One of the four pillars of activity through which we will achieve the vision of our digital strategy is Collaboration and Data. It will involve:
- Working as one council to build the future, sharing data within the council to plan more effectively and design better services.
- Sharing data and working with partners across the borough to plan more strategically.
- Using insights from data to drive what we do and learn how to be more effective in achieving the outcomes we seek for our communities.
Why is this important?
We recognise that redesigning or building new services requires the collaborative efforts of people across the organisation and out in our communities, and that our data holds valuable information which isn’t always immediately visible. By working collaboratively, sharing data appropriately and engaging our communities, we can get the insights and understanding that we need in order to design services which improve people’s lives.
Our intended outcomes
- we are powered by data and insight and have a thorough understanding of the needs of our communities.
- we have the right governance and infrastructure to share data and insights within the organisation and with partner organisations, so that we can work together to improve people’s lives.
- we have a collaborative culture which works in the open, invites constructive feedback and is agile in its approach.
We will achieve this by
- building on the work undertaken during the pandemic to share data and insights into the needs of our residents, incorporating additional datasets, improving data quality and establishing information governance assurance.
- collaborating with other boroughs, network groups and private sector bodies, sharing our experience, learning from theirs, and re-using components and best practice.
- developing people’s understanding of the collaborative tools available and encouraging openness and transparency.
- providing analytical tools that enable all service areas to gain insight from data.
What we have done in 2020-2021
- Developed emergency data sharing arrangements to enable greater insight into the needs of our most vulnerable residents.
- Redeveloped our open data website, making it much easier for people to access various sources of data, increasing the organisation’s transparency.
- Established effective governance to review and monitor progress on delivering the benefits of digital to all.
- Implemented a new system and associated process for managing Data Protection Impact Assessments, improving our ability to share data safely and make data-driven decisions.
- Established a new Data Science and Quality team to improve the integrity of our data and empower data-driven decisions.
- Migrated our file storage to the cloud, taking a big step towards achieving a fully mobile and collaborative workforce whilst reducing the amount of storage in our data centre.
What we will do in 2021-2022
- Improve the quality and integrity of our data and information, ensuring we have appropriate retention schemes in place.
- Develop greater awareness and understanding of data through a range of initiatives, including the establishment of a community of Data Champions which is passionate about using data for good.
- Improve access to data and insight by implementing solutions which brings our data to life.
- Create a holistic, joined-up view of our residents, enabling us to support them more effectively through their life events and gain insights from a more complete picture of our communities’ needs.
- Work with partners and other boroughs to share and join anonymised data and insights.
- Improve and encourage collaborative working by developing people’s understanding of the collaboration tools available and demonstrating the benefits of openness and transparency.