International
About
Data Science Campus International work focuses on establishing and maintaining a leading and influential role for the UK in the application of data science and innovative technology in official statistics. By collaborating with our domestic and international partners, we aim to make data science an integral component of a Global Statistical System that benefits all National Statistics Organisations (NSOs).
Within this, the Data Science Campus supports ONS’s International Development strategy, working with partner organisations in developing countries to build data science skills to support their statistical systems. We also participate in a range of innovation programmes run by the United Nations Statistics Division.
Creating Transformational Change
A significant focus of our international work is in support of the ONS International Development Strategy: Statistics for the global good – High quality statistics to improve lives globally. Within this we work with partner organisations in developing countries to build data science skills to support their statistical systems. Recent examples include:
Building capability within the Ghana Statistical Service through mentoring staff through creating a new pipeline for CPI statistics: creating efficiency and improving quality, whilst also building transferable skills amongst staff.
- Building capability within the Ghana Statistical Service through mentoring staff through creating a new pipeline for CPI statistics: creating efficiency and improving quality, whilst also building transferable skills amongst staff.
- Using high-resolution satellite imagery and machine learning to estimate the number of tents in Internally Displaced People camps in Somalia, in support of the Somali National Bureau of Statistics (SNBS), Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
- Launching the International Data Masterclass, in partnership with the FCDO, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia & the Pacific, and UN Statistics Division. The Masterclass is an open access data literacy course aimed at the global audience of senior public sector decision makers.
- Delivering the International Data Science Accelerator, which matches public sector data science mentors and mentees across the globe.
We play an active role in supporting initiatives of the United Nations Statistics Division, including:
- Working with the UN AIS Task Team to develop reusable methods for processing ship location data on the UN Global Platform.
- Membership of the UN Data Science Leaders Network, and contributing to the development of a Data Science Playbook which will provide a guide for embedding data science into official statistics.
Publications
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ParliAI – using AI tools to monitor parliamentary coverage of the ONS across the UK
Introduction As part of understanding user need, monitoring parliamentary coverage is an important way to understand how people use Office…
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Transport Performance: A reproducible and reusable toolkit for measuring transport network performances internationally
We have built a new, open-source toolkit for measuring the performance of urban centre transport networks
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Bus reliability – analysing the morning travel peak across England
We have explored the feasibility of using open data to analyse local transport performance. In this publication we demonstrate how to produce hyperlocal bus service coverage and punctuality metrics.