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How being smart with data and technology helps to drive efficiencies and change
We have a new government with new objectives and expectations. It wants to focus on positive change and efficiencies, which is important during a period when public expenditure is under significant pressure.
Taking the lead in driving efficiency savings and change - the focus of Labour’s manifesto - which are interlinked, is something the public sector needs to do.
The best way to achieve this is by having access to clean data on citizens, including the appropriate technology to deliver it.
Issues with inaccurate citizen data
With MIT Sloan highlighting that the cumulative cost of inaccurate data is between 15 per cent to 25 per cent of revenue for most organisations, sourcing and maintaining accurate data on citizens is vital. Poor quality data wastes resources, undermines everyday operations and communications – particularly personalised communications to citizens.
If citizens receive communications that aren’t relevant or poorly addressed it can lead to reputation damage, because they won’t be happy to see public money wasted in this way.
Another big issue is inaccurate user data will negatively impact on effective decision making. There will be negative consequences for effective resource allocation if poor quality data is used to inform the future of a service, or the creation of a new one. This isn’t the type of change the government is looking for.
How to deliver clean data
What’s required are simple changes to the data quality process at the onboarding stage and for held data. Having access to technology such as an Address Autocomplete or Lookup service that delivers an appropriately formatted, correct address when the user begins to input theirs, is a good start.
Deduplicating data is a necessity, using an advanced fuzzy matching tool to merge and purge the most challenging records, and therefore prevent the sending of multiple communications to the same user.
Additionally, undertaking data cleansing or suppression to highlight those who have moved, are no longer at the address on file or are deceased, is essential.
Sourcing a data cleaning platform that can undertake all these actions - a scalable data cleaning software-as-a-service (SaaS) tool – which can be accessed in a matter of hours and doesn’t require coding, integration or training, is the best option. It provides the ability to obtain accurate data on citizens to enhance communications, and make learnings for effective decision making, which will help to deliver positive change and improve efficiencies.
Access technology that prevents fraud
Preventing fraud is also a vital part of the journey to improve efficiencies, with the Cabinet Office estimating that fraud and error costs the public purse up to £51.8 billion every year.
With global migration increasing there’s often a plethora of identity documents for those in the public sector to effectively review from around the word. This, at a time when levels of fraud remain stubbornly high, requires the use of an electronic identity verification (eIDV) platform to undertake ID verification. It’s possible to access an automated tool such as this via delivery mechanisms, including an “out-of-the-box” user interface with no integration required; or a cloud API (application programming interface). This way it can be scaled up or down according to the requirements of the users.
With these platforms being “always on” they are able, in real-time, to cross-check the names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers provided by applicants during remote onboarding. Such an approach delivers a good experience, while preventing fraud.
What is important is procuring an eIDV tool with access to billions of consumer and business records from reputable sources around the world, such as government, utility and credit agencies. They deliver the best outcome.
When undertaking ID verification to prevent fraud using such an automated platform is significantly quicker, more accurate and cost effective when compared with manual checks. There’s no additional staffing or training costs, and there’s no risk of human error when utilising this technology.
The benefits of Microsoft SQL Server
One of the most valuable ways for the public sector to integrate technology onto their systems to deliver clean data and drive efficiencies is via Microsoft SQL Server. While all connector technologies that aid the integration of third-party applications have their strengths, such as SaaS and cloud APIs, Microsoft SQL Server has benefits that stand out for those in the public sector.
Firstly, the Microsoft SQL Server database management system is already available to and used by many organisations in this sector. It offers a great route to easily access third-party applications via SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), because it operates as a connector between systems, and functions at a high operating speed. Services can be simply accessed without further integration - just drag, drop and start using – to quickly benefit from efficiency savings.
With SQL it’s not necessary to outsource anything or undergo complex data privacy and compliance because you are in control, with data remaining behind your organisation’s firewall. This means there’s no danger of any data breaches.
With a new government in place, it is time drive efficiencies and positive change by sourcing the appropriate technology to clean data on citizens, implement ID checks to prevent fraud, and access suitable connector technology to integrate it all. It’s particularly important to demonstrate efficiencies and positive change as soon as possible, with resources set to be allocated in the autumn budget.
This guest blog was written by Barley Laing, the UK Managing Director at Melissa. To learn more about Melissa, please visit their LinkedIn and Twitter page.
Heather Cover-Kus
Heather is Head of Central Government Programme at techUK, working to represent the supplier community of tech products and services to Central Government.
Ellie Huckle
Ellie joined techUK in March 2018 as a Programme Assistant to the Public Sector team and now works as a Programme Manager for the Central Government Programme.
Austin Earl
Austin joined techUK’s Central Government team in March 2024 to launch a workstream within Education and EdTech.
Ella Gago-Brookes
Ella joined techUK in November 2023 as a Markets Team Assistant, supporting the Justice and Emergency Services, Central Government and Financial Services Programmes.
Annie Collings
Annie joined techUK as the Programme Manager for Cyber Security and Central Government in September 2023. In this role, she supports the Cyber Security SME Forum, engaging regularly with key government and industry stakeholders to advance the growth and development of SMEs in the cyber sector.
Authors
Barley Laing
Barley Laing joined Melissa and set up the UK office in 2014 during an exciting expansion phase of the California headquartered company.