We hear a lot about how data and technology are revolutionising the way we deliver public services. What is less clear is what this means in practice, how it impacts our day-to-day work, and how policy-makers at the start of their careers should be incorporating this potential into their approach.
Our speakers included:
● Rakesh Gaur, Principle Engineer in Innovation and Technology for Transport for London.
● Mike Rose, New Commercial Manager at the Open Data Institute. Before that Mike worked for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency leading the release of 10,000 Open Datasets
● Anoush Darabi, Apolitical Lead reporter, Data for Impact and Cities.
Chaired by Apolitical co-founder and CEO Robyn Scott, our engaging panel set out to answer some interesting questions.
What is the utopian vision for harnessing digital advances?
The panel discussed their future visions for a world in which digital innovation has harnessed. A common theme was localism; local referenda to encourage quick, grassroots decision making, local power supply through the harnessing of smart meters, and public systems efficiently delivering services like transport through data gathering to predict behaviour. One example was instantly making more buses available when more journeys are predicted or other transport methods are delayed. Already, we are seeing this being introduced in Stockholm, as they gather real-time information from taxis, delivery lorries, traffic sensors, pollution monitors, and weather information to give city managers real-time information on journey options. Another was a tool in hospitals in Queensland that can predict admissions ten years in advance.
How can the public sector win the trust of people with data?
The panel reflected that these visions often relied on people trusting the public sector with data and that this is not as easy as it used to be.
“We used to give out a book [Yellow Pages] to everyone that had the names and addresses of everyone living in their local area…if that isn’t personal data, I don’t know what is. What was acceptable then is not acceptable now”.
Mike talked about his experience of trying to open up data in his time at DEFRA. There were concerns that releasing open data sets would allow private organisations to access the data and use it for commercial purposes. However, the case was made that opening up information such as flood risk sites would save time and effort for flood risk assessors across the country. DEFRA had a target of 8000 data sets to be released in over a year. 30,000 data sets released as of recently.
People tend to overly trust private companies with their data but not public sector organisations. The panel discussed the fact that corporations use our data in every part of our lives; from wearable Google Glass, to SatNavs in our cars, to “smart cities” like Google in Toronto. Some on the panel saw this as increasingly worrying but some reflected it is simply a transaction.
“We like our lives easy. The reason Google, Facebook, and Apple are successful is because they supply what we want. We are letting them do it because we get something back”.
Can the public sector intervene more to protect data when necessary?
The panel discussed the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that is coming into effect from May 2018. It will mean that people can request private companies delete all data they have on them. GDPR also has an impact on data mobility, which brings opportunities for the public sector. People will be able to move data between suppliers easier than ever, for example, moving data from Facebook to a different, comparable service. The panel discussed measures ranging from increasing a globally recognised “good data” standard that could be awarded to companies using data ethically, to the public sector developing services and systems in new markets to compete with organisations such as Facebook that promise an ethical use of data to the public.
How can the public sector improve procurement to encourage digital innovation?
The panel discussed the fact that often the public sector can have closed supply chains (ranging from procuring trains to food buying). Introducing disruption and new entrants to the market can be tricky. Some in the public sector have had success with a procurement process in which they present an open problem and invite solutions – which often come from smaller, more agile companies. This is a departure from the traditional procurement process which presents a problem and assumes a solution. The panel felt that the public sector can ask for help more often.
There are good news stories of the public sector innovating in the digital space. The City of Amsterdam local authority helped champion and crowdsource ‘The Things Network’; a system that uses low-power, low-bandwidth LoRaWAN technology to cover the city with a wireless signal that allows objects like boats, trash cans and street lights to become tools for developers.
What will the impact of artificial intelligence be on the public sector?
There are possible negative societal impacts that the public sector should be aware of. Facebook, a system with a learning algorithm has shown that outrage and populism are powerful drivers. However, there are positive examples too, particularly where the public sector can harness AI. For the last year, the Behavioural Insights Team has been trialling machine learning models that can crunch through publicly available data to help automate some of the decisions made by bodies such as Ofsted, which inspects schools, and the Care Quality Commission, which regulates health and social care in England and give quicker, more accurate ratings than random inspections. In the future, people may need an AI agent acting on their behalf if AI become more prevalent. The opportunities and challenges for the public sector in this area are boundless.
Do we need more knowledge of data in the public sector?
The panel agreed that, more and more, the value of public servants able to interrogate data is increasing, and that “policy” and “data” silos need to be broken down to create more networked policy-making. In the future, policy-makers will need to be upskilled in both of these areas as we further harness digital technologies.
After thanking the speakers and attendees for their input, Public Bubble Chair Laura Wilson then answered the other key question:
How can I get involved in the Public Bubble in the future?
Elections for the Public Bubble committee are due to take place on the 22nd March from 18:30 and anyone is welcome to come along to get involved in the committee and help create and run events like this in future. For more information, you can contact The Public Bubble on Twitter, Facebook, or email us at: thepublicbubble@gmail.com.
Many thanks also go Transport for London and Apolitical for their help and support with this event. You can sign up to Apolitical (it’s free), following the bespoke link here: http://apolitical.co/vip-signup/?ref=BUBBLE
We’ve found Apolitical to be a useful tool for anyone early in public sector careers to get ahead and learn valuable skills. You’ll get unlimited access to Apolitical’s reporting, with an entire library of case studies on ‘data for impact’ (among other policy areas), and can get in touch with the people behind the policies. You can also read more on data in the public sector in the following articles:
- How do women move around cities? Santiago is finding out
- UK ranked first in the world at bringing AI into government – here’s why
- Pay toll ahead: the public sector’s data problem
Thanks again for everyone that attended, and we look forward to seeing you soon!
The Public Bubble 