Big data, big outcomes: how analytics can transform public services and improve citizens' lives - EY
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Big data, big outcomes:
how analytics can
transform public services
and improve citizens’ lives
START
Contents
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4 5 7 15 21 22
2. 3.
1. The potential of Four steps to
Ever-growing data analytics in unleash a data-
Summary datasets public policy centric culture Conclusion Contacts
2
“
There has never been a better time to capitalize on the
potential of data analytics. We have just begun to scratch
the surface of possible applications. If governments can
unlock this potential, they will make smarter decisions today,
and plan better to meet the changing needs of citizens and
societies in the future.
Oliver Jones
EY Global Business Development, Markets and Insights Leader;
EY-Parthenon Global Government & Public Sector Leader
3
Summary
For a decade or more, we have been hearing and interrelationships that were impossible to fraud and save lives. Government and public 1. Appoint a visionary leader who can elevate
about a revolution in big data and analytics. detect. Advanced simulation models can also sector agencies are investing in more flexible the importance of analytics across the
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought good help us better predict future trends. IT infrastructures, such as application workforce and give initiatives the best
science and the need for reliable data back programming interfaces (APIs), to facilitate chance of success
into the heart of government decision-making. In the private sector, data is already a source of interoperability and information sharing. They
Governments around the world are investing huge competitive advantage. Many established are improving collaboration through joint target 2. Enthuse and upskill all employees so that
in data as a powerful means of controlling the companies have been challenged by start-ups setting and integrated approaches to service they become more confident at using data
outbreak and helping economies to recover. that have disrupted their industry by designing delivery, while actively managing data so that insights in their everyday roles
radical new business models. Data-centric it is fit for analysis. And they are reassuring
Data analytics offers a way to allocate resources service providers, such as Netflix, Uber and 3. Adopt an agile approach to projects — based
citizens that their data will be kept safe and
more effectively, optimize operations, reduce Alibaba, excel at using analytics to improve on rapid research, testing and prototyping —
used only for the greater good — as is the case
operating costs and tailor services to the their operations, target their products and to learn fast and trial new methods
with new health apps that track individuals’
specific needs of citizens and communities. deliver an exceptional customer experience. location and contacts to prevent future
4. Work in partnership with businesses,
Perhaps, the most exciting development is that However, unlike the private sector, governments COVID-19 outbreaks.
NGOs, academics and citizens to marshal
big data is transcending boundaries, enabling have no real competitors to provide the spur for
and analyze relevant datasets, and find new
collaborative problem-solving on global issues change. The impetus must come from within. The most important enabler for governments
insights and solutions
from pandemics to climate change. wanting to unleash the power of data analytics
That impetus is now gathering force, and the is to build an organizational culture where the
Our societies are producing and storing more constraints that held governments back in the potential of this technology is understood
data than ever before. And the rapid increase past are being overcome. From Hong Kong and valued. There are four actions for
in computing power and development of new to India, the US to Switzerland, pioneering public-sector bodies wanting to build this
analytical tools mean that datasets can now be governments are harnessing data analytics data-centric culture:
combined and manipulated to identify patterns to safeguard children, reduce crime, combat
4
1
Ever-growing datasets
In today’s connected world, it is vital for governments
to understand how people’s lives will change in future,
how business models will develop, and how societies and
economies will evolve. If governments can anticipate how
demand for public services is likely to alter, they will be better
positioned to respond to those changes. There is, of course,
no crystal ball, but data and analytics can go a long way to
provide answers.
5
Governments collect and hold more information and processing devices embedded in them, the At the same time, technological innovation disparate sources and spot previously unseen
than ever before. As citizens and consumers, internet of things (IoT) is generating a whole continues to extend the frontiers of what we can patterns. This not only gives us fresh insights
our use of websites, social media and wearables new range of data and insights. By 2025, the do with such data. The ability to link datasets is into the present but also enables us to make
provides a wealth of data on everything from number of IoT devices is expected to reach expanding, enhancing the usefulness and value data-driven predictions about future service
the items we buy to the places we visit. And 75.4 billion. And, over the period 2018–25, the of individual datasets. And, with improvements needs and resource requirements.
now that most of the new devices — from amount of data created is estimated to grow at in computing power, increasingly sophisticated
aircraft engines to refrigerators, digital a compound annual growth rate of 28.7%. analytics tools and artificial intelligence (AI),
assistants and smart phones — have sensors algorithms can now make connections across
In the digital state — where we increasingly Annual size of the Global Datasphere
work and play online — there is more data
than ever on nearly every aspect of our 175 ZB
lives and activity. According to an IDC 180
study, more than 5b people interact with 160
data every day. By 2025, this number will
140
be 6b or 75% of the world’s population.
