The Turing Way Practitioners Hub - Turing Funded Proposal 2022

Summary of the proposal

“Expanding the capacity of [the TPS project] The Turing Way (TTW) to drive implementation of data science practices at UK institutions and industries through ‘TTW Practitioners hub’.”

TTW is a series of guides on reproducibility, project-design, communication, collaboration, and ethical research, championing data-driven practices that enable reproducible, accessible and inclusive AI and data science. TTW is also a global community of volunteers who create, maintain and apply its resources in different contexts. As an open-source project, everyone can freely read, share, modify, and contribute back to the resources, accelerating their potential for innovation and impact. TTW has informed high-profile reports and policies and serves as a core influence on global initiatives led by organisations like NASA, ONS and Genomics England – Genomics Diverse Data Initiative (GDDI).

TTW is internationally recognised for influencing data science culture across government, funders, policy, and healthcare sectors. However, the project lacks capacity to capitalise on this influence crucial for strengthening Turing’s connections with these organisations.

This proposal sets out an ambitious plan for TTW to enhance impact and expertise in embedding best practices into organisations across the broader data science and AI ecosystem. Through BridgeAI collaboration, we also seek to adapt and extend the impact of TTW materials to sectors with lower data science and AI uptake. All our activities will be delivered in close alignment with Partnership, Skills and Public Policy teams.

The aim is to build a bi-directional channel between TTW and organisations that benefit from and contribute to the project. Through collaborations with national and international stakeholders TTW Practitioners Hub will promote quality and ethical integrity; accelerate the adoption of TTW approaches throughout the Turing and beyond; upskill and empower data science practitioners as best practice champions.

In addition, TTW and TPS will work with Partnerships and Skills to develop and begin delivery. This proposal will align its scope with BridgeAI, a proposal to Innovate UK that focuses on sectors where data science and AI skills are underdeveloped and utilised.

A Postdoctoral Research Associate will be hired under the Tools, Practices and Systems Research Programme to conduct research, lead the engagement and coordinate the TTW Practitioners Hub effectively.