Communities of Practice: Update – Data and Insight

Data and Insight Community of Practice

Currently led by Rebecca Allen, Head of Data and Insight (Education) in the Vice-Provost Education’s office and Martin Howells, Data and Insight Manager in the Planning Division, the community now has around 20 core members. They meet monthly to work on projects, share expertise and build the practice area together as well as give expert critique on each other’s work.

The community is currently working on two projects; one to produce a set of data visualisation best-practice principles, and the other to create a catalogue of available management information datasets across UCL (not including research data). 

The CoP also offers training and advice to wider community members and seeks to provide induction and support for new data analysts. Si Ning, a Research Data Analyst who recently joined UCL’s Institute of Education and is one of the Community’s newer members, said:

“I’ve really enjoyed getting involved in the Data and Insight Community of Practice. I’ve had the opportunity to learn about different data specialisations, speak with talented colleagues from a range of departments, and contribute to useful data-focused projects in UCL.”

The main benefits to being a member as a new joiner are getting quick access to the right people for advice and guidance, being able to access software and tools they might not get otherwise, being part of a wider network of data analysts and getting up to speed with projects such as the Data and Insight Project being run by the Planning Division.

The community plans to continue to improve the quality of data work at UCL, and to work on further projects. The CoP will also seek to grow its numbers in the future. If you or a colleague does data or analytical work in your day-to-day role and would like to join a group of analysts to share expertise, build confidence and work on joint projects, please get in touch with Martin Howells or Rebecca Allen to join the D&I CoP.