Singapore is the world’s second most digitally competitive country according to the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking. However, the Emergence of the Public Sector Chief Data Officer in APAC study by consultancy firm Omdia and business analytics firm Qlik reveals that 80% of Chief Data Officers (CDOs) in Singapore regret not having invested more in data-driven initiatives before the pandemic hit.
Additionally, 40% of government agencies in the city-state have yet to seize the opportunity to set up a data governance body, despite its efficacy in building management support and broadening the awareness of data’s value in decision-making.
This raises an important question: How can governments spark innovation and drive better policy-making with data in the face of ever-evolving post-pandemic challenges?
While most leaders would instinctively look to cutting-edge technology for a solution, this is only a partial answer. The way forward is taking a holistic, phased approach towards driving innovation together with CDOs and private sector partners.
Step 1: Debunk myths and engage leadership on the value of data
Although analytics and data technology’s business benefits are evident in the private sector, some public sector leaders remain undecided on its value. Faced with numerous hot-button issues — from health to economy — many public sector organisations tend to view investments in such new technologies as a risk and a significant resource commitment.
However, investments in analytics and data can help the public sector address both its immediate and long-term challenges while maximising resources. Research from McKinsey estimates that globally, governments stand to capture US$1 trillion ($1.35 trillion) by using big data analytics to plug revenue leaks.
A further study showed that efforts to apply data analytics to eliminate waste, fraud, and government abuse could offer returns as high as 10 to 15 times their cost. There are significant non-financial benefits as well, from improving trust and efficiency to reducing waste.
The Tasmanian Health Service (THS) is an example of how early investments in real-time data can vastly improve organisational visibility and empower rapid, effective public emergency response.
When pandemic hit in early 2020, THS was already prepared to hit the ground running as it has been building a central data analysis system with Qlik Sense to improve operational efficiency since 2016. Nine staff spent just four days creating a dedicated dashboard that enabled healthcare workers across regions to identify Covid-19 cases, conduct rapid contact tracing, and lock down infections.
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Today, departments across THS proactively use real-time dashboards to improve data veracity and automate tasks, improving healthcare effectiveness from the emergency room to the operating theatre.
Sharing such examples of analytics success will help garner leadership support and resources to invest in analytics transformation. While this enables CDOs to get started on sparking innovation, CDOs must follow through by actively engaging leaders and staff by closely reporting progress, celebrating successes, and sharing learning opportunities.
Step 2: Review technological capabilities, assess priorities, set goals
To achieve similar success levels as THS, public sector agencies in Singapore must work together with their CDOs to assess their current technological capabilities, identify their most pressing challenges, and decide on the outcomes they wish to achieve.
Many of today’s existing technologies may not generate insights quickly enough for stakeholders to take timely action. Qlik and Omdia’s research found that 80% of CDOs in Singapore cited analytics and business intelligence technology as the top resourcing priority, with specific concerns being the ability to analyse large volumes of data from multiple sources and both structured and unstructured data.
Addressing these priorities requires honest self-assessment. Does your organisation have up-to-date data infrastructure to support proper data integration and analysis? Are there enough data touchpoints at the front line? What kinds of inter-agency data sharing efforts are in place? Do your staff have appropriate tools that support data integration, analysis, and visualisation?
To get a more comprehensive, accurate assessment, public sector organisations must consult with data experts familiar with the entire analytics journey. While this involves the CDO and data specialists across the agency, consultants from the private sector can provide deeper insights and deploy more up to date solutions across the organisation.
Step 3: Improve staff’s data literacy and foster a data-centric culture
Technology and tools are only one part of the solution — public sector organisations must invest in developing a skilled workforce and creating a data-driven culture. According to the Qlik and Omdia research, CDOs in Singapore want a strong corporate culture of using data to support decisions and a more data literate workforce.
A way to go about it is by pairing analytics experts with public sector domain experts throughout the organisation. This promotes a culture of shared learning where groups can borrow each other’s expertise to do more with data. As the analytics experts empower public sector workers with the knowledge to handle data better, they will also find themselves learning more about the realities on the ground and the public sector’s operational needs.
The Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) created such a culture by partnering with organisations like Qlik to train public officers in data science, giving them access to a wealth of learning resources, industry best practices and the latest development tools to improve data literacy. GovTech also organises an annual government-wide hackathon that challenges agencies to derive more value with public datasets and solutions like Qlik Sense.
However, public sector leaders must also enact change from the top by establishing a data governance framework that clearly defines roles, responsibilities, and processes for ensuring effective use, ownership, and data accountability across the organisation.
Data governance is a key priority area to pursue growth, as 40% of Singapore public sector organisations have yet to set up such a body. While data governance ensures compliance, it also promotes efficient use of clean and accurate data across different public sector agencies, saving time and costs.
CDOs can also look towards employing DataOps, a collaborative data management practice that improves the integration, communication, and automation of data flows between data managers and data consumers across the organisation.
Collaboration crucial to renewing innovation in the public sector
These three steps serve as a guide to laying the foundation for achieving more with data. To truly spark innovation for better policy-making in Singapore, public sector leaders must work together with their CDOs, as well as leading private sector analytics experts and technology partners.
CDOs can bring in private sector experts at each stage of the transformation process to help public sector leaders assess their organisation’s technology strategies while bringing the workforce and stakeholders up to speed on the value of data and skills needed to drive innovation with analytics.
By taking a step-by-step approach and closely collaborating with experts, Singapore’s public sector will be able to overcome the challenges of today and tomorrow more effectively.
Chong Yang Chan is the managing director for Asean at Qlik
Photo: iStock
