The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has flagged up the importance of a recently published strategy for the use of reproducible analytical pipelines (RAPs) in the public sector.
Published by the Government Analysis Function, the strategy is focused on helping analysts and users of analysis to understand RAPS, which uses software engineering practices to improve reproducibility in analysis, saying it supports good peer review and audit.
It also outlines an approach to increase the use of the methodology, with three main goals: to give analysts the tools they need to work with RAP principles; to build their capability to use the principles in analysis; and to build the culture in which leaders see the value of RAP.
This involves steps for public sector organisations such as developing the plans to meet common goals, monitoring their progress, and choosing leaders and champions to deliver mentoring, review and communities of practice.
In addition, the Analysis Function to supply mentoring, guidance and support through training teams building the capability in their respective organisations.
The paper also says the most effective way to make analysis reproducible is to build it in code using best practice from software engineering.
Default approach
In the document’s foreword, Professor Sir Ian Diamond, head of the Analysis Function and national statistician, advocates embedding RAP as the default approach to analysis as an essential step towards its digital transformation, and highlights the importance of writing analysis as code and using open source tools, version control software, and dependency management.”
ONS has developed an approach to build an RAP capability in teams and delivery working products. Data scientist Jacob Cole said in a blogpost: “A range of skills in the team is useful to help a RAP project flow smoothly.
“Team members who know the outputs and end users are useful to keep the product fit for purpose. The team must be enthusiastic as it is challenging to learn this new way of working.
“Analysts need time commitment to learn RAP practices and to produce the code the right way. Managers must be made aware of how much time this takes, and they must commit to giving their teams this time.”
