Why we need to unlock the value of public sector data
Lucinda Smith, data analytics solutions director at Exasol, discusses why we need to unlock the value of public sector data
Recognition of data’s value as a tool for progress in business applications, science and academia is accelerating almost as fast as the proliferation of data itself. PwC research suggests that 90% of all data that exists on the internet was generated in the past two years; a cool 2.5 quintillion bytes a day. Businesses are a huge contributor to this. From customer insights to competitive intelligence, product development to employee profiling, data has huge potential to help organisations understand themselves and facilitate positive change – so much so that guidance on how to analyse, deal with and reap the benefits of data is now formally being made part of public policy.
Last year, the UK government published its National Data Strategy, which sets out how it intends to responsibly unlock the full potential and value of data for the benefit of the nation. The government’s vision is to make the UK “the world’s number one data destination” and to get there they have identified four interconnected pillars: data foundations, skills, data availability and responsible data use.
The strategy places data at the heart of the UK’s recovery from the pandemic, so organisations can use it to accelerate digital transformation, innovate and boost growth across the economy. In his foreword to the National Data Strategy, Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “Data is now the driving force of the world’s modern economies. It fuels innovation in businesses large and small and has been a lifeline during the global coronavirus pandemic.”
However, it’s not enough just to make bold statements and propose a strategy. What must follow is a carefully managed roll out of the strategy, supported by robust leadership. The four strategic pillars laid out in the government’s plans offer a potential framework for this, facilitating opportunities to unlock the full potential of public sector data in the UK.
1. Data foundations – in order to reap maximum benefits, it’s important that data is formatted in a formalised and consistent way, ensuring that all information is good quality, fit for purpose and easy to use. Data infrastructure also needs to be modern, easy to navigate and flexible enough to adapt to any future changes, improvements or upgrades.
However, audits have revealed large gaps in how data is organised, managed and stored. This poor data governance leads to inefficiencies, overspending and a lack of accountability that can lead to data loss and mishandled information. In turn, this can have a big impact on people’s lives, for example, missed government support for vulnerable people at the beginning of the pandemic. But, by improving the quality of public sector data and the infrastructure that underpins it, it can be used more effectively, and drive better insights and outcomes from its use.
2. Data skills – it’s also important to ensure that people at all levels of society are data literate and equipped with the skills required to understand, use and interpret data. According to Royal Society research, “the demand for specialist data skills has more than tripled since 2013, while DCMS-commissioned analysis of 9.4 million online job adverts predicts that data analysis skills will be the fastest growing digital skills cluster over the next five years”.