It is estimated that each connected person 120
Zetabytes
will have at least one data interaction 100
every 18 seconds. 80
60
40
20
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Source: Data Age 2025, The Digitization of the World from Edge to Core, IDC, sponsored by Seagate, Nov 2018
6
2
The potential of data
analytics in public policy
In the context of this revolution, leading organizations
in both the private and public sector are recognizing the
central role that data and evidence can play in improving
decision-making, boosting performance and increasing
efficiency.
7
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the
status of data is arguably higher than ever
before. In seeking to control the spread of the
virus, prevent further outbreaks and find safe
ways to get the economy moving again, good
science and reliable data have been placed
at the heart of government decision-making
across the world. This is hugely welcome.
Governments will need to demonstrate —
and should insist on — strong scientific and
evidential support for policies in the new
normal, not only within the medical sphere but
also with regard to other pressing problems
such as long-term unemployment and climate
change. Indeed, forward-looking businesses and
governments are already using a wide range of
analytic techniques to describe issues, diagnose
causes, predict trends and prescribe solutions.
8
Four types of analytics
Complexity and impact
Key question Descriptive Diagnostic Predictive Prescriptive
What Why did it What is likely How can we make
happened? happen? to happen? it happen?
Mines past data to report, Drills down into historical Models trends and plausible change Complex analytics including AI and
Focus visualise and understand data and identifies based on data of what has happened machine learning dedicated to finding
what has already happened, drivers, patterns to date and assumptions about what the best course of action through
after the fact or in real-time and correlations might happen in the future optimisation models and game theory
Exploration of cause-effect and Scenario planning, strategic development Decision support for case workers in areas such
Activity reporting, interrelationships such as the and capacity versus demand modeling as social services and justice; also helps build
Government uses dashboards, demographic economic impact on crime levels (e.g., economic growth projections, rate of buisiness cases for longer term investments
profiling, monitoring or the relationship of education to expansion for disease and where it will spread, (e.g., new infrastructure or investment needed
or evaluations income and economic growth and immigration and population growth) to create jobs in local economies)
Smart cities are monitoring The US Department of Transportation Pension funds across the world face similar The Centers for Disease Control and
energy use in real time, and has embarked on a safety data challenges: how to ensure that members Prevention (CDC) analyzes data to
analysing and presenting initiative (SDI), which uses data will have enough funds to provide for examine health determinants and
this in ways that are readily integration, analysis and visualisation themselves in retirement. EY teams has health outcomes, access to health care,
accessible. The data is to better understand hotspots for developed a predictive model to understand health behaviours, and exposure to
Case examples used strategically to adjust accidents on roads and rail networks, how demographic, economic, political and environmental health hazards relative
energy consumption in public and diagnose related behaviours and social changes affect financial behaviours to a number of factors. The analysis
buildings at peak time. In the contextual factors that might have and pension funds. This insight can help underscored select intervention
city of Boston alone, this is been a contributing factor. Building individuals to prepare for their retirement, activities needed to reduce health
estimated to generate savings on this insight, it is able to identify allow pension providers to plan strategically disparities and identified a need for
of US$1 million per year. potential risk areas, and enable more for the future, and help enable government greater investment in health care
rapid and effective interventions. to develop more effective pension policies. funding in rural populations.
