A searchable online web directory of training resources for Data, Research and Innovation in Wales

Description

Summary of the work We require a partner to design &deliver an online proof of concept that presents training and learning opportunities for data professionals &those interested in acquiring data skills in Wales. The platform must be scalable &flexible enough to include other professions and areas of expertise in future (research skills and innovation). Expected Contract Length 5 Months Latest start date Tuesday 1 November 2022 Budget Range Up to £45,000 inclusive of VAT Why the Work is Being Done Social Care Wales’s remit is to develop the social care workforce, improve care and support and increase public confidence in care. Our priorities include supporting people who work in social care in Wales to use research, data and evidence to develop practice, service design and policymaking. We recently undertook work to investigate the current capacity and capability of the analyst community working in local authority social services in Wales. This work continued earlier discovery work on developing a data strategy for social care in Wales, which highlighted the need for a workforce that possessed the relevant skills to be able to process and analyse the data collected by social services in Wales. We are aware that the analyst community is relatively well served by training and learning opportunities. However, data managers find it difficult to navigate these opportunities and connect these to the needs of their analysts. The analysis of the social care analyst community recommended several ‘alpha’ projects that seek to test the recommendations in the report as proofs of concept. The development of an online training resource library for analysts is one of four alpha projects recommended by the report. Problem to Be Solved Information about training and learning opportunities for data professionals is disorganised and not easily navigated. We need to develop a website that: • is designed collaboratively with data analyst community in Wales • brings together all relevant learning &training opportunities for data in Wales • provides information on cost, duration, type, level, location, accreditation, qualification &other factors important to our users • contains information on commercial, educational &self-directed (books, YouTube etc.) sources of learning • is searchable • has a focus on excellent UI/UX • is built to capture data automatically wherever possible • has functionality for receiving &publishing user feedback • meets the international WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standard • is able to work in both Welsh &English • is able to connect to other existing digital platforms • has the ability to scale up to include other specialisms • is consistent with Social Care Wales branding &tone of voice guidelines The scope of this contract covers the design&development of a public-facing online proof of concept that fits with our existing and planned digital architecture. We want to create a platform to inspire interest in our work through better visibility of our content&improved functionality, for a larger&more engaged audience. Who Are the Users As someone working in social care, I need to find opportunities for me to improve my data literacy so I am more confident in looking at and using data. As someone interested in becoming a data analyst, I need to know which courses are needed for me to pursue my chosen career. As a data analyst, I need to ensure my skills are up to date so I can continue to provide the capabilities my organisation requires. As a data analyst, I want to know which courses I should pursue to develop my skills. As a data team manager, I need a training and development resource that allows me to choose the most appropriate learning opportunities for my team. As a training manager, I need to ensure that my managers choose suitable training so that I can be sure my budget is spent appropriately. As a data analyst, I would like to see others’ opinions on courses so that I can see how they rate the opportunities. As someone who works with data in social care, I would like to be able to see a range of courses so that I choose an opportunity that fits my skill level. Early Market Engagement We commissioned work looking at our digital and data approaches and have recently developed our first Digital Strategy. Our stakeholders have told us we need to: • take a user-centred design approach, with a strong emphasis on user experience and user interface • enable functionalities that improve user experience. • use dynamic and interactive design to maximise the user experience, ensuring compatibility with a range of devices. • take an agile, learning-based approach that seeks early user insight to build, test and iterate. • make use of open standards and sources of data that support automation. • ensure equal value is placed on Welsh and English languages with seamless switching and the ability to support additional languages if required. • build the capability of Social Care Wales to manage, maintain and make improvements to the website, and for support. • enable comprehensive web analytics. • comply with data protection, privacy and other statutory requirements. Work Already Done In 2020 we published our discovery report on the strategic use of data by social care in Wales. In 