The National Data Strategy Forum
The National Data Strategy Forum is co-chaired by John Whittingdale, Minister of State for Media and Data, and Sue Daley, Director for Technology and Innovation at techUK and was launched as part of the government response to the National Data Strategy. It is a series of stakeholder discussions convened by DCMS to help shape the development of the future vision of the Strategy, as well as ensure continued collaboration with key advocates and influencers from a cross-section of stakeholder groups.
techUK welcomes the Government’s consultative and inclusive approach to operationalising the Strategy. Establishing a Forum through which collaboration could be achieved with industry and other stakeholders was one of the recommendations highlighted in techUK’s response to the consultation.
The first of the series of discussions of the National Data Strategy Forum took place on 22 June 2021 and brought together around 30 policy experts from the wider data community in the UK. The discussions centered around the themes of increasing public trust, driving cross-sector coordination, boosting data literacy and skills, and enabling innovation. More detail about the first session of the Forum could be found in Minister Whittingdale's blog published on 2 July.
In the blog, the Minister shared the three challenges that he has put to participants in the Forum. These include:
- Firstly, to work with the UK Government to develop collaborative programmes of work to support the delivery of the National Data Strategy; by providing insight and expertise and helping forge the right connections with others in the data ecosystem – both domestic and international.
- Secondly, to support the Government's engagement with the wider public about the potential benefits of data use; and help to embed the principles and goals of the National Data Strategy more widely.
- And thirdly, to help shape the development of the future vision for the Strategy. Working to identify future opportunities, and provide constructive challenge to help make the NDS the best it can be.
As next steps, techUK is working closely with DCMS to set out how to focus the energy and enthusiasm of our initial discussion into a more detailed plan for future Forum activities, giving careful consideration to the many points, ideas and suggestions from the Forum discussion.
If you would like to get involved in future Forum discussions, you could let DCMS know by completing this short form. Discussions themselves will be limited to ensure conversations can be focused and action oriented, however for each Forum discussion DCMS will prioritise diversity of representation, bringing together multidisciplinary expertise and fresh perspectives from up and down the country.
To stay up to date on more opportunities to get involved, and the Forum, please sign up to the UK Government's NDS newsletter.
Sue Daley
Sue leads techUK's Technology and Innovation work.