9
In the public sector, the benefits of such an datasets to form a more holistic and accurate
approach fall into two broad areas: better picture of citizens’ needs and specific social Simulation saves lives
services and outcomes, and improved issues, driving continuous improvements in
efficiency. service design and delivery. Using many years of incident records, an
EY team constructed a resource
i. Better services and outcomes Arguably, predictive and prescriptive analytics simulation and incident response
offer the most promising use of big data, model to help an Asian emergency-
Innovation in data analytics will transform improving safety across a range of policy services provider plan ahead. The model
how public services are delivered. As areas, such as predicting and preventing child forecasts five years into the future by
consumers, we have all come to expect a high abuse. For example, in Kenya, the nonprofit looking at actual incident response
level of personalization from the companies organization Shining Hope for Communities performance, combined with geographic
we interact with: Amazon and Netflix suggest worked with EY to digitize data records, align and demographic data. It predicts likely
purchasing and viewing options based on these with health records, and introduce incident patterns by day, week and month,
past preferences, while supermarkets and modeling to predict likely incidents, allowing the and allows forecasts to be broken down
department stores make it easier to shop by smart allocation of resources. There are many by incident type — from heart attacks
grouping products according to buying patterns other applications, from anticipating extreme to cooking fires. The organization can
— tactics that can increase sales by up to 20%. weather events to carrying out preventative use this model to make the best use of
Unsurprisingly, as citizens, we are now starting maintenance of infrastructure to help avert ambulances and other equipment, as well
to expect a similarly intelligent and responsive major accidents. to secure the investment, to help ensure
approach from the public sector. that capacity meets future demand.
Advanced forms of predictive and prescriptive
Governments know this represents an analytics are also increasingly used to support
important opportunity and are using big data professional decision-making. This offers unique
and analytics to tailor services to the specific potential for almost all areas of public services
needs, expectations and preferences of citizens that involve casework, including social services
and communities, from improving patient and education; policing and criminal justice; tax
journeys in hospitals, to streamlining tax collection and fraud and error reduction; town
returns and creating bespoke study programs in planning and building services; and immigration
higher education. They are integrating different and integration.
10Meanwhile, resource simulations are increasingly
Improving lifetime well-being for used to make sure that delivery systems and Tackling climate change with data
vulnerable children infrastructure are fit for the future. This is
particularly important for emergency services, Extreme weather events such as floods,
In New Zealand, EY teams worked with where it is challenging to match the supply storms and wildfires have become
Oranga Tamariki (formerly the Ministry of assets, such as fire stations and specialist more frequent in the recent years.
of Social Development) to support the equipment with ever-increasing demand. Many meteorological institutes openly
transformation of the country’s child share their data to help track changes
protection system. A predictive model Perhaps the most exciting development of in weather and climate. In the US, the
of children’s life courses was developed, all is that big data transcends geographical, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
based on evidence of risk factors and sectoral and organizational boundaries, Administration, with support from EY,
projecting the outcomes from different enabling governments, businesses and citizens has made data more readily accessible
paths. Covering all children aged 16 and to come together in new ways to tackle the to external parties, including businesses
under, the model draws on a longitudinal world’s biggest problems — from climate change working to reduce the social and economic
research and policy dataset that combines and natural disasters to social inequality. impact of weather-related damage.
information from a range of organizations Today, we have only scratched the surface of
to give the Ministry a comprehensive view how data-driven analytics can be used to better
of each child and their family situation. predict the future and inform future policies
The model also identifies avoidable fiscal and decision-making.
costs associated with poor outcomes,
thereby building a business case for early
intervention.
11ii. Improved efficiency savings, using managed analytics platforms
to provide additional information to the key Streamlining harbor-craft
Faced with ever-growing pressure on public decision-makers. operations
funds and rising volume and complexity of
demand, governments are seeking to make Analytics techniques can also be deployed to PSA Marine, a marine services provider,
smart decisions about how to improve help optimize operations and reduce operating wanted to optimize the operation of
financial management and get maximum cost. For example, the RECAP e-public service harbor craft, such as bunker tankers,
benefits from scarce resources. platform, which serves as a monitoring tool tugboats and launches in the port of
for compliance with Common Agricultural Singapore — the world’s busiest container
Data analytics offers a powerful way to Policy (CAP) in the European Union, combines transshipment hub. EY teams helped
manage costs and allocate resources more open Earth Observation data (remote satellite assess the optimal capacity of the port by
effectively. There is a whole spectrum of sensing) with the data created by farmers analyzing large amounts of untapped data
applications, including optimizing procurement using mobile devices. This replaces field on vessel size and tidal conditions, and
and budgeting processes; identifying new visits and other time-consuming and costly creating event simulations. The company
revenue streams; detecting fraud; transforming monitoring options. now has an app that uses predictive
internal operations; and improving asset analytics and machine learning to reduce
management. For example, EY teams helped On an aggregated level, combining descriptive delays, boost productivity and save costs.
