ every year. Used by the public, schools, media, government and more, they shine a light on the education system. The majority of our publications include pre-defined static excel tables, a written report (.pdf), and machine readable (.csv) data files. (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/statistics) Demand is growing, meaning more time and resource is spent creating pre-defined tables or ad-hoc extracts where information isn’t published. The discovery will refresh our understanding of user’s data access requirements, to enable a solution for producing high volumes of user-centered statistics in an accessible format and reducing the need for ad-hoc pieces of analysis. Problem to Be Solved The problem we are looking solve can be summarised as: ‘We want to understand how we can best make DfE’s data and statistics available to users and help tell clear and coherent stories about the education system through data. We want to make our processes to publish large volumes of data and statistics more efficient and reliable. We envisage a solution might include a web-based self-serve analysis tool.’ The emphasis is on understanding the problems and considering high level approaches rather than proposing a specific technical solution. Who Are the Users Users of statistics (internal or external) range from basic users who want to quickly and easily find simple and visually engaging summaries of data, to expert analysts who want clean, well structured and comprehensive data with documentation for use in their own analyses (e.g parents, schools, Local Authorities, Researchers or journalists). Producers of statistics (internal only) face ever increasing demand for data and want better ways of efficiently, securely and accurately publishing large volumes of data to fit an evolving customer need. They want to move resource from publishing large numbers of static tables, to telling compelling stories with data. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done We have carried out some light touch research of other Government Departments approach to publishing their statistics. We have identified some potential options which, as part of this discovery, we would like to evaluate to determine if they would: a) Meet user needs b) Reduce the current demand for ad-hoc pieces of analysis c) Increase the use of DfE open data However, we do not believe we have fully explored the range of options in the marketplace, we would like to test and explore these options further, as well as hearing new ideas from our users. Existing Team The supplier will be working with the DfE Statistics Modernisation team. Current Phase Not started Work Location Sheffield & Darlington - with likely travel to various locations throughout the UK. Working Arrangments a) We are looking for flexibility in the approach to completing this discovery b) We will be working to Agile principles - i.e. regular stand ups, Show & Tells, Retrospectives c) Necessary expenses will be paid in line with DfE standard policies We expect that the successful bidding team will include user researchers with some service design experience and a project manager. Necessary expenses to locations other than the base locations will be paid in line with DfE standard policies. Security Clearance Additional T&Cs Skills & Experience Experience of taking a user centric approach from inception throughout the project lifecycle Experience of arranging and managing participants to ensure their participation in research sessions Experience of working to GDS service assessment standards Nice to Haves An awareness of statistics in Government and approaches for the dissemination of data on a large scale. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria Approach & methodology Value for Money Cultural Fit Criteria Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers Be transparent and collaborative Share knowledge and experience with other team members Challenge the status quo Be comfortable standing up for their discipline Payment Approach Fixed price Assessment Method Written proposal Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers Budget range £40-50k