Data Analytics and Modernizing Oversight Data

Yesterday I attended an interesting public forum hosted by the Data Foundation and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. The forum focused on modernizing access to publicly available oversight data and provided an opportunity for the data community to offer feedback on ways to enhance this effort. This topic resonated with me because data analytics--a multidisciplinary field that employs a wide range of analysis techniques, including math, statistics, and computer science, to draw insights from data sets--is a staple of audit and oversight work, and its use is growing.

At this forum experts from 20 organizations in the public, private, and NGO sectors shared information and advice on thought-provoking areas applicable to all in the oversight community.?I believe that these principles are especially relevant to OIGs in agencies with public-facing and customer service missions.

Data Governance:?How can OIGs improve data quality and metadata management, as well as other components of effective data governance for their oversight functions? For example,

• What challenges exist in data for oversight that could be addressed through improved data governance policies and protocols?
• What are the data quality challenges, and how can they be addressed?

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Customer Experience and Stakeholder Engagement:?How is OIG data being used and when and how to get it into the hands of its customers. For example,

• How are stakeholders using and accessing data produced by OIGs?
• What are some ways to ensure that these end users are getting their needs met?

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Program Insights:?What direction should OIGs take in the near and long term and how data can support those efforts? For example,

• Oversight from OIGs plays a crucial role in ensuring that programs deliver equitable and inclusive results.
• What are some of the critical areas the OIG should be focusing on?
• How can OIGs support equity and inclusion efforts?
• What improvements could be made to ensure better oversight?

Leveraging New Technology.?OIG innovative uses of data and what changes should be considered to produce more usable and accessible data. For example,

• New and emerging technology has the potential to help oversight functions - including how users of OIG data deploy technology.
• What are some promising uses of this technology?
• What are some of the platforms and data visualizations being built with OIG data?

Increasingly, organizations are using advanced analytics to tackle problems. How are you using these methods and tools? I look forward to hearing from you in the comments. Thanks!