a European railway company look after its and prescriptive analytics can help the overall
infrastructure more effectively by moving from prioritization of spending and budgeting. By
a time-based, reactive maintenance program mapping existing spend and analyzing impact,
to a system of predictive maintenance and it is now possible to get a comprehensive view
renewals. Automation and digital sensors now of over- or underspending of budgets and value
detect emerging problems before they become for money. For instance, in Estonia, the highest
major. And, in the US, a university that was scoring country in the InCiSE Index for digital
facing severe financial pressures worked with services1, a digital performance budgeting
EY teams to identify potential procurement system tracks monthly spending and
progress against policy targets.
The International Civil Service Effectiveness Index (InCiSE) 2019, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
1
12Due to budget pressures, it is more important effective way to predict and prevent fraudulent
than ever to target resources where they are Building public confidence in benefit claims too. By analyzing the massive US reaps billions through
most needed. By combining data from a wide data analytics and AI amount of data created in the health and improved tax compliance
range of sources, governments can assess welfare system, the technology can flag
when and where intervention is needed the TheTrusted EY AI Platform can help likely fraud before it starts and create an In the US, the Internal Revenue Service
most. This is not simply about saving money — build people’s confidence that their data evidence base for fraud examiners and (IRS) has established a department
it can directly affect citizens’ health, is being used ethically. The platform law enforcement to prosecute cases. dedicated to advanced analytics. By
well-being and safety. evaluates, monitors and quantifies the its third year of operation, the Office
impact and trustworthiness of AI by Finally, sophisticated analytics can increase of Compliance Analytics had delivered
By improving controls and spotting anomalies measuring risk factors, including its the quality of the feedback loop and aid the more than US$30b worth of improved
in large volumes of data, data analytics can also underlying technologies, its technical development of new solutions to complex tax compliance annually. A wide range
help reduce accounting errors, identify risks operating environment, and its level problems. Rather than waiting years to of methods are used to mine public and
and prevent tax fraud and financial crime. For of autonomy compared with human evaluate a government program, monitoring commercial data, including social media
example, to improve compliance, tax authorities oversight. and evaluation of policy can become almost sites such as Twitter, Facebook and
in some countries are using AI models along instant, provided relevant data is available. Instagram. The resulting data is combined
with data analytics to predict those at higher This can become an engine to accelerate the with IRS’s own proprietary information
risk of not paying their taxes. They’re also development of agile government and public and analyzed using pattern-recognition
predicting which of those taxpayers are likely services, streamlining strategic planning cycles algorithms that help identify refund
to react positively to certain tax interventions. and ensuring that infrastructure and services fraud, detect taxpayer identity theft, and
The result is increased revenue collection and keep one step ahead of demand. manage noncompliance issues.
lower tax avoidance. Advanced analytics is an
13Data pioneers in the public sector
Preventing crime before it happens Meeting demand for childcare services Identifying illegal construction
waste dumping
Police in Vancouver, British Columbia, are A government agency in Asia wanted to
cracking down on burglary with a machine- address the national mismatch of supply In Hong Kong, a publicly available dataset
learning solution that uses an algorithm to and demand for childcare and kindergarten containing more than 9m waste-disposal
deconstruct crime patterns. Through spatial services. EY teams helped to develop an records from 2011 to 2017 was used to
analytics, police can predict where residential analytical model to better understand local identify truck drivers who were likely to be
break-ins will occur and place patrols demand. This helped the agency work out involved in the illegal dumping of construction
accordingly. A pilot reduced burglary by how many extra childcare centers were waste. Combining this dataset with other
more than 20% in a month and the approach needed and where, and plan for the behavioral and geospatial data, a predictive
is now being made common practice. long term as the population evolves. model was developed which flagged potential
hotspots and identified more than 500 waste-
Saving lives through flood prevention Helping asylum seekers into work hauling trucks suspected of illegal dumping.
