Better Use of Data Assets (UK0073)

Objective: Through our Government Data Programme, we plan to improve the availability, quality and use of government data and make it easier for that data to be used appropriately and effectively, both with and beyond government.

Status quo: Since our first OGP National Action Plan we have made considerable progress in opening up government data. Our data.gov.uk portal has enabled us to identify and open up over 27,000 publicly held data sets, fuelling the development of innovative apps, new insights for public service delivery and greater government transparency. Doing this has clearly shown the potential for value creation and enhanced public services, as more and more data is made available. The act of opening up data itself improves quality, as data users and publishers respond to incentives to improve it. Having made this progress, there is now more we can do within government to make better use of the data assets we have, and to make more, better quality data openly and freely available, in order to drive service improvement, economic growth and transparency. To do that, we need to modernise our data infrastructure, and engage actively with data users to understand the demand for open data, as described in the parallel commitments. We also need to overcome legal and organisational barriers that prevent effective data use within the public sector for clearly defined purposes in the public interest, while being clear that identifiable data will never be made open and strict controls will govern the use of any such data. And we need to build the skills and capabilities to make best use of the data we hold.

Ambition: Better use of data across government will drive up data quality, in turn improving the quality and reliability of the data we are able to make freely and openly available. As a result of this work, we expect to see: • government increasingly re-using its own data to enable better operational, policy and economic decisions and drive up data quality • better cross-government platforms and improved services for citizens • better quality data available for innovation in the economy and wider society • more accessible open data that is easy for citizens and civil society groups, as well as businesses and large organisations, to use • clear ethical and legal frameworks to build public support for the better use of data in government

11. Better use of data assets

Commitment Text: We will encourage and support data-driven techniques in policy and service delivery across government departments and encourage the better use of open data in the economy and civil society.

Objective: Through our Government Data Programme, we plan to improve the availability, quality and use of government data and make it easier for that data to be used appropriately and effectively, both with and beyond government.

Status quo: Since our first OGP National Action Plan we have made considerable progress in opening up government data. Our data.gov.uk portal has enabled us to identify and open up over 27,000 publicly held data sets, fuelling the development of innovative apps, new insights for public service delivery and greater government transparency.

Doing this has clearly shown the potential for value creation and enhanced public services, as more and more data is made available. The act of opening up data itself improves quality, as data users and publishers respond to incentives to improve it.

Having made this progress, there is now more we can do within government to make better use of the data assets we have, and to make more, better quality data openly and freely available, in order to drive service improvement, economic growth and transparency. To do that, we need to modernise our data infrastructure, and engage actively with data users to understand the demand for open data, as described in the parallel commitments. We also need to overcome legal and organisational barriers that prevent effective data use within the public sector for clearly defined purposes in the public interest, while being clear that identifiable data will never be made open and strict controls will govern the use of any such data. And we need to build the skills and capabilities to make best use of the data we hold.

Ambition: Better use of data across government will drive up data quality, in turn improving the quality and reliability of the data we are able to make freely and openly available.

As a result of this work, we expect to see:

• Government increasingly re-using its own data to enable better operational, policy and economic decisions and drive up data quality

• Better cross-government platforms and improved services for citizens

• Better quality data available for innovation in the economy and wider society

• More accessible open data that is easy for citizens and civil society groups, as well as businesses and large organisations, to use

• Clear ethical and legal frameworks to build public support for the better use of data in government

Milestones:

1. Pursue legislative changes to enable better access to government data for defined purposes across organisational boundaries in public services and between different levels of government working with internal and external experts and consulting with the public at key stages

2. Publish departmental data plans for improving data quality, opening up more data and ensuring continuing engagement with external stakeholders

3. Monitor and publish progress against departmental data plans

4. Help non-data specialist policy and operational staff across government to understand analytical approaches and the transformational power of data

5. Equip government analysts with the latest data science tools and skills, through a programme of work led by the Office for National Statistics

6. Showcase best practice in data science through cross government projects, finding opportunities to bring in external expertise to inform the design and delivery of the projects

Responsible institution: Cabinet Office (Government Digital Service) and Office of National Statistics

Supporting institutions: All government departments, Democratise, mySociety, The Open Data institute.

Start date: May 2016

End date: June 2018

Commitment Aim:

The purpose of this commitment was for the government to make better use of its own data, improving access, skills and the quality of data within government, while building public support and engagement outside. The commitment consisted of overlapping goals and milestones including publishing data plans, training staff and raising awareness through showcases and examples.

