Delivering justice: steps to harness the power of public sector data
Arguably, Tuesday’s theme for Digital Justice Week 2022—harnessing the power of data—is the most critical for the future of the Criminal Justice System and the Ministry of Justice. A lack of joined-up, quality data for historical and existing cases is stalling digital transformation and, ultimately, justice.
For instance, Esther O’Sullivan, the Legal Aid Agency’s Head of Digital, explained recently that given the complexity of the cases and being burdened by old systems, upgrading to digital processes would require going through “millions of lines of code, in fragile yet critical live systems” to make the needed changes. “We estimate that will take two years,” she said.
To accelerate the system’s modernisation, O’Sullivan stressed the importance of collecting and sharing data. “If we want to interact and use data interoperability, we need a standard data schema,” she continued. “I’m trying to share data across Government departments, and it’s increasingly difficult as the governance and commercial processes needed to support this just aren’t there.”
O’Sullivan pointed out that currently, the MoJ is charged “a lot of money for data by other departments”, even though they are working on the same projects. “It’s ridiculous,” she added. “Standardising data and making it discoverable would be amazing, but it is a massive job requiring leadership, courage and vision.”
Her observations matched the findings in Civica’s Unlocking the Power of Government Data report, published in September in response to the National Data Strategy (NDS).
Worryingly, the study showed that only 9% of civil servants said “significant progress” had been made in “improving data quality” and “improving data management”. How, then, to speed up this journey? We offer four recommendations.
Build robust data foundations
As a first step, securely recording data in “fit for purpose”, accurate, standardised, reusable formats would pave the way for meaningful data processing and application. Moreover, generating decent-quality data by building strong data foundations across departments will create a ripple effect. Boosting data literacy enables staff to exploit and share data in a secure and compliant fashion.
It’s a win-win situation. Building firm data foundations across departments will upgrade the digital capabilities of public sector departments while eliminating unnecessary costs that arise from poor-quality data and a lack of interoperability.
Modernise IT systems
Echoing O’Sullivan’s experience, our research found that “existing IT infrastructure/legacy systems” emerged as one of the top-ranking challenges among all communities—senior decision makers, data specialists (both 57%), end users, and project managers (54%).
Enabling access to siloed data and modernising IT systems will improve efficiencies throughout the public sector. And, by sharing data and achieving visualisation at scale, the MoJ, and other Government departments, can make smarter, quicker decisions—and better serve UK citizens.
Invest in building data skills
Another significant blocker to progress in this area is a lack of talent. Indeed, Lloyds Bank’s latest Essential Digital Skills Report, published last year, suggested just 58% of public sector employees have the requisite digital skills. In our report, “developing and retaining skilled staff” was identified as the greatest challenge to achieving data priorities, with 56%. Meanwhile, “resource capability and capacity” came third.
Hiring or training staff with specialist data expertise can enable departments to build robust data foundations and, in turn, leverage data-driven solutions meaningfully. Therefore, continuous upskilling of employees is vital to harness the massive potential of data-driven technology.
Dr Laura Gilbert, the Chief Analyst and Director of Data Science at the Cabinet Office, underlined the importance of recruiting carefully in Raconteur’s Future of Data report, published in mid-October. “A great data analyst is worth, at a conservative estimate, 20 average ones,” she said. “They can often do things that any number of average analysts working together still can’t achieve. What’s more, a bad analyst will cost you both money and time.”
Gilbert added that “the complete lack of technology skills and expertise at the top level of the Civil Service” is a key constraint. “Without that, leaders do not have a blueprint in their minds for the art of the possible and therefore do not challenge their teams enough.”
Enable data availability
Finally, to achieve the third mission of the NDS—“transforming Government’s use of data to drive efficiency and improve public services”—a public sector-wide approach to improve data availability is imperative.
The MoJ and other Government departments must address the current lack of interoperability to seize the data opportunity—and, to deliver justice quicker and better serve UK citizens, as soon as possible.
Authors
