The Data Science Network newsletter turns one!
By: Allie MacIsaac, Claudia Mokbel and Kathleen Carson, Statistics Canada
Who doesn't love to celebrate a birthday? Our very own Data Science Network for the Federal Public Service (DSNFPS) newsletter - Data Science Bits and Bytes - has turned one! We're celebrating our first birthday by sharing some of the milestones we've achieved over the past year.
Figure 1 – Data Science Network birthday
Description - Figure 1
Image of a birthday candle in the shape of the number one. Above are the words "Data Science Network" with the network logo in the background.
It's been an exciting and fast-paced year—the DSNFPS community has grown quickly and this enthusiasm is an encouraging sign as we continue to expand and adapt to meet the needs of the data science community.
We want to hear from you!
As the DSNFPS continues to grow, we hope to continue to meet your needs and deliver the content that will most benefit our readers. Please take a moment to complete our Data Science Network Newsletter Product Feedback Survey and let us know your thoughts on the network—including what works and what could be improved. We appreciate your feedback!
Figure 2 – DSNFPS timeline of milestones
Description - Figure 2
A timeline showing the DSNFPS milestones. A bar across the bottom indicates the years 2020, 2021 and 2022. The points on the timeline in 2020 are: Data Conference 2020, idea for network is born – February; Data Science Centre web module is launched – September; First DSNFPS Directors' Committee Meeting is held – November; DSN wiki is created – December. The points on the timeline in 2021 are: Newsletter name is announced – January; Data Conference 2021 held, DSNFPS participated – February; Newsletter started featuring job postings – February; Data Science Talent Management Working Group's first meeting is held – April; Chatbot Workshop event to be held – December. The points on the timeline in 2022 are: Data Conference 2022 to be held – February.
All about the Data Science Network
Figure 3 – DSNFPS membership chart
Description - Figure 3
DSNFPS membership pie chart showing the percentage of members from the following categories: federal government (70%), private sector (18%), academia (8%), provincial government (2%), municipal government (1%) and foreign government (1%).
By the numbers
- Over 2,200 members
- Members include representation from
- Over 70 departments
- 69 academic institutions
- 15 provincial and territorial governments and organizations
- 22 published articles
- 11 editions of the newsletter
The first edition of the newsletter was published in October 2020, and served as a launching point for the Data Science Network to help build data science (DS) capacity and share data science experiences across the Government of Canada and beyond. The DSNFPS community includes members from all sectors, including federal and provincial government employees, as well as private sector employees and members of academia. Visit About the Data Science Network for the Federal Public Service for more information.
The DSNFPS community also welcomes members from all experience and skill levels—it's not just for data scientists! The community includes those who work with, manage or hire data scientists and even those who are just curious to learn more about this ever-expanding field.
The DSNFPS's main objective is to establish the foundations of a public service-wide data science ecosystem with five areas of focus: Talent Management, Training and Learning, Information Sharing, Collaboration and Joint Services.
Figure 4 – The Data Science Network's Five Areas of Focus
Description - Figure 4
Image includes five circles linked from left to right. Each circle contains one area of focus. The five areas, from left to right, are Talent Management, Training and learning, Information sharing, Collaboration and Joint Services.
The idea of a data science network was first presented at the Data Conference 2020 in Ottawa on February 13 and 14. Government of Canada employees expressed enthusiasm for this initiative as they were looking for a central platform they could go to for the latest information on data science.
A home for the DSNFPS to call its own
Figure 5 – A home for the DSNFPS to call its own
Description - Figure 5
The Data Science Network logo is comprised of the words "Data Science Network in navy and sky blue at the top, the image beneath it is of two vector images of people with a circle around them as the core of the image (and the network), with lines from them leading to other circles with images containing graphs, horizons, etc. These images represent the different ways of using or expressing data science outputs.
It was by building on this enthusiasm that the DSNFPS was born! The first steps included the launch of the web module—Data Science Network for the Federal Public Service. This module is part of Statistics Canada's Data Science Centre and features all of the network's articles, the Data Science Network for the Federal Public Service newsletter's subscribe page and other data science resources.
