Exploring the power of data and collaboration at DigiGov Expo ‘24

By Michael Thomas on October 3, 2024

Last week, we were thrilled to attend the UK’s largest public sector technology event – DigiGov Expo at London’s ExCeL centre. The team behind it recently combined 4 of their separate conferences into one, meaning that talks and attendees spanned all aspects of digital delivery, from user centred design to cybersecurity.

We were hoping to hear about the great work that’s been going on across the public sector, see some examples of innovative approaches teams are taking to delivery and hear about the kinds of challenges being faced, that we might be able to provide support to in the future.

We were not disappointed. There were excellent talks on many different subjects, but there was one particular theme that really resonated, that we’ve also been experiencing. The importance of collaboration in getting the most out of your data.

‘Collaboration is key’

We heard from a cross-departmental team of volunteers that had been exploring ways in which data, from a whole range of sources across government, could be used to proactively identify potential cases of modern slavery. They were exploring combining data from sources including councils, food standards, and a range of others, to see if they could proactively anticipate where there may be instances of modern slavery. Their experiments were already proving fruitful, but this wouldn’t be possible without sufficient data governance to enable the owners of each data source to confidently and securely share their data.

This need for data governance was also highlighted in an earlier panel discussion around how to transform legacy data and infrastructure. Aydin Sheibani of HMRC explained that lots of teams are struggling with lots of out of date, or fragmented data, and that “We need to build capability around data governance” to make it more accessible and usable. We’ve recently supported a number of departments struggling with just this issue – by resolving the governance issue now, we can protect against a whole host of issues in the future.

Another panel discussion explored how governance can be transformed through strategic partnerships and enhanced data sharing. Orsola De Marco from the Open Data Institute warned that ‘data is a tool, not an answer’ to solving this challenge, but if we have more data literate people in teams, they will be the ones to drive the change. As with all elements of digital delivery, it is a team sport, so we fully believe her later point that, ultimately, ‘Data driven collaboration is key’.

These challenges are becoming more and more common

We couldn’t relate to all of these points any more strongly. Over several projects, we’ve been helping clients across the public sector wrestle with these challenges related to their data. Whether it’s helping the Welsh Government to replace their legacy data publishing service, and improving the legacy data within it, migrating fragmented licensing records from a legacy system, or collating disparate data about interoperability standards, we’ve also found that collaboration with all parties involved is key to achieving this seamlessly, securely and successfully.

It’s no wonder that collaboration is a core principle of agile delivery, service design, and any number of other frameworks and methodologies related to digital delivery. Not only does it mean everyone can gain a shared understanding of the problem at hand, and the path towards the solution, but it also helps identify any pitfalls early and fosters buy-in from all parties who are seeking to resolve it. It’s great to hear this approach is also being championed by others across government.

Summary

Overall, DigiGovExpo was an excellent event. There were so many other excellent speeches, talks and demonstrations, from Kit Collingwood championing that "the most compassionate services are the most efficient services", to seeing a demonstration of how GOV.UK’s One Login’s app has revolutionised human verification for the government. It’s so valuable to hear so many stories of great work being delivered across the public sector.

But, to reiterate Orsola’s point from the Open Data Institute, “data collaboration is key” – if you’re facing a challenge with your legacy data, or legacy systems, it’s critical that you engage openly and actively with the teams, users and stakeholders related to it – even if they’re from another organisation entirely.

While gaining this participation from others (who may be more reluctant) can sometimes be a challenge in itself, it’s always worth the pay-off. We strive to help teams achieve just that. If you’d like to hear more about how we could help you face such a challenge, don’t hesitate to reach out at hello@marvell–consulting.com