2021, we published our statement of strategic intent outlining our aspirations for data in social care in Wales. In 2021, we undertook work analysing the market for data analysis roles in health and care in Wales as well as assessing skills requirements for these roles, matching them to skills available in Wales. In 2022, we conducted an analysis of social care analyst skills and investigated whether a professional development framework would assist with our aspiration of improving data skills in Wales. Existing Team People already working on this project include: - Data and Intelligence Manager (SCW) - Senior Project Lead – Data (SCW) - Innovation Manager (SCW) - Research and Evidence Manager (SCW) - Assistant Director for Research, Data and Innovation (SCW) - Assistant Director for Digital Learning (SCW) Current Phase Not started Skills & Experience • experience in designing and developing accessible and engaging web platforms (5%) • experience in working with users to understand their work, operating context and constraints and implement improvements and overcome barriers (3.5%) • evidence of a user-centred approach to UI/UX, designing and developing services through iteration, research, prototyping and testing (5%) • demonstrable skills and experience in data acquisition technologies (2.5%) • evidence of developing APIs, web scraping and data integration (2.5%) • experience in blending custom and off-the-shelf products to create a sustainable digital solution (2.5%) • experience in transferring knowledge to internal staff to facilitate the long-term sustainability of the approach (2.5%) • understanding of operating a bilingual service (2.5%) • understanding of the processes detailed in the Government Digital Service services manual and designing solutions that have passed an accessibility audit and meet WCAG 2.1 (2%) • evidence of agile programme management techniques to be applied to this project (2%) Work Location This work will engage with people across Wales. Some engagement and meetings are likely to be face-to-face with our staff and partners in different parts of Wales, although most can be done remotely. Working Arrangments Social Care Wales has an all-Wales remit. We operate a hybrid working policy, and have offices in Cardiff & St Asaph. The partners we need to engage with to develop the website will be based in different areas of Wales and some face-to-face engagement is likely to be needed. Security Clearance N/A No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Describe how the approach supports our requirements (4.5%) • Evidence of your ability to make informed decisions based on user needs, available technology and provide value for money (4.5%) • Demonstrate your understanding of the brief (3.5%) • Describe the proposed technical solution (3.5%) • Provide a timeline for the work and explain how you will deliver on time (3.5%) • Describe how the approach meets user needs and shows an understanding of our users: their work, operating context &constraints (3.5%) • Describe the identified risks/dependencies and your approaches to manage/mitigate them (3.5%) • Describe your proposed team, including structure, role, experience and responsibilities (3.5%) Cultural Fit Criteria • Explain why you think you are a good cultural fit to work with us on data skills (2.5%) • Share knowledge and experience with other team members with varying levels of technical expertise (2.5%) • Demonstrate how you will work transparently, collaboratively and share your approach with the project team (2.5%) • Describe how you will work as a team with Social Care Wales and with other suppliers (2.5%) • Demonstrate transparency regarding work outsourced to any other suppliers (2.5%) • Be transparent and collaborative in decision-making (2.5%) • Shared understanding of the importance of building accessible services for all (2.5%) • Awareness of Welsh language legislation and its impact on delivering bilingual services in Wales (2.5%) Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Can you please clarify your hybrid working policy? We would hope to conduct the work remotely with face to face meetings at key points, but are you expecting suppliers to spend part of the week onsite at all times? We have worked with several suppliers remotely in recent times due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tools that allow remote working are now mature enough to be used with confidence. There is no minimum commitment for face-to-face engagement with Social Care Wales, or our project stakeholders, but we would expect the supplier to have considered the most appropriate method of engagement/communication for each aspect of the requirements. 2. Are you likely to prefer Wales based agencies due to the need for face-to-face meetings, or would you consider agencies based in London / England? Our evaluation of tender submissions is based on the quality of the bid. We regularly work with organisations who are based outside of Wales. 