Digital

A shared destiny for public sector data

October 18, 2024 by deborahamzil No Comments | Category Data, Data Vision, Digital

Blog post by Shona Nicol, Head of Technical Data Policy, Data Division, Digital Directorate.

As a data professional, it can sometime feel hard to get others interested in data. Perhaps like many in this profession, I can often express the importance and value of data for good in an overly technical way. However when our biggest challenges in Scotland include eradicating child poverty, growing the economy and tackling the climate emergency, I would argue that we should all take an interest in data because it’s going to be foundational in helping us solve these problems.

Data is already intrinsic to shaping our society and how services are delivered. And public sector data is a vital component in making sure that services for the people of Scotland are being delivered efficiently and effectively. Despite an ever growing awareness of the transformative power of data to improve the design and delivery of services, feedback from public sector staff shows that they can face difficulties when trying to influence colleagues and senior leaders around the need to invest in data.

A vision gap

In the Scottish Government’s data maturity programme and more widely, we regularly hear about the challenges data professionals encounter when trying to enact change. This community tell us that a long-term vision for public sector data for Scotland could help them by providing the context for what they are trying to achieve locally.

Earlier this year we started to scope how we might do this. We recognised that organisations are already working to deliver local and national strategies and policies that relate to data, so any vision had to be able to sit alongside those, be meaningful in different settings, agnostic of technology and relevant to any public sector organisation. We wanted to offer opportunities for alignment, not enforce an instruction manual.

Broker the development of a draft vision

To achieve this, we set up a Horizon Scan group of around 30 people from across public, private and third sectors.  We brought in external facilitators to develop an approach that had co-creation as its core principle. Scottish Government’s role was simply to put in place the different people and elements that would allow a vision to emerge. The group attended 3 workshops that took their thinking 20 years into the future to consider the complex issues likely to face Scotland and the potential for data to support integrated solutions. You can read more about this work in this blog post by Albert King.

That process brought us to this central vision Scotland’s data advances innovation and wellbeing for people and planet which is supported by  5 ambitions (the ‘to be’ state) each underpinned by objectives (arising from the ambitions) and enabling conditions (to enable the objectives).

The draft vision and the supporting elements are high-level and broad in scope. They reflect a desire to see data enabling and supporting a democratic society. The structure offers organisations a range of opportunities for alignment.

A starting point not a landing place

With only 30 people participating in the first stage of the process, the full diversity of views could not possibly be adequately represented. What the group developed is starting point, not the landing place and that’s where you can come in.

How you can get involved

The draft vision for public health data has been published and the Horizon Scan group are now seeking your input to challenge and inform this vision so that it can be taken forward and realised. This is also your opportunity to put yourself forward to get involved in the next stage of this work.

Find our more at  A Vision For Public Sector Data in Scotland

• Read the draft vision document
• Give your feedback on the online form by 30 November
• Sign up for one of our Data Vision webinars

We’re looking for:

• Your reflections on the vision and ambitions
• Any current or planned work that aligns with the vision
• Volunteers to iterate and refine the draft vision, building a group that will help to realise the vision

We really hope you’ll get involved. Your input will help to enable innovation and transformation in the delivery of public services for the people of Scotland.

The development of the draft vision 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.

Tags: Data, Data maturity, Data Vision, digital, NHS National Services Scotland, public sector data, scottish government, Scottish Public Sector, The Data Lab

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