The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has splashed out well over £20 million on data scientists and data analysts, according to official figures.

The data, retrieved through a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request, and analysed by the Parliament Street think tank, uncovered the number of staff in data scientist or data analyst roles, and estimated total spending each year for the past five years.

DCMS spent £20,606,100 on data scientist and data analyst roles during the reporting period.

The number of full-time staff increased substantially, rising from 70 in 2017 to 150 in 2021 - up from 90 in 2020.

Niall Crosby, chief executive of data software management firm AG Grid, said of the expansion: “Today’s digital world creates a lot of data, and the ability to process, understand and make decisions based on this data is very important. Investing in data analytics will enable DCMS to operate more efficiently."

The largest investment came in 2021, with an estimated total spend of £7,383,000, up 75 per cent on 2020.

The DCMS listed economists, statisticians, operation researchers, and social researchers as roles contained within data scientist and data analyst staff.

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