DDRC Workshops Concerns by Sector

The Defence Data Research Centre (DDRC) facilitated 33 workshops in England, Scotland, and Wales between June and November 2023. Participants from six UK sectors were involved in the workshops: Consultants, Enterprise (Small and Medium Enterprises and Old Age Pensioners), Government, Higher Education, Non-profit, and Public sector. During the workshops, teams were provided with a bespoke set of LEGO® bricks and components that were specifically selected to address issues pertaining to data. Participants built LEGO®models based on data-focused challenges and then explained the nuances of the modeldesign. This sharing of their story was recorded, transcribed, and edited and these comprise the research dataset.

The workshop transcripts were uploaded to the research application ATLAS.ti (2024) for qualitative coding and analysis. Phrase, sentences, and/or paragraphs containing key information were identified by researchers and assigned one or more predefined codes that pertain to topics such as data, technology, and organisational processes. The selected text in ATLAS.ti is referred to as a quote and 1,970 individual quotes were identified in the DDRC workshop transcripts.

By quantifying the ATLAS.ti codes by sector, a picture of the participants’ concerns surrounding data within their organisation is visualised. The main concern expressed by DDRC workshop participants across sectors relates to issues surrounding data and the second highest is organisational matters that generally pertain to processes, polices, and practices.

Combining the total number of occurrences for each code regardless of sector, creates a simple image of the top concerns as expressed by workshop participants, with the length of the bar being in direct relation to the importance of the code. Based on the DDRC researchers’ coding of the workshop transcript dataset, the most frequently occurring code is PROCESSES/POLICIES/PRACTICES. The codes ACCESSIBILITY OF DATA and DATA SECURITYare presented in the graph as near equal importance. These are followed by RISKS and ORGANISATIONAL issues which are also nearly equal in their significance as discussed by workshops participants.