Harnessing data for interoperability and operational efficiencies
The Criminal Justice System (CJS) comprises multiple government agencies, each with different software systems and fractured data landscapes. This causes significant challenges, with research showing that organisations in the CJS struggle to capture and manage their own data accurately or share it securely at speed with other organisations. Compounding the problem, the digitisation of processes in government and the CJS results in more disparate systems and a higher volume of data being generated than ever before.
The need for data management, collaboration and interoperability across the CJS is therefore now vital. Without it, CJS agencies will not have the capabilities they need to tackle some of the most pressing issues they face today—from reducing case progression times, high victim attrition to court backlogs at over 60,000 cases.
Seamless data collection and collaboration must sit at the core of the CJS
From the point a crime is committed up until a trial and beyond, CJS agencies need to share data and collaborate with each other, trust they have accurate and up-to-date data and keep stakeholders, victims and witnesses informed.
How can government agencies perform these essential workflows efficiently if the data they need is siloed in different systems, they cannot securely share data at pace, collaborate effectively, or trust the data they see? Is unifying such disparate systems a near impossible and expensive task? How can the MOJ realise its goals for the CJS to be ‘driven by data’?
There is a technological solution to these challenges: interoperable data management software. This type of software can easily integrate with the government’s existing systems and unify all of the data within them into a single source of truth - cleaning and standardising that data and transforming it into insights to drive decision making. This software can operate on the back-end of existing HMG systems, making them connected behind the scenes and harmonising, cleaning and transforming data that needs to flow between agencies.
Cross-government data sharing in practice
Whilst making systems interoperable may seem like a complex task for the CJS, with so many agencies and systems even within the Police itself, let alone courts, tribunals, victim support services and the CPS - it can be done. Evidence for this is seen in the UK government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme, where access to clean, reliable data coupled with cross-departmental data sharing and interoperability helped ensure the safe resettling of more than 100,000 Ukraine refugees in the UK. The scheme is proof that there need not be a tradeoff between speed, security and safety when it comes to using data to help solve some of the most pressing issues we face.
Alongside this, multiple public healthcare organisations were made interoperable to deliver the NHS’s successful Covid-19 Vaccination programme. Government agencies in these examples were able to harness the power of their data to drive decision making that improved efficiencies, supported communities and saved lives. The NHS had the data they needed to allocate vaccine and PPE supplies effectively and reduce patient backlogs. DLUHC had the right data, at the right time, to ensure the safeguarding and resettling of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Software can also apply automatic data protection controls on data as it is shared across agencies, so only those with the right permissions can access it. Interoperable software makes the management of other data governance imperatives - like purpose-limitation, auditing and deletion - far more robust than opaque methods of data sharing such as email attachments.
The next generation of data governance technologies, like purpose-based access controls, makes managing data governance rapid and seamless. This allows collaboration to proceed at great speed while being demonstrably compliant. Technology can remove much of the administrative burden CJS agencies face trying to manage their data or make it useful; there need not be a trade-off between speed, security and individual privacy when it comes to harnessing the power of data.
What benefits can software and harnessing the power of data bring to the CJS? Existing software has the potential to have a profound impact in the CJS:
- Courts and tribunals can accurately understand upcoming case numbers, which cases need to be prioritised and allocate court spaces and resources effectively.
- CJS agencies can easily capture, receive and share data in real-time.
- Government agents are provided with a joined-up view of accurate data, that is updated in real-time across systems as new data becomes available.
- Decision makers have the data they need to understand which CJS departments are operating efficiently, and where improvements need to be made.
- CJS agents can collaborate efficiently to share data and progress a case at speed, reducing the wait times for a court hearing.
- The police and victims support services have the data they need to keep victims and witnesses informed.
- Reporting requirements across the CJS can be done more easily and quickly, as all the required data for a report is available and accessible. This can help CJS agencies meet reporting requirements, for example those generated by the upcoming Victim’s Bill.
- CJS agents have the data they need to make decisions to drive operational efficiencies, develop innovative solutions, plan for, prevent and mitigate critical incidents and streamline processes.
It’s important to remember data alone is not the full solution. Secure access to, and sharing of, understandable data will go a long way to improving processes and efficiencies in the CJS, but truly making the most of data will remain a human challenge.
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