Introduction
The ability to use and collaborate with data well is now accepted as a vital competency for any council wishing to be truly effective and responsive to its residents’ needs. That ability depends on having access to a number of different skill sets, from information governance to data visualisation, and from data science to data architecture, among many others.
Yet we know that London boroughs often struggle to access those skills. In light of this, LOTI is working on a number of initiatives. These include training and supporting the career development of boroughs’ existing data teams, helping boroughs recruit for data roles more effectively, and raising the level of awareness about how to use data amongst all council staff.
Communities of practice
In support of this work, LOTI hosts three communities of practice to bring together data professionals working across our member boroughs.
- Data Leaders – a network of senior leaders who want to discuss how to use data strategically in their organisations. This group, which includes representatives from other major public sector organisations like the Met Police and the London Fire Brigade, meets monthly.
- Data Practitioners – a network for all those involved in the day to day running of data projects, who want to discuss common challenges and share examples of their work. They meet quarterly but have active discussions through LOTI’s Basecamp platform.
- Data Scientists – a network for data scientists and analysts learning to code. They meet monthly.
To find out more about our work on data skills and capacity, please contact LOTI’s Jay Saggar.