3. We note that you’ve stated that this directory should be a proof of concept, but evaluation criteria focus on the development of a web service with a focus on design and development (including web accessibility) to what extent do you expect the delivery of “production ready” code? Is the aim to have a published and working service at the end of this project? Social Care Wales would expect a functional prototype with limited, but real data available for testing. It should have the fidelity and functionality necessary to have a reasonable idea of what a ‘final production version’ would look like. 4. To what extent have you considered the use of ‘off the shelf’ products for the development of this proof of concept directory (e.g. AirTable or Trello) as part of your web presence for this offer? Social Care Wales are not averse to utilising off the shelf solutions or development platforms to deliver the proof of concept. Preference must be given to platforms that are able to deliver production ready solutions rather than functional wireframes or non-scalable prototypes. 5. Can Social Care Wales confirm their expectations around how the service will be developed with the data analyst community and expectations around the level of fidelity needed for prototype testing? Social Care Wales would expect the prototype to be developed in conjunction with the social care analyst community. We can help to facilitate contact with an appropriately sized group to develop the user requirements. We would expect a functional prototype with limited, but real data available for testing. It should have the fidelity and functionality necessary to have a reasonable idea of what a ‘final production version’ would look like. 6. Can you please elaborate on what exactly you are referring to when the speak about data acquisition technologies? We wish to utilise APIs to capture data from 3rd party sources. We would consider other mechanisms; scraping, wrangling, crawling, if it can be demonstrated that these techniques can be achieved with the explicit approval of data owners. 7. 1) You mention a number of reports and statements as work that’s already been done (“In 2020 we published our discovery report on the strategic use of data by social care in Wales” and “In 2021, we published our statement of strategic intent outlining our aspirations for data in social care in Wales”).Can you point to where these are? https://socialcare.wales/research-and-data/strategic-approach-to-data 8. As part of any work already done (reports, statements, analysis, discovery work, market engagement or testing) has any benchmarking been carried out and if so what has this shown/are the results published anywhere? No benchmarking has been carried out by Social Care Wales. 9. What does the Budget range (Up to £45,000 inclusive of VAT) need to include – JUST work on the design & delivery of the online proof of concept OR that plus for example any year one costs (and if so what do you see those costs being for)? We would assume that a demonstrable proof of concept has the requisite hosting/domain for one year and costs for this should be included in your bid. All assets will be transferred to Social Care Wales at the end of contract. 10. Are there expected to be any content requirements under this contract (e.g. production, editing, migration). If so can you detail? We would expect some basic content to be developed to enable successful demonstration of the product as a viable proof of concept. Social Care Wales will assist the supplier in creating this content. 11. Are there expected to be any SEO requirements (or related activities) under this contract. If so can you detail? No, we do not expect SEO to be undertaken as part of the proof of concept. 12. What do you mean by agile programme management techniques – is it the generic understanding and implementation of agile project management OR a particular approach or flavour of agile (and that you might already be running)? Many of the suppliers we work with have adopted project management techniques that utilise the principles/tools of Scrum. 13. How familiar and what experience of agile techniques does the relevant team/ team members have? Social Care Wales have only recently adopted the principles of agile project management, although we do have experience of running several other projects using the principles and tools of agile (Scrum) and several team managers have received training on agile approaches to managing projects. 14. Does this project correspond to an ‘Alpha phase’ as defined by gov.uk service manual: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/agile-delivery/how-the-alpha-phase-works? Which means the supplier could focus only on the most challenging requirements and produce prototypes that can be thrown away if they don’t work? We are looking at developing a functional proof-of-concept.We do expect the chosen supplier to be able to demonstrate the most important aspects of the product, not just the most difficult or riskiest. There is also no requirement to complete the project in 6-8 weeks. Other than that, the principles of UKGov ‘alpha-phase’ are broadly in-line with our expectations. 15. You mention the deliverable needs to meet WCAG 2.1 AA. Do you mean the final prototypes will need to meet these guidelines? Or do you mean this requirement should be kept in mind when designing the prototypes? Accessibility is an important aspect of design and should be considered at every stage. Whilst the outputs are not designed to be production ready, suppliers will need to ensure that any prototypes are able to satisfy current web content accessibility guidelines as production products. 16. Do you have an existing design system with pattern/components that have already been audited for accessibility? no