Bits, bytes and all things nice
The Data Science Bits and Bytes newsletter is always evolving. So far, the newsletter has featured a wide variety of articles on leading-edge topics. This includes projects at Statistics Canada as well as submissions from other departments. Check out our top ten most read articles—you'll be sure to find something of interest!
The top ten most read articles of the year revealed
- The COVID-19 cloud platform for advanced analytics
- A brief survey of privacy preserving technologies
- Enabling responsible use of automated decision systems in the federal government
- From exploring to building accurate interpretable machine learning models for decision-making: Think simple, not complex
- Protected workloads on public cloud
- Using data science and cloud-based tools to assess the economic impact of COVID-19
- Topic modelling and dynamic topic modelling: A technical review
- Version control with Git for analytics professionals
- 2021 Census comment classification
- Co-op student explores the power of Big Data
The DSNFPS always welcomes submissions. To send an idea or article, email the team: statcan.dsnfps-rsdfpf.statcan@statcan.gc.ca, and let us know your thoughts! We'd love to feature your project or a topic you're interested in.
First DSNFPS Directors' Committee meeting
In response to the growing needs of the network, the First Data Science Network Directors' Committee Meeting was held on November 25, 2020. This meeting was well-attended, with representatives from 17 departments and partners who were eager to advance data science capabilities. Following a presentation on the DSNFPS's goals and objectives, there was a lively discussion regarding priorities for the network–many of which have already seen progress following subsequent meetings.
This and subsequent discussions included the establishment of a working group to develop competencies for data science job descriptions across the Government of Canada, and to improve hiring and retention processes; potential contributions to the 2022 Data Conference (which will be co-hosted by Statistics Canada and the Canada School for Public Service); and the plan to have several sessions to discuss pressing topics for the DSNFPS community, including chatbots and data hubs. Stay tuned for more information on these upcoming events!
Key contributions to the Data Conference 2021
Members from across the DSNFPS were involved in a variety of sessions at the 2021 Data Conference, which took place virtually, in February. The theme of the conference was "An Integrated Data Community for Building Back Better" and responded to the Government of Canada's priority of recovery and its commitment to make positive systemic changes through quality data.
The Data Science Network was involved in the following sessions:
- Panel on Assessing Input Data and Resultant Model Accuracy—how data scientists are putting theory into practice when assessing data for projects and how they work with clients to achieve the desired output quality.
- Workshop on The Advanced Analytics Workspace (AAW)—a discussion of the design of this one-stop-shop for data science and analytics as well as a demo of the platform and explanation of how AAW makes analyses possible at a scale that was previously unattainable.
- Workshop on Tools for the Talent Management of Data Scientists—how roles are defined in other organizations and how to use this to help fill the gaps in competency profiles for data scientists across the Government of Canada to attract and retain talent.
Competencies and collaboration
Building on the success of the talent management workshop at the Data Conference and the needs identified by the Directors' Committee Meeting discussions, the network established a Data Science Talent Management Working Group for competencies. The purpose of this working group is to define the expected roles on a data science team and what behavioural and technical competencies those roles need. The working group is taking this information to build competency profiles which can then be used to produce functional job descriptions to support talent acquisition for data scientists across the federal public service. The working group is also working closely with Treasury Board Secretariat and the GC Data Community to ensure consistency across other HR initiatives and alignment with the GC Digital Competencies. Draft role and competency definitions are complete, and work has started on the assignment of proficiency levels. The working group meets every two weeks. Check out the working group on GCcollab for more information.
Looking ahead
There are more exciting developments coming in the months ahead, so be sure to keep an eye on the newsletter for additional information.
The DSNFPS looks forward to
- continuing to foster joint collaboration projects between Statistics Canada and other federal departments
- hosting new events such as the upcoming Chatbot workshop in December
- hosting a Data Hubs workshop in 2022
- releasing more newsletter articles and content with the latest on data science projects and resources
- participating in the 2022 Data Conference
- and more!
Thank you for your continued support, interest, and enthusiasm as we all strive to grow data science capacity across the Government of Canada and beyond.
- Date modified: