A National Data Strategy Forum to help the country seize the opportunities of data has been announced by the government to help the United Kingdom become "the world's number one data destination".(1) Minister for Media and Data John Whittingdale and TechUK Director Sue Daley will chair the forum, which will bring together key voices from industry, privacy groups and academia to help implement the United Kingdom's National Data Strategy.
The government describes the National Data Strategy as an "ambitious, pro-growth strategy that is driving the UK forward in building a world-leading data economy that works for everyone, while ensuring public trust in data use".
The announcement of a National Data Strategy Forum was made on the same day that the government published its response to a consultation on the strategy.(2) The strategy sets out five priority missions to be taken to capitalise on the opportunities that data offers:
- unlocking the value of data across the economy;
- securing a pro-growth and trusted data regime;
- transforming the government's use of data to drive efficiency and improve public services;
- ensuring the security and resilience of the infrastructure on which data relies; and
- championing the international flow of data.
Essentially, under the strategy, the government is taking the next steps to look at how the country can leverage existing UK strengths to boost the use of data in business, government and civil society. This includes a £2.6 million data project to help in the detection of online harms and the new Data Sharing Code of Practice, which has been laid before Parliament.(3)
Respondents to the National Data Strategy consultation confirmed the need for action to ensure that the United Kingdom realises the benefits from better data use and overwhelmingly agreed that the National Data Strategy provides an appropriate framework. Many respondents recognised the need to embrace data as an opportunity to drive productivity and innovation across the economy rather than as a threat to be managed, given risks such as cyber-attacks or data breaches.
A new Central Digital and Data Office has also been created to drive forward digital, data and technology transformation across the government. Further, the Information Commissioner's Office has launched a data-sharing information hub with guidance and practical tools to help businesses share data fairly, lawfully and transparently, while protecting people's personal information.
Endnotes
(1) For further information please see the government's press release.
(2) For further information please see "Government publishes response to consultation on National Data Strategy".
(3) For further information please see "Information Commissioner's Office's Data Sharing Code of Practice is laid before Parliament".
