Big data in government: the challenges and opportunities

 Chief Executive of the Civil Service John Manzoni spoke about how the government is using big data and open data to improve public service delivery.

There are 3 key areas of opportunity that we need to grasp:

• first, improving the experience of the citizen
• second, making government more efficient
• third, boosting business and the wider economy.

The impact of data analytics and big data in our lives – for example the way online retailers tailor their recommendations for the food, books and music we buy - is quite familiar.

Less has been said about the transformative power of this technology for the delivery of high-quality public services. And it’s time that changed.

With the evidence of data we can spend less time developing policy and services that don’t work, and instead focus on continuously improving those that do.

For big service delivery departments like the Home Office, HMRC and DWP, data analytics means the ability to search across organisational data sets. It can provide data for operational teams to put into practical effect.

In DWP, for example, providing job seekers with more targeted advice, and opportunities that closely match their personal profiles. The department is also working on data-informed tools, such as interactive visualisations of benefit claimant trends.

There are examples at home and abroad where data is being used to address people’s real concerns about their daily lives; providing solutions that were not available before.

In June last year, for example, Land Registry and partners published the first UK House Price Index, and provided a single source of information as opposed to the multiple competing versions which existed before.

Land Registry data has also been used to create a range of information services. From whether rude-sounding street names have an impact on house values - (they do!); to more serious matters, such as whether your home is on a floodplain.

Land Registry’s Flood Risk Indicator service uses data from the Environment Agency to identify flood risk for any registered piece of land within England and Wales.

The Companies House Service gives us free access to real-time information on companies. It’s receiving millions of search requests every day from people checking supplier and customer information

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/big-data-in-government-the-challenges-and-opportunities