Thoughts from the mind of Ben Welby

Tag: transparency

Building a data-driven public sector Part 3: Unlocking the value of data without losing public trust

This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series Building a data driven public sector (DDPS)

On 16th May 2024 I led a 90 minute session as part of the Digital Academy Masterclass, hosted by the Government of Azerbaijan’s Innovation and Digital Development Agency, and delivered by Digital Nation.

I’ve broken the presentation into 4 parts. After the introduction, Part 1 considered the potential of data to deliver public value; Part 2 looked at the elements needed to actually build a data-driven public sector; and this, Part 3, explored how to unlock the value of data without losing public trust.

Unless otherwise indicated or an obvious screenshot, the images were generated by ChatGPT.

Now we’re onto the third and final part of this morning’s session. We’ve thought about where value can come from in terms of what you do with data. We’ve thought about the role you all play in helping to create the conditions for data to be used. But now we will finish with thinking about how our use of data builds and preserves trust.

Trust is such a valuable commodity. But it can be lost so quickly and take so long to repair.

Trust between citizens and their government is the basis on which the legitimacy of public institutions is built. Without trust, some policies lose their meaning and some services cease to be used. Unfortunately, trust is deteriorating in many countries.

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Transparency = Clarity = Trust?

At the heart of this furore about expenses is a breakdown in trust.

We think that our politicians have been shafting us and getting away with naughtiness for years. The activities of 20 to 30 of the 650 elected members in Westminster is provoking the kind of outrage and, at the same time, apathy, that has sent Nick Griffin (“RT @TiernanDouieb: In mythology, the Griffin is part lion, part bird. Yet Nick Griffin of the BNP is all cock”) and his odious ideas to Brussels on behalf of the British.

The solution, we cry, is for political reform; for shining brighter lights onto the activity of government and scrutinising everything that our political leaders do. In the attempt to find a way of governing the nation that works, we want to ramp up and ramp up the organs of checking up on it. Continue reading