Data-centric Governments: if not now, then when?

We have all come out changed from the pandemic: individuals, companies, governments, even nature has changed his course…. There has therefore never been a better time to execute on disruptive change than now.

For our governments, the need to have systems which enable them the best access and use/process data is fundamental in their ability to deliver on their mission to best serve their citizens and their country. They need to be able to have seamless access to their own government collective data including national, regional and local, to leverage data from their trusted, extended ecosystem as well as leverage the ever growing amount of open data available. Gartner reports that Data Integration is one of the most important and hardest aspects of digital transformation and with 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created daily, it is key to have efficient systems and processes to leverage these assets in order to drive tangible, measurable and constructive outcomes. In many governments however, their projects to evolve their ability to leverage data have often been slowed down or hindered by legacy technologies, skill shortfalls or other policy/practice obstacles.

Over the past few months, every single one of us have had the opportunity to witness first-hand the importance for governments to have a strong data strategy and its impact on decision-taking, policy making and efficiency of service delivery - impacting our lives.

Now is the time for our governments to accelerate those important projects which will enable them to increase the quality of their service to their stakeholders. Data really has the potential for playing a positive role in society. While we quickly think about technology as the answer, the primary levers for change are elsewhere:

• Obtain the right skills: most governments need to invest and accelerate training for existing resources, hire if possible and ally with the wider ecosystem, including academia to support the effort as talents are scarce for public and private sector alike.
• Make data as a key strategic asset at a national level and for each government entity: this requires an overall government approach and focus, as well as an individual commitment from each and all government entities, big and small – considering the wider good of the country over the efficiency of the single ministry, city or region.
• Remove existing barriers: as a strategic asset for the country, governments need to lift legal or policy boundaries which prevent this asset to be best managed and shared, as well as work on the current difficulties governments entities have to share data with other governments, in a timely and reliable way.

Some governments have been investing in this field for a number of years but in most, major benefits have yet to be realized. The 2020 UN E-government reports will provide a more detailed view of the status in several regions: https://www.un.org/development/desa/publications/publication/2020-united-nations-e-government-survey

With growing technological capacities to process larger and more complex data sets, policymakers can benefit from better insight and foresight which can make a real difference. Technologies like Artificial Intelligence can unleash even more benefits but solid foundations need to be designed first, including a strong data governance strategy as well as all necessary measures around security and privacy.

A journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step: the use of data for governments can and does create strong public value. Let’s not wait until another pandemic hits for our governments to best equip themselves for the benefit of all.