Futures Academy…The future ways of working?
Futures Academy has allowed a cohort of people to explore and undertake alternative methods of working instead of traditional ‘go to’, ‘same old’ project team activities.
How we work
Be part of the equation
The last few years of hard work by Essex Partners this week culminated in the official launch of the Essex Centre for Data Analytics (ECDA) at NESTA’s City Data Conference.
LARIA: we came, we saw, we learned
As a team we place a great deal of focus of learning. We are always looking for opportunities to learn, and one such chance comes from the LARIA annual conference. Our last blog post talked about the awards we won at the conference. But what else happened there and what did we learn?
Mindset Challenge (the 'art' of the probable)
A picture tells a thousand words......
University Challenged
Now in its fourth year the Challenge Project is a collaboration between the Data & Analytics and the University of Essex. Each year Essex County Council sets a research topic, aka ‘the challenge’, to some of the best social science undergraduates at the University.
Demystifying evaluation
Broadly speaking, evaluation is measuring the worth or value of something. This could be a programme of work, policy or service. There is no ‘magic formula’ to evaluation. We all make daily judgements about the worth or value of something; only evaluation requires greater critical thinking and a structured approach.
"Your mission should you choose to accept it..." We accept the challenge!
On 15th March, we attended the Greater London Authority’s Data Surgery for Civil Society organisations at City Hall.
Top tips for designing meaningful surveys
Creating surveys which are meaningful and ask the right questions of the right people is not always an easy task. Our team regularly receive requests from colleagues asking for advice around survey design, and we thought it would be helpful to share some of our top tips with you.
How we commission good quality research
Essex County Council uses an Insight and Innovation Market Research Framework to support the commissioning of good quality research. So, what is it and how does it work?
Feeling a sense of jovial belonging to a team
All the most successful teams throughout any line of work have a number of core elements for them to succeed and excel within a safe and challenging environment. But what are pieces of the puzzle that make teams great?