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Workbench Overview

The Analytical Workbench platform allows access to a broad range of tools and software, tailored to the needs of public sector analysts, with a focus on open-source solutions, collaboration, and security assurance. It provides access to a world-class data centre, high performance compute and the ability to collaborate across organisational boundaries; providing the ability to share resources, code, and ideas.

The Workbench is provided by SPACe, the Scottish Public Sector Analytical Collaborative, with the following strategic objective:

To collaborate wherever possible to help people better produce, find and use data and statistics about Scotland, to make our services more efficient, and increase our impact. Our approach to this work will be open, flexible, and forward thinking, acknowledging that compromise may sometimes be necessary on all sides. Wherever possible, we will seek to build shared infrastructure to support all producers of Official Statistics in Scotland.

Virtual Machines

The Workbench provides access to high-performance Linux and Windows virtual machines (VMs) via your web browser, to enable data analysis across the public sector. Within each VM you get access to a range of open-source software with compute power sufficient for your analytical needs.

Security Zones

When you setup a project it will sit in one of three security zones: Standard Zone, Protected Zone or Private Zone, depending on your information governance needs:

  • Standard zone is open to the internet and all project users can transfer data in or out of projects in this zone

  • Protected zone can only connect to a limited number of websites, mainly to allow software package downloads. Data transfer out of projects in this zone is restricted.

  • Private zone is disconnected from the internet and data can only be transferred in or out of the Workbench via a controlled pathway.

All zones are hosted in the Edinburgh International Data Facility, data is safe and secure with access password controlled and restricted to allow-listed organisational VPNs.

Contact Details

If the Workbench is something you or your organisation could use, please contact the SPACe helpdesk and we will be able to provide you with a demonstration and discuss how you could use it. If you want to start using the Workbench we can work with you to onboard your organisation and start any projects that you want to run on the Workbench.