Digital

Back to the Future: Building a vision for public sector data

July 11, 2024 by Stewart Hamilton No Comments | Category Data, Digital Scotland

Guest blog post by Albert King, Chief Data Officer, NHS National Services Scotland.

Earlier this year, The Scottish Government put out a call inviting people to come together to co-create a long-term vision for public sector data in Scotland. This is clearly something people care deeply about as we had a great response, from which, 30 individuals working in public, private and third sector, across a range of organisational sizes and scopes became the Horizon Group, each bringing a rich range of experience and expertise.

Together the group have just completed the third of three workshops where they considered what living in Scotland might be like in 2044 – 20 years from now; 2038 – 14 years from now; and 2031 – 7 years from now. For each workshop members were  provided with scenarios of possible futures (speculative fictions) along with pre-reading and views from people including Mariana Mazzucato, Indy Johar, Roman Krznaric, Galit Ariel and Shannon Vallor to guide their thinking.

As you might be able to tell, being on the Horizon Group was no small undertaking! Not only did members give their time, they also had to be open to some intensely interactive workshops that took them into some different ways of thinking.

Throughout, this framework of guiding principles was helpful to test that thinking:

• We embrace the power of data for our people, services and economy
• We empower citizens and our workforce
• We co-create in the public good
• We recognise the stake of future generations
• We serve society holistically

It was inspiring to see how everyone tackled each activity with so much energy, enthusiasm and creativity. Bringing a real diversity of thought and professional interests, is vital for this work and connections and conversations happened over those 3 days that probably would never happen any other time.

We recognise that the vision that emerges is only the work of the people in the room and the process that everyone took to get there. What we hope is that we have germinated a small yet powerful seed, recognising it will need much more input to grow. It will need wider challenge, input and iteration to be inclusive and reflective of Scottish society. Then it will need champions to embrace and realise it’s potential.

Public sector data is a vital component in making sure that services for the people of Scotland are delivered efficiently and effectively. One of the main objectives of this process is to support those who want to bring change and innovation. Through us working together we can realise the true value of data and it’s ever-expanding role in shaping and supporting economic, societal and environmental transformations.

The Horizon Group members will get a brief chance to draw breath before we share the first draft of the vision with them. We’ll then make this available through the public sector space on The Data Lab’s community platform for comment and challenge. Alongside that we will start to recruit to a realisation group of people working in data who can help the adoption of the vision, creating alignment with their existing work.

This process was designed and facilitated by The Lunar Works and Tynos Consulting on behalf of the Data Division of the Scottish Government with NHS National Services Scotland and The Data Lab.

To keep up to date, be part of the challenge process or express your interest in joining the realisation group join The Data Lab’s online community and sign up for the Public Sector group which is where we’ll be posting all the latest on this work.

Tags: Data, Horizon Group, NHS National Services Scotland, public sector data, scottish government, The Data Lab

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