After three months of flooding in 2018 left The Swiss Government piloted a new Tackling fraud in health services
more than 1,400 dead, India’s Central Water algorithm which could boost refugee
Commission partnered with Google to create a employment by up to 30%. Built on big In the US, federal government agencies have
flood-warning system. The approach uses AI, data from tracking previous refugees, the joined forces to tackle waste, fraud and abuse
geospatial mapping and water data to generate tool analyzes asylum seekers’ personal in the US$1t spend on Medicare and other
alerts so that agencies can take preemptive characteristics, such as gender, age and health and human-service programs. Using
action. The first alert was issued in September nationality, to recommend the region data analytics, the team has helped uncover
2018, warning residents of Patna about heavy where they are most likely to find work. US$1b in fraud in one year alone and brought
rain and likely flooding. This saved thousands The algorithm was designed to help officials to to justice thousands of practitioners for
of lives and helped reduce financial costs. resettle individuals in the canton that best malpractice.
fits their profile.
143
Four actions to unleash
a data-centric culture
The case for putting data at the center of government
decision-making is strong, and the potential benefits are
almost unlimited. However, governments and public sector
agencies must first tackle some challenges to unleash the
power of data analytics.
15Three issues are often raised as challenges to The most important enabler for governments However, there are pioneers that are daring analytics officer, Vipin Gopal, is building on the
better use of data: siloed information systems, wanting to unleash the power of data analytics to do things differently. Specialist skills and firm’s research- and statistics-oriented culture
data quality issues, and public trust. These is to build an organizational culture where the pockets of excellence exist in statistical to engage employees with advanced analytics
are not insurmountable. Around the world, we potential of this technology is understood and offices, intelligence agencies, innovations labs and AI. The average time taken to get a new
are seeing examples of government agencies valued. This need for a new mindset is shared and other experimental policy and practice medicine from initial discovery to commercial
investing in more flexible IT infrastructures by the private sector, where many established development bodies. New digital training launch has been cut by more than two years.
to facilitate interoperability and information companies have been challenged by start- academies and exchange programs between
sharing between agencies, while taking steps to ups that have designed radical new business the public and private sector are springing up: Visionary leaders have proved to be just as
improve the quality, richness and relevance of models and, in doing so, have disrupted their Singapore is training 10,000 public servants in important in catalyzing change in the public
the available data so that it is fit for analysis. And industry. However, since governments have data science, while in Australia, Data61 — the sector. In the early 1990s, the work of New
they are working to build trust among citizens by no real competitors to provide the stimulation data and digital specialist arm of Australia’s York City’s Police Department was transformed
creating appropriate data governance policies for change, the motivation needs to come national science agency — is building an by Police Commissioner William Bratton, who
and protocols. from within. ecosystem of data talent through the created Compstat, the short for computer
placement of public sector employees comparison statistics, to improve crime data,
However, the most important enabler for There is another key difference: the public in the private sector, to mutual benefit. communication and accountability — a model
governments wanting to unleash the power sector does not usually have the luxury to which is now used by police forces and city
of data analytics is to build an organizational support innovation with the trial-and-error and EY teams have worked with many governments governments around the world. During her
culture where the potential of this technology ‘fail fast’ techniques used within industry and and agencies that are successfully transforming time at Network Rail, which runs Britain’s
is understood and valued. This need for a commerce. Critical areas, such as health care their approach, and have identified four actions rail infrastructure, Caroline Carruthers built
new mindset is shared by the private sector, or social services, cannot afford to experiment, to building a more data-centric organizational a case for better information governance
where many established companies have been simply because the costs of getting it wrong — culture and mindset. and was appointed the organization’s first
challenged by start-ups that have designed including failures in service delivery — are not chief data officer. In order to reduce risk and
radical new business models and, in doing so, acceptable. As such, there is a lack of evidence 1. Lead from the top boost efficiency across the organization, she
have disrupted their industry. However, since for governments to draw on regarding how to established a small core team operating in a
governments have no real competitors to provide build an entrepreneurial public-service culture. In the private sector, the most successful federated manner with a larger matrix team
the stimulation for change, the motivation needs leaders are those who have recognized the encompassing information security, data
to come from within. power of data to create competitive advantage protection, freedom of information, records
and improve products and services. For management and business intelligence.