Status

Midterm: Substantial

At the end of the first year of implementation, the promised legislation, named the Digital Economy Act 2017, had been passed.^{[Note 106: Legislation.gov.uk, ‘Digital Economy Act 2017', https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/30/contents ]} In a speech in February 2017, the Chief Executive of the UK Civil Service, John Manzoni, explained that the new law ‘provides a robust legal framework for sharing data between public authorities, where there is a clear public need and benefit'.^{[Note 107: Cabinet Office (John Manzoni), ‘Speech: Big data in government: the challenges and opportunities', https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/big-data-in-government-the-challenges-and-opportunities ]} According to the government's July 2017 update, the work was under way to develop further four Codes of Practice and other regulations that would be approved by an affirmative resolution of both Houses of Parliament.^{[Note 108: UK government commitment update for July 2017. ]} There was concern from CSOs over the provisions for data sharing and the extent to which such processes would be transparent and protect privacy across a range of areas, from details of debt to access to pornography.^{[Note 109: Panopticon, ‘Digital Economy Bill made law', https://panopticonblog.com/2017/05/03/digital-economy-bill-made-law/ ]} The political events of 2016 and 2017, such as the Brexit referendum and the June 2017 General Election, delayed the plan for departmental data plans. It has been decided that individual department plans will now be merged into wider strategic plans.^{[Note 110: Interview with Thom Townsend and William Gerry, Cabinet Office, 14 September 2017.]}

The government stated in July 2017 to be making good progress on outstanding milestones.^{[Note 111: Cabinet Office, Open Government National Action Plan 2016-18: July 2017 Commitment Progress Updates (commitment update for July 2017) pre-publication passed to author. ]} The cross-government Data Advisory Board is overseeing a programme of data-enabled transformation as part of its work on showcasing best practices in data science. In 2017, the programme included experiments with care home quality data and pensions.^{[Note 112: Government Digital Service, ‘Guidance Data Science Accelerator Programme', https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-science-accelerator-programme, and Government Data Blog, ‘The Data Science Accelerator: pensions, patient journeys and predicting public order', https://data.blog.gov.uk/2017/04/11/the-data-science-accelerator-pensions-patient-journeys-and-predicting-public-order/ ]} For specialists within the government there has also been a continuous series of community building and showcasing events, as seen on the Government Digital service blogs.^{[Note 113: Government Digital Service, ‘Building capability and community through the Government Data Science Partnership', https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2017/07/20/building-capability-and-community-through-the-government-data-science-partnership/ ]} Officials have also organised events to help non-specialists^{[Note 114: Government Digital Service, ‘Data literacy: helping non-data specialists make the most of data science', https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2016/04/27/data-literacy-helping-non-data-specialists-make-the-most-of-data-science/ ]} with a cross-government training programme through the Government Digital Academy in four different locations.^{[Note 115: Government Digital Service, ‘GDS Academy', https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/digital-academy ]}

End of term: Complete

Though parts of the commitment were continuous and rolling, the central parts, such as the legislation, were complete and departmental plans have now been rolled into single plans.^{[Note 116: Interview with Katie Holder and Thom Townsend, DCMS, 8 August 2018. ]} Towards the end of the action plan cycle, the government made a strong push over data policy. It transferred responsibility to a new department (the Department of Culture, Media and Sport) which announced a new strategy led by a new centre for data ethics and excellence.^{[Note 117: Freeguard, G (2018), ‘DCMS is the right place for data policy – but the next step is a government data strategy', 4 April 2018; Computerweekly (2018), DCMS sets out plans for National Data Strategy, 13 June 2018. ]} The Treasury also published a discussion paper on the economic value of data.^{[Note 118: Her Majesty's Treasury (2018), The Economic Value of Data, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/731349/20180730_HMT_Discussion_Paper_-_The_Economic_Value_of_Data.pdf ]} While designed to encourage debate, one point about open data caused some concern, as it appeared to move back on the government's commitment to open data, when it stated that ‘this does not mean that open data is appropriate or beneficial for all forms of data... rather than rely on an open/closed distinction, data access should be seen as a spectrum, with different degrees of data openness'. This caused some concern to civil society, who saw it as a questioning of one of the central ideas of open data.^{[Note 119: Computerworld, What is the UK government's open data strategy?, https://www.computerworlduk.com/data/how-uk-government-uses-open-data-3683332/. ]}

Did It Open Government?

Access to Information: Did Not Change

Civic Participation: Did Not Change

The commitment was based mainly on legislation, alongside training and ongoing work inside of government, and so was focused on internal change. This focus meant no new information was released or new areas opened as a result of the commitment. Nor did any parts of the commitment lead to wider engagement or greater civic participation.

Carried Forward?

The UK government's consultation on the national action plan for Open Government 2018-2020 proposed a further commitment around ‘public participation in digital and data policy development' that covers similar themes and aims (though this is a suggestion and not government policy). This includes committing to international discussions on open data, a new Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, and continued wide-ranging dialogue around the Government's National Data Strategy.^{[Note 120: UK Government (2018), Consultation draft of the National Action Plan for Open Government 2018 – 2020, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XGUs6X8EHSOm00U-rX2_8cAoq7MnDsBjnetQeW0vnzA/edit#heading=h.y5i6179pcs8d ]}