Digital

Unlocking the Value of Scotland’s Data – Response to report published.

January 16, 2025 by Stewart Hamilton No Comments | Category Data, Digital Scotland

Blog by Chris Bergin, Strategic Data Policy Adviser, Digital Citizen Unit.

The Scottish Government has published its response to the report by the Independent Expert Group for the Unlocking the Value of Data programme.

The programme is exploring how the public sector can responsibly unlock the value of the personal datasets they hold – securely, ethically and transparently – for research and innovation by the private sector, in the public interest. This data is an asset that, if used ethically and in ways supported by the public, can support economic growth and drive innovations in health, social care and wider public services.

While access to personal data under certain circumstances is permissible under UK data protection legislation, we are committed to developing an ethical best practice approach to aid decision-making in the public sector. This is designed to enable greater social and economic value to be created from personal data, in line with the highest legal and ethical standards.  

We commissioned the Independent Expert Group (IEG) to develop a policy statement, high-level principles and recommendations to guide confident, ethical and publicly-trusted decision-making by data controllers in this area.  Our formal response to the IEG report was co-produced with public sector stakeholders, including data practitioners.

The Scottish Government’s policy position is clear: the use of personal data must be lawful, ethical, trustworthy and in the public interest, across the full spectrum of data-driven activities.  Access to this data must be contingent on demonstrable public benefit associated with is use. Furthermore, if economic value is produced by the private sector using public sector personal data, this value must be shared with the public sector and the people of Scotland.

This policy evolves from the Digital Strategy for Scotland, and aligns with our draft Vision for Public Sector Data in Scotland, and the IEG’s recommendations. It rests on the premise that public sector personal data has rich potential to deliver social, economic and environmental benefits, if used ethically and in publicly-trusted ways.  

Our focus now shifts to how best we can implement this policy, and guiding principles, iteratively – with the help of public sector partners, industry representatives, experts and, crucially, the public, drawing on national and international best practice as it evolves.

We are in a strong position to accelerate innovation in public services and product development through ethical data use. With a thriving technology sector, unlocking the value of these datasets can support our vision for Scotland to become a leader in the use of trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI, and maximise its potential to transform services and drive growth, whilst mitigating harms.  

Public trust in data use is the foundational anchor of our approach. We aim to amplify the role and agency of the public in facilitating ethical data use by the private sector. What data use is ethical, or deemed to have public benefit, must be determined (“co-created”) with the public, on a case-by-case basis.

High-quality public engagement and transparent communication about the reasons for data use and safeguards, is vital for inspiring this trust. And trust is key to ensuring public acceptance of data use and new technologies. Our report on the public dialogue on the use of data by the public sector project showed there is conditional public support for private sector use of public sector data, with public benefit constituting the primary driver of acceptability. 

As part of the initial delivery phase, Research Data Scotland (RDS) stand ready to engage on plans to operationalise and validate the policy and high-level principles in a research context. This activity will be informed by the IEG report and the supporting evidence, including RDS’s own review of operational practice, which considered challenges and blockages to data-sharing with the private sector. 

As a longer term goal, we propose piloting a benefit realisation model, focused initially on access to NHS Scotland personal data by the private sector, where there is strong, well-documented demand for data. This aligns with Scotland’s Health and Social Care Data Strategy and addresses a key recommendation of the Independent Expert Group, who advocated for the adoption of appropriate benefit-sharing models.

We are keen to expand our engagement with partners across all sectors, so we can harness a broad and diverse range of views to shape the next stage of the programme.

If you would like to get in touch, please contact Christopher.bergin@gov.scot.

We wish to express our sincere thanks to the Independent Expert Group Chair, Professor Angela Daly of the University of Dundee, and each of the group members, for their strategic direction and their personal commitment and contribution to this important, complex and evolving agenda.

Tags: Independent Expert Group, report, response, scottish government, Unlocking the Value of Data

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