example, Eli Lilly and Company’s chief data and Meanwhile, at the UK Government’s tax
16authority, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), frameworks, ideally reporting directly to the
the former Chief Data Officer Kevin Fletcher head of the organization (chief executive; city Like other smart cities, Boston has used
Direction and vision suggested that data is key to improving service mayor). These analytics leaders must act as big data and analytics to transform all
delivery in an ethical, unbiased and trusted way, evangelists for data-driven decision-making, aspects of how the city is managed, from
from senior management and unlocking productivity and innovation. taking inspiration from different fields to solve filling potholes in roads to health care
is seen as the most These examples show the power of having
public-sector challenges (e.g., borrowing and urban green spaces. A centralized
Citywide Analytics Team has been in
ideas from physical sciences about early
important factor in leaders who are passionate about the value warning systems). Listening is important too. place since 2015, with a mandate to
supporting innovation of data. In the public sector, such leaders —
both political and organizational — elevate the
Talking to a range of staff — from functional
leaders to front line employees — is critical to
equip decision-makers with information
on city performance. A single dashboard,
most effectively in an importance of analytics across the workforce understanding operational challenges, citizen CityScore, covers 22 metrics and is
and give initiatives the best chance of success. updated daily, giving leaders the ability to
organization. Recognizing this, some governments have gone
concerns and service issues that could be
addressed through better use of data. intervene before issues escalate
so far as to legislate for analytics, passing new
Source: “ Innovation in public finance,” ACCA, laws or writing it into their charters. The US, Most analytics leaders create a team around
September 2019 for example, passed the Evidence Act3 in 2019, them to help achieve their mission. In some
requiring agencies to appoint chief data officers cases, the team operates as a centralized
and develop multi-year learning agendas and unit, where analysts work on specific projects
evaluation plans. It also required the agencies to across the organization. Others have adopted
ensure that they collect, share and use evidence a decentralized approach, with analytics
in budget, policy and management decisions. teams integrated into, or co-located with,
specific departments. Whichever approach is
A dedicated executive, such as a chief data taken, analytics teams must have a thorough
or analytics officer, or a chief data scientist, understanding of the organization and its
should be appointed to lead the analytics key policy areas. Some organizations rotate
program across the organization. This individual analytics staff across departments to broaden
will develop data strategy and governance their experience. Others create analytics
Foundations for Evidence-based Policymaking Act.
3
17SWAT teams that work closely with individual professions, to build capability and support conducted by EY and Forbes showed that a lack broader change-management programs, such
units to embed analytical knowledge across career progression5. Recruitment and staff- of analytics skillsets is a bigger issue for the training helps to increase employees’ comfort
the organization. management practices must also change — government sector than it is for other industries in using data insights in their everyday roles,
both to bring in digital professionals and to (50% versus 40%)6. To address this, new skills particularly those who have traditionally relied
Analytics teams must encompass a broad equip them to work in the unique environment will need to permeate the entire organization. on their own professional judgment or intuition
range of skills: information technology skills of public services. And there needs to be a in making decisions. Any skepticism can be
to develop the systems for collating and greater focus on attracting staff with experience Many governments have started to introduce overcome by emphasizing how augmented
interrogating the data; statistical and analytical in systems design, agile methodologies, and data-literacy training to encourage a broader decision support can aid and enhance, rather
skills to develop the algorithms and models data science. culture change. For example, the Nepalese than replace, their decision-making. In complex
that create insights; and soft skills, such as Government’s Data Literacy Program is and sensitive cases, such as support for
communication, creativity, curiosity 2. Enthuse and upskill the workforce designed to drive stronger data-driven vulnerable individuals, it is still essential to
and problem solving. As analytics teams decision-making through targeted workshops. combine the analytical power of the machine
come to understand the context behind user A successful data and analytics program The program comprises of a 100-hour modular, with the context and understanding of a human
requests, they can start to move from a requires the whole workforce to see the customizable training program to support caseworker who can make a final judgment.
