Does the public sector focus too much on data risk?

Your first thought, especially if you work in Information Management, is probably, “NO, of course not! How could you ever take risk too seriously?!”

Well, hear us out. 

This week the UK Government responded to a consultation on the National Data Strategy, which was published in September 2020 outlining ambitions for greater data usage.  

There were over 250 consultation responses with a broad agreement that data use should not just be considered as a threat to be managed, but also embraced as an opportunity. 

In fact, in his response, Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said that the UK must “rebalance the narrative on data: from one where we only see risks, to one where we also see opportunities.” 

He added, “That means creating a regime that doesn’t just focus on privacy but unleashes the power of data across the whole of the economy and society.” 

So, be honest, is risk the primary driver for Digital Transformation in your organisation?  

How can we build on the tidal wave of data usage during the Covid-19 pandemic that informed decision making? Or as Oliver Dowden put it, “used data quickly, efficiently and responsibly to model, predict and ultimately control the spread of the virus.” 

We’re often asked about the data revolution and how the public sector can even begin to use data in this way. 

And for us, the best place to start has to be the beginning: 

• Well, what data do you actually have in the first place? 
• Is it all valuable so you can get the optimum results? 
• Is it easily searchable so that your users can access it? 

If you can’t answer these three questions, then you simply can’t unlock the power of your data. 

You’ll note I’ve asked a question about whether all your data is valuable, because believe it or not, about 70-80% of public sector data has zero value.  

You know, the old stuff, the multiple copies of the same document, the pictures that were once used for an ad campaign five years ago.  

A quick and straight-forward analysis and cleanse of such data before you move to the Cloud to open it up to users, means you can focus on the 20-30% of valuable data. Those golden nuggets of information. 

Surely then, you can flip the narrative from risk – and begin to see the opportunities. 

If you’d like to know more about what needs to happen on the first step of your data-driven journey, contact us via the form below and we can have a quick chat about data analysis and data cleansing.