Corruption Matters - June 2020 | Issue 55
Government data: governance, access and insight
Dr Tony Bertoia is a principal policy officer at the NSW Data Analytics Centre (DAC), the first whole-of-government data analytics centre in a state government in Australia. Most recently, the DAC has played a central role in ensuring key decision-makers across government have access to timely, insightful and actionable data during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The public is a key customer focus for the DAC, which sits within the NSW Department of Customer Service and is made up of three teams: Data Services, Data Science and Data.NSW.
One of the products the DAC owns and manages is the NSW Open Data Portal, a single search environment that provides users with access to government data and is a valuable resource for members of the public, industry and government. It is on this portal that users can access COVID-19 cases and tests data by age, location and date in NSW.
With regard to the pandemic, how has the DAC played a role in providing insights into public policy?
The DAC has developed dashboards and delivered insights to senior decision-makers, including the State Emergency Operations Centre. The DAC will continue to work with NSW Government data custodians to provide insights during the pandemic and into the future.
What data as it pertains to NSW are you anticipating to have lost as a result of COVID-19?
The COVID-19 pandemic does not seem to have detrimentally affected the quality (accuracy, completeness, timeliness etc) of available government data. Indeed, the increased level of cooperation among NSW government agencies to produce valuable insights, as well as the increased perceived value of government data, have been two positives that have come out of the crisis.
What other kinds of data does it hold?
The DAC does not “own” data but instead hosts a secure platform that enables NSW government agencies to securely and safely store, access and share their data.
How does the centre harness this data?
The DAC’s data science team delivers analytics projects for our customers in NSW government agencies. Using a range of techniques from predictive modelling, visualisation and machine learning, the data science team harnesses government data to tackle complex policy problems.
How are public servants responsible for maintaining both the integrity of data and sharing data?
All public servants are responsible for ensuring that they handle data appropriately, not just data custodians or those working in IT. The DAC publishes resources that public servants can access to understand how they can safely govern, use and share data. See Data.NSW for more details.
What are three key points you would like to get across to people reading this article?
The DAC plays a key role in delivering world-class data analytics and insights to NSW Government, but it is also responsible for developing and promoting whole-of-government frameworks, policies and guidelines on information and data management, data governance, open data and data sharing.
All NSW public servants have an important part to play in ensuring government data is governed and handled appropriately, safely and securely. Our website has plenty of resources that provide information on why good data governance and management is important, as well as how to achieve good data governance.
The DAC’s customer focus and agile delivery approach are key to our success in producing high-quality and relevant products and services for our customers: the NSW Government as well as the public. We are always keen to receive feedback on our work so if you have ideas on how we can improve our policies and guidelines, please feel free to email me at tony.bertoia@customerservice.nsw.gov.au.