position of unquestioningly providing whatever virtues of the approach and embrace both technical skill-building and efforts to
they are asked for, to one where requests are new ways of working. This starts with a well- enhance a ‘culture of data use’ among Government organizations can be
anticipated, and to an extent shaped, by the thought-out strategy spelling out the scope, Nepalese civil servants. bureaucratic and hierarchical. So, it’s important
analytics team4. purpose, implementation plan and potential for supervisors to allow staff the time to
benefits, which should be communicated to This kind of training fosters curiosity in looking engage on data-focused projects and develop
Organizations that are establishing data all employees. at data and improves employees’ ability to ask their problem-solving capabilities. This can be
analytics teams for the first time must develop the right questions: how can existing data be done by incentivizing or mandating personnel
a defined career path for this new breed of As data becomes more and more democratized, used to optimize outcomes? What combination to connect with the data analytics team, for
professionals. The Australian Public Service, the responsibility for turning it into valuable of data or new data is needed to further instance, through reward and recognition
for example, as part of its reform agenda, insights no longer rests solely on the shoulders improve public value for citizens? It also helps programs or data-sharing champions. In
announced plans to establish digital and data of data-science professionals. However, a study people to interpret results or insights. Alongside Singapore, for example, every new government
4
Untapped potential: investing in health and care data analytics, The Health Foundation, May 2019
5
Australian Government, Delivering for Australians — a world-class Australian Public Service: the Government’s APS reform agenda, 2019
6
Data & Advanced Analytics — High Stakes, High Rewards, EY and Forbes Insights, 2017
18employee is allocated to a work-improvement Other governments are cultivating an Agile project management — based on rapid
team and helps to address two or three complex experimental culture through new structures, research, testing and prototyping — allows Collaborating to tackle social
operational problems each year. By promoting such as incubators and accelerators, and using organizations to drive improvements through challenges in London
this kind of innovation program, governments internal hackathons or skunkworks where small, an iterative test-and-learn approach. In
also have a better chance of attracting top loosely structured groups work on radical designing and executing a data analytics The London Ventures (LV) program is a
talent to fuel further transformation. new projects. For example, as part of its program, there must be a willingness to adapt unique collaboration between London
Smarter Data Program for 2014-2018, in response to changing needs or unexpected Councils (the umbrella body for the city’s
3. Become a learning organization the Australian Tax Office (ATO) established challenges. Piloting analytics on a relatively 33 local authorities) and EY. LV sources
a sandpit known as the Research and small scale, for instance in one service area and incubates innovative solutions to
To capitalize on data analytics, governments Development (RAD) Lab. The RAD Lab conducts or geographic location, is a cost-effective and deep-rooted social challenges. In one
need to find ways to embrace innovation and agile testing of new technology, architecture, flexible way to try new things out. The EY London borough, for example, sharing
experimentation, while of course managing data, and analytical methods and processes Data Office Framework starts with defining data and developing advanced and
any possible risks to service delivery. They to establish proof-of-concept before they are valuable and actionable use cases as a first step predictive analytics helped identify
should develop a culture where risk taking is deployed at scale. Its showcases have helped toward building the right capabilities, scalable 1,700 new families that were eligible for
accepted and mistakes are viewed as part of a build analytic credibility with ATO executives. architecture and establishment of a data additional support before they reached
learning journey. ecosystem. crisis point, to help ensure earlier, more
Public sector funding is tight, and budgets are cost-effective interventions.
For example, in Canada, in 2015, the Prime constrained. Many analytics programs therefore Pilots can yield important insights and help
Minister instructed all the ministers to work start by exploring what data they have and how provide proof-of-concept to secure buy-in from
with colleagues to ensure that they devote a to make the best use of it. A business case is senior stakeholders. The results provide a more
fixed percentage of their time to trialing new developed to put a value on the opportunity realistic picture of the potential benefits of
approaches and measuring the impact. This and potential benefits, and funding is then rolling out to the wider organization. Moreover,
learning-by-doing approach, Experimentation earmarked for innovation and experimentation, identifying and fixing issues during the pilot
Works, has been successful in matching while accepting that some initiatives might fail. may reduce the risk of failure.
experts with project teams wishing to innovate.
