Data should be thought of as 'core national infrastructure', says top UK civil servant

In a speech in London on Tuesday, John Manzoni, chief executive of the civil service, said: "We need to think about the collection and storage of data as part of core national infrastructure, in the same way as we think of our road and rail systems, energy supply, and telecommunications networks as infrastructure."

Manzoni said that improving the "availability, quality and use of government data" can help transform public services and "provide a new stimulus for data-based businesses". However, he said there is a challenge to win and retain public confidence over the use and sharing of data by government and in building the capability of the civil service to "collect, store, analyse, share and use data".

Manzoni said: "Because government data is public data we have a duty to use it well and open it up where possible – and we have to be seen to do so cost-effectively, efficiently, proportionately and appropriately."

"Public trust is absolutely critical to achieving our ambition for a data-driven government.

Information and data is power. Which is why, historically, the ability to communicate and understand it was so jealously guarded. Now that we are openly releasing information, we have to do so responsibly. Trust means giving people confidence that their data is used appropriately and effectively, and that it’s secure, particularly when it’s being shared by different authorities. That trust has to be earned," he said.

Manzoni said that identity authentication and transparency are important in building public trust in how data is used and shared by government.

"We need to make sure we maintain [the public's] trust that we are using and sharing data responsibly and effectively," Manzoni said. "Transparency is part of this - transparency of evidence, ‘showing your working’, and opening up to greater scrutiny the data and analysis on which we base policy decisions. For transactions (such as driving licence and passport applications) users can now see the data government holds about them and change it if it is wrong."

"We must also have the confidence that a person accessing a service is who they say they are, and we must do that in a way which the public trust," he said.

Manzoni also pointed to provisions in the Digital Economy Bill, currently being scrutinised in the UK parliament, as offering the potential for data to be used more effectively by government.

Manzoni said that, outwith government, The Royal Society and British Academy are currently investigating "how data is, and could be, used by government, and the types of governance that may be required". He also said the existing data science ethical framework is an example of an initiative that promotes "the importance of ensuring the data and models we are using are robust". He said the framework is based on the principles of principles of "data security, openness, user need and public benefit" and that it is complemented by the Office for National Statistics' own 'Five Safes' framework.

In his speech, Manzoni also pointed to a shortage in data science skills in government as a challenge that the UK civil service is looking to address.

"We are growing the specialist data science community in a variety of ways – from direct recruitment to training to defining new career pathways for analysts," Manzoni said. "The Data Science Accelerator Programme is tapping into the 3,000 or so analysts from other disciplines looking to develop their data science skills. A Data Science Campus opened its doors at ONS’s headquarters in Newport last October. And the first intake for a new Apprenticeship in Data Analytics started work on their two-year vocational training programme at the end of 2016."

A new programme to train up to 3,000 non-data specialists in "data literacy" will also be provided by the civil service's Digital Academy, he said.

"Together, these measures are nudging us towards a cultural shift in the status of data in government and those who work with it," Manzoni said. "How government uses data in service of the citizen will define how the citizen experiences government. When we get it right, we will deliver the right service at the right time to the right person. And that is our goal."