5 Moving faster to make a reality
of open data
106. This chapter examines what might be needed to
help the Government achieve all three of its main aspirations
for open data. It asks why there is not more open government data,
why it is not more accessible and why it cannot be released faster.
Public service skills in dealing
with data
107. We heard some evidence of a shortage of data
skills among public servants. Sir Nigel Shadbolt acknowledged
that the Government had made "substantive investment in the
area of big data," but that "much of this is in the
area of hardware [...] the human skills you need to drive this
are essential." Neither the public nor the private sectors
had people with enough of these skills, and more needed to be
done to take advantage of "the inherent strength we have
to exploit this emerging data market".[149]
108. Sir Nigel said that within the Civil Service
there is "a real challenge" which went beyond "the
well tried notion that it is largely PPE graduates".[150]
Nevertheless the numbers required to improve matters were not
seen as overwhelming; one or two role models within Departments
were "producing extraordinarily high-quality data [...] Four
or five people across 15 Departments of State would make a huge
difference".[151]
109. FlyingBinary, a company with a lot of experience
of working with government Departments, said that "data literacy
is very low across the Civil Service."[152]
Action is needed, they told us, to "educate and inform the
Civil Service at large and create a culture change which affects
behaviour."[153]
If senior officials give the impression of not being interested
in seeing evidence, using it to improve policy and outcomes, and
learning from departmental experience, the open data movement
was seen as being unlikely to take off. Heather Savory detailed
some of these cultural issues. For instance she said civil servants
sometimes perceive the risks in releases of open data, "which
is natural because they have been brought up in a world where
they are [...] protective of the public."[154]
110. Mr Hurd and Mr Fallon outlined the actions being
taken by Government to increase data capability and capacity for
both private and public sectors. In October 2013 the Department
for Business, Innovation and Skills published "Seizing the
Data Opportunity: a strategy for UK data capability". The
strategy contains a range of actions for Government, industry
and academia around three key areas:
· building human capital - developing a
strong skills base in the UK
· developing the UK's data infrastructure,
software and research
· facilitating data sharing and linking
111. Measures being taken to develop skills within
Government include work by the Government Chief Scientific Adviser,
Professor Sir Mark Walport, and scientists and engineers across
Government to "increase the use made of data and analytics
in analysing and tackling big policy challenges."[155]
The Government Innovation Group of the Cabinet Office is "leading
new work on open policy making which will consider new policy
tools and techniques, including the effective use of data in policy
and service delivery."[156]
The role of statisticians
112. The role of statisticians was seen by several
witnesses as crucial to success on open data. ODI told us: "Statisticians
are vitally important for opening up data, and those engaged in
open data have a lot to learn from them. But [statisticians']
outputs are currently focused on people rather than programs."[157]
To encourage outsiders to make full use of statistical material,
ODI said that "Re-users need access to anonymised versions
of the underlying data."[158]
Sir Andrew Dilnot, Chair of the UK Statistics Authority, said
that the Authority "expects all data underlying official
statistics to be published", but cautioned that this should
happen only "where this is practicable and does not put confidentiality
at risk."[159]
He stressed the need for statisticians to ensure quality and provide
context in data, warning that "Data dumping" can be
inimical to transparency and good government. It is the job of
official statisticians, and a requirement of the National Statistics
Code of Practice, to produce official statistics which are understandable
and readily accessible, with objective and impartial commentary."[160]
113. Money was cited as a barrier to progress on
open data; the UK Statistical Authority said that "Across
the Government Statistical Service the work on transparency and
opening up data is typically being accommodated within existing
resources and this may limit the pace of progress."[161]
Jil Matheson said that, despite the constraints, the GSS was already
"one of the primary sources of data that appears on data.gov.uk."[162]
114. Full Fact suggested that Government statisticians
could contribute more to open data work: "Official statistics
should be open data and more than open data. With the capabilities
of our expert official statisticians behind them, they should
lead the field. As yet, they do not."[163]
Statisticians, according to Full Fact:
should not be gatekeepers who determine what
statistics we can see and what we can do with them. They must
be enablers, priding themselves on openness and how their work,
including as the Committee has emphasised, their communication
work, empowers others to do whatever it is they want to do.[164]
115. To support this, Full Fact suggested a one-star
to five-star scheme for assessing the reusability of open statistics,
building on Sir Tim Berners-Lee's scheme for assessing the reusability
of open data generally.[165]
One-star statistics would for instance include basic metadata,
such as the geographical scope of statistics and whether or not
financial time series are inflation-adjusted. Five-star statistics
would provide much more, including context via links to other
relevant data.
116. Many civil and public servants
lack the skills to interpret data properly and some civil servants
do not seem to share the Government's desire for openness. While
bearing fully in mind the needs of national security and personal
privacy, civil servants need to be much more aware of the
presumption to publish. They should stop being gatekeepers,
guarding government data, and become enablers encouraging its
wider use; key to this will be the development of a wider understanding
of data issues among policy staff.
117. Government statisticians
have the skills to do much more with government data, for example,
through producing new series of statistics. But statisticians
have chosen to adopt a low profile when they need to be active
in producing new data sets and collaborating with their colleagues
in other Civil Service professions to bring more sense and usability
to open data initiatives. Government statisticians should become
champions of open data.
118. We recommend above that the Government adopt
the "five-star" system along the lines proposed by Involve,
for open data engagement. A second "five-star" rating
system, developed by Full Fact for assessing the usability of
government statistics, would support the efforts of statisticians
to play a more active role in open data. This system should also
be adopted by the Cabinet Office in assessing departmental progress
on open data.
119. The Government needs to move fast to encourage
training of more data scientists. We therefore recommend that
the Government should bring forward a practical timetable for
training data scientists, with target numbers, to be announced
before the end of July 2014. The Government should also include
data skills and open data awareness sessions in the training of
the policy profession in the Civil Service.
149 Q100 Back
150
As above Back
151
As above Back
152
FlyingBinary Ltd (OD 18) para 7 Back
153
As above Back
154
Q51 Back
155
Nick Hurd MP and Rt Hon Michael Fallon MP (OD 28) Back
156
As above Back
157
Open Data Institute (OD 09) Back
158
Open Data Institute (OD 09) Back
159
UK Statistics Authority (OD 19) Back
160
As above Back
161
As above Back
162
Q211 Back
163
Full Fact (OD 11) Back
164
As above Back
165
As above Back
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