Discovery

The team and I who are working on ‘Unlocking the Sasine’ are right in the middle of what I would describe as the fuzzy front end of innovation or (more often known as) discovery. It’s fuzzy as it’s not always a comfortable space to be, right at the start trying to figure it all out.

It can sometimes feel like you are in the dark, trying to figure things out either on your own or as part of the collective. The route is not always clear, and the steps taken can feel awkward and at times a little risky. This is especially true if you have a tight deadline and you don’t want to put too many feet wrong! However, for me it can be the most rewarding place to be.

At this point in our Unlocking the Sasine discovery we are in the middle of what we call our proof of concept. This is the phase where we:

• test out our theory
• consider and map the stages we need to go through
• try to identify all of the opportunities or the pit falls to avoid
• see how we can create a process that will achieve our goal
• consider the cost/benefit analysis.

Learning

We are also doing a lot of learning. Each conversation we have within the team, across the organisation, and with our early adopter stakeholders, we are learning. And, with each learning opportunity the ‘fuzzy’ bit becomes a bit clearer and we can take sometimes small, sometimes big, steps forward, or sometimes backwards (!) all in the knowledge that whatever direction we are going we are making  progress and understanding our challenge a little bit more, each and every time.

Our goal

Our big goal for this stage is to have completed our proof of concept by the end of March 2021.

We will then be able to create a business case to demonstrate that our idea, is firstly viable, but also what it will take to really take this project to the next level.

We need to know what types of skills we need in our team, how many people, what technology will support us, and how fast we can and think we should go.

Solid foundations

Although I’m describing mostly here the fuzzy edges it is prudent for me also to talk about the essential elements we need in order to work comfortably and safely in this space. The solid foundations that underpin what we are doing have been achieved through the hard work of some of our colleagues in risk and information governance, policy and legal.

We reached a key milestone at the end of 2020, with the creation of three key artefacts:

1. A data protection impact assessment
2. A data sharing agreement
3. A comprehensive risk review.

This has allowed us to take our proof of concept forward whilst all the while knowing that we are on solid ground.

Next time

Alan Howie, our Chief Data Officer will be back to answer the final cliffhanger questions in Unlocking the Sasine: part 2 and Fi will be back to talk about how we define and measure success going forward.