194. Harness the wider ecosystem Copenhagen municipal government, for Kong’s Smart Government Innovation Lab
example, has launched the world’s first (Smart LAB) allows start-ups and SMEs to pitch
Data is a critical resource in tackling complex marketplace for city data called the City Data new technologies, including data analytics,
challenges that cut across different policy Exchange (CDE). CDE is a collaborative project that can help improve public services.
areas. Yet, much of the time, vulnerable between the city, Capital Region of Denmark, A dedicated website allows agencies to
populations are not getting the interventions and Hitachi. The platform allows for the sale, post challenges and helps businesses and
they need because crucial data is scattered purchase and sharing of a wide variety of entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas. Governments
across different sectors including businesses, data from multiple sources among all types of are also exploring pro-bono and low-cost
NGOs, nonprofits, academia and citizens. users in a city — citizens, city government and collaborative partnerships with private sector,
Governments cannot tackle these problems business — to tackle urban challenges. The data nonprofit and academic organizations. For
alone; they must explore ways to work in offers information on things such as traffic instance, the New York Mayor’s Office for
partnership with other organizations. Once they patterns and citizens’ energy consumption, Data Analytics (MODA), which aggregates
have the ability to analyze and cross-reference which companies can use to develop solutions and analyzes data from across its agencies,
data across the whole ecosystem, governments to create smarter cities. The Government is cooperates with Columbia University and New
can unlock deeper insights and new solutions. using insights from the CDE to shape new York University to develop data standards8.
In tackling homelessness in cities, for example, policies. Another leader in the field is Nesta’s
they can pull together data on risk factors such program of Offices of Data Analytics in the Meanwhile, Washington D.C.’s Office of the
as poverty, unemployment, physical and mental UK, which helps cities and regions to join Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) has
health, substance abuse, family relationships, up, analyze and act upon data from multiple established an Interagency Data Team, led by
and affordable housing. Predictive analytics sources to improve public services7. the Chief Data Officer, as a community of data
models can then be developed to identify those analysts and representatives from D.C. agencies
most at risk and take steps to protect them. In sharing their own data, government entities to discuss issues of collection, application,
enable external parties with a different sharing, classification and governance.
There are many different mechanisms that perspective — such as entrepreneurs, academics Another example is EY CogniStreamer, an
can help to support the creation of such and researchers — to produce valuable insights online platform that enables communities to
collaboration and generate innovative that can inform governmental policies, collaborate in the process of innovation.
approaches to social challenges. The programs and services. For example, Hong
7
Dynamics of Data Science Skills — how can all sectors benefit from data science talent?, The Royal Society, May 2019
8
As referenced in Hello, World: Artificial Intelligence and its use in the public sector, OECD 2019
20Conclusion
In today’s hyper-connected and fast-changing offer the greater transparency and openness Taking the time to capture and publicize such
world, traditional solutions simply won’t work. their citizens deserve. Governments can do this results can help to win the hearts and minds of
Powerful drivers — technological advances, not only by investing in internal and external political leaders, peers, frontline workers and
urbanization, demographic shifts, global health capabilities but by redesigning formal policy citizens. Those governments that are ahead of
pandemics, geopolitical and environmental decision-making processes so that they require the curve can inspire others’ efforts and start to
threats — are permanently reshaping the the inclusion of robust data. build an understanding and appreciation among
landscape for governments. As such, the wider society about the benefits of using
public bodies need not only to rethink the As more and more public bodies venture into these new techniques.
way they deliver services today but plan data analytics, it is vital that they quantify the
better for tomorrow. results of particular programs and share that Now is the moment to start exploring what
success within the government community to big data and analytics can really do for the
Investment in analytics is not an optional extra build momentum for change. While it is not public good.
that may add value at the margins; it is a core yet common practice, some organizations are
tool for governments to tackle deep-rooted, beginning to do this. For example, in the US, the
intractable problems in a cost-effective way. city of Boston has announced that it is saving
This power can only grow as technologies US$5m a year and eliminating 20,000 pounds of
such as AI and intelligent automation develop. carbon emissions with an algorithm to optimize
bus routing. Also, the US Postal Service and the
World-class governments should now act to lock Office of Inspector General revealed that they
in the enhanced position of data and science in have used analytics to recover US$920m that
the decision-making process that has emerged was lost through waste, fraud and abuse.
during the COVID-19 crisis, and continue to
21Contacts
Oliver Jones Amanda Evans
EY Global Business Development, Markets EY Oceania Government and Health Sciences
and Insights Leader; EY-Parthenon Global Sector Leader, Strategy and Transactions
Government & Public Sector Leader
Julie McQueen Thomas Bradtke
EY Global Government and Infrastructure EY EMEIA Government and Public Sector Strategy Leader
Lead Analyst, EY Knowledge and EY-Parthenon Saudi Arabia Strategy Leader
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