Blog
Just over a year ago - and after an extensive process of analysis, research and public consultation - the UK government announced its new national data strategy created in response to the increasingly important role of data in all aspects of our society. The strategy builds on other related initiatives such as the industrial strategy, the research and development roadmap, the artificial intelligence industry review and the framework agreement between the government and the artificial intelligence industry. As part of this process, five key opportunities have been identified where data could play a truly transformative role in the country: stimulating productivity and trade; supporting the creation of new businesses and jobs; increasing the speed, efficiency and scope of scientific knowledge; improving public policy and services; and contributing to the creation of a fairer society for all.
Such a data strategy is called to be part of the national digital strategy (still under development) and it is built as a whole on four structural pillars. These pillars correspond to the outstanding challenges identified during the analysis phase:
- The adoption of the basic fundamentals of data, understood as the identification of the data that are most suitable for a given purpose, and the fact that these are always stored in standard formats and in systems that allow their location, access, interoperability and reuse.
- The development of data capabilities, including a wide range of skills - both technical and managerial - ranging from the most generic and basic to more specific and advanced ones.
- Improvements in data access and availability, creating an environment that facilitates the flow and reuse of data across all public and private sectors while meeting the necessary security and privacy guarantees.
- Responsible use of data, securely, ethically and in compliance with all applicable legislation, but also allowing for its exploitation for research, development and innovation.
Based on these pillars, 5 priority action areas are developed as a central part of the strategy, the objective of which will be to respond to the identified barriers that could hinder the new opportunities existing in the data sector:
- Unlock the value of data in the economy, recognizing the general value of data as a new and thriving economic asset, but at the same time studying each individual case in search of the necessary balance between individual rights and common benefit.
- Maintain a data policy that is simultaneously pro-growth and pro-trust, so that it does not pose a barrier to entry for new innovators and can keep pace with the growth of new technologies. A regime through which companies manage data more transparently and individuals can make more informed decisions about their data.
- Transformation in the use of data by government, with the aim of improving the efficiency of public services. This would require the leadership of the Chief Data Officer to revitalize and transform the way in which data is collected, managed, used and shared across government.
- Ensure the security and reliability of the infrastructures that serve the data, protecting the data from potential cyber-attacks or any other possible threat of disruption or interruption in service - both when in storage and when in use or in transit.
- Encourage international data flows by creating an environment of trust that ensures the security, privacy and confidentiality of data at all times; removing unnecessary obstacles to data sharing between countries; developing standards that facilitate interoperability; and encouraging international adoption of the same standards and values that apply at home when working with data.
One year after the publication of this strategy, the UK government is launching a new consultation for its reform - this time with the aim of implementing more flexible data governance to accelerate innovation, remove unnecessary barriers to data use and foster economic growth, while protecting the interests of the public. This new consultation comes loaded with multiple reform proposals, some of them quite striking for questioning several of the most relevant aspects within the currently existing baseline data protection framework in an attempt to make it more flexible for businesses. Some of the issues that have been discussed are:
- The obligation to have data protection officers in companies.
- The need to carry out preliminary assessments of the possible impact of their activity on the privacy of individuals.
- The obligation to have records of all personal data processing activities carried out in companies.
- The definition of what exactly constitutes a "data breach" and the threshold above which it would be considered a significant impact breach.
- Establishing a number of legitimate uses of data that would not require consent.
The specific proposals and considerations of the reform can be analyzed in detail through the extensive document published for the consultation and also through the analysis of the estimated impact. However, although the official consultation period has already ended, we will still have to wait a few months to hear the reactions and comments of companies, organizations and citizens to these proposals - once the government concludes its analysis of the responses and its conclusions on this new consultation.
Content prepared by Carlos Iglesias, Open data Researcher and consultant, World Wide Web Foundation.
The contents and views expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the author.
Evento
The provision of public services in the digital environment will be the central theme of a conference organized by the General Directorate of Electronic Administration and Information Society of the Government of Aragon, next March 7 in Zaragoza. The event is support by SARGA - within the European project InterregMED Odeon "Open Data for European Open Innovation" -, and seeks to focus on digital advances and citizen service by the administration.
Under the motto "Public Services Provision in the Digital wWrld", two central topics will be discussed:
- Relationship with users and services design "for them and with them".
- Data and information use in a reliable manner for public services improvement.
The event will address these issues from a practice point of view based on speakers’ experiences. The activities carried out by the Government of Aragon, but also by the governments of Estonia and the United Kingdom will be shared. The event also include the participation of Richard Stirling, Oxford Insights CEO, María Izquierdo, designer of ProjetsbyIF, and Clara Jiménez, co-creator of Maldita.es, who will address the role of artificial intelligence, ethics in the use of data and the way to know the services and information provision maturity level of each administration.
Todos estos expertos ilustrarán cómo han desarrollado soluciones que consideran al usuario y su información como parte fundamental del proceso de creación de los servicios públicos. Los asistentes podrán dialogar con ellos y transmitirles sus dudas durante el tiempo de preguntas. Cabe resaltar que se contará con traducción simultánea para las ponencias en inglés.
The event, which will be in the morning (from 8.45 to 14.05), will take place at the Caixaforum Zaragoza (Calle José Anselmo Clavé, 4, 50004 Zaragoza). The registration is free, but, due to the limited capacity, it is necessary to register in the following link.