CDAO Public Sector 2019 offered a great deal of connection and insightful content. A jam packed two days featured fantastic talks and perspectives from across the globe.
We heard from Stephane Contre a Chief Analytics Officer creating a real impact from data for the City of Edmonton. Hearing more about the smart use of data from the Smart Nation Sutowo Wong as Director of the Analytics & Information Management Division shared how the Ministry of Health, Singapore is leveraging digital transformation to better engage with citizens and deliver on the promise of better service delivery. Evelyn Wareham the Chief Data and Insights Officer at New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) took us through how they are adopting data-driven approaches and tools to support the move from data insight to execution. Closer to home Marek Rucinski, Deputy Commissioner, Head of the Smarter Data Program at the Australian Taxation Office discussed how to be value-centric and create stories, learn from them and close the learning loop. The ATO with over 17.53 trillion records is data rich and explored 300 use cases in just 6 weeks.
At the conclusion of the event there was a sense that transitioning was underway and organisations are making wins in the way they work. There is a real need for buy-in from executives and people in leadership to support teams and people to get involved in projects. The focus right now on increasing data governance, recognising stewards of data to ensure there is that capability, and increasing the awareness of data and its value by giving data a practical meaning. Supporting this with shared expectations of what can be delivered and in what kind of timeframe, measuring change with conversations with colleagues, and improvements in the quality of data to create trust.
The audience left energised with new ideas ready to turn efforts into scalable outputs, and focus on value benefits realisation by creating relevant products, accelerate data sharing and conceptualise data strategies into user statements. We look forward to more conversations in the future.
