What comes to mind when you think of ’data’? Spreadsheets, boffins, and databases, perhaps. All a bit techy and impenetrable, and certainly not something that matters to you, right? Except it does.

Here we set out our vision and the role that we play in supporting it. It’s a vision in which local councils are truly data-driven; where data is used to evaluate but also to create; where data is understood but also used to understand; where data is valued for what it is, a strategic asset.

Our vision

Our vision is that data sits at the heart of local government. It flows throughout the organisation, linking systems, processes, and people. There is a culture, led from the top, of sharing and linking data to maximise the benefit from its use. It is informed by the views of citizens and underpins policy development, decision-making, and service delivery. It is accessible to those who need it, and people within the organisation are data-literate and encouraged and supported to use data.

What does this mean for local government?

The route towards being truly data-driven will be different in each local council, as each is in a different stage of its data journey. However, there is a set of core attributes and behaviours that are evident in data-driven organisations. They:

• understand, centrally, what their data needs are. They review what the organisation holds, what it needs, and develop plans to close the gap between the two. This review covers all elements of the data landscape, including datasets, collection instruments, dissemination systems, staff skills etc.
• maximise opportunities to add value through data linking. They understand that the strength of a dataset lies in its multivariability; the ability to cut and slice it in many different ways and across many dimensions. The more linking undertaken, the bigger the dataset, and thus the greater the scope for innovative analysis and richer insight.
• maximise opportunities to add value through data sharing. By making data available, such organisations increase the potential pool of knowledge. They overcome the natural inclination to treat legislation, such as UK GDPR, with caution and instead see such legislation as an enabler rather than a barrier. They appropriately share data openly, freely, and by default.
• implement common data standards and technologies. This ensures they can link and share, inside and outside the organisation, on a systematic basis;
• ensure that staff across all directorates and grades understand the importance of data and have the skills to get the most out of it. Staff across such organisations have a basic level of data capability, ensuring they are as data-literate as they are IT-literate. Much like being able to use a computer, basic data skills are not the preserve of data analysts but are considered foundational skills, common to almost all job roles.
• create a permissive environment for experimentation and innovation. They understand that to get the most from their data assets they have to be prepared to try new things. Some may work, some may not. The general approach is one of permissiveness and ‘failing quickly’. Such organisations identify a problem, test potential solutions, identify those that don’t work quickly, and iterate to reach a workable solution. Crucially, these types of organisations work in the open and share their learning with peers to prevent duplication of effort across the system.
• promote the use of data in all policy-development and decision-making fora. Data is viewed as one of the key ingredients to these processes and no policy or decision is implemented without all available data being analysed and fed in. Importantly, such organisations also ensure that data is used as part of the ongoing monitoring and evaluation process.
• wrap their approach up in a published data strategy. This defines the organisation’s approach to data at both strategic and operational levels. This work, because it cross-cuts all services and directorates is coordinated through a senior officer responsible for data. Someone senior enough to join up the many people, directorates, systems, and processes that collect, procure, analyse, and disseminate data. This person also has the ability to influence senior decision-makers and make the argument for cultural change. This ensures the organisation has a central, strategic, and corporate handle on its approach to data.
• think of themselves as data organisations as much as service providers. They understand that it is by being bold and re-defining service delivery through the paradigm of data that they can ensure the entire organisation is maximising their data assets, unearthing new insights, delivering greater value for money, and improving services in ways not yet imagined.

Whilst digital change is becoming commonplace, tackling council-wide data system redesign often remains on the “too-hard” pile. However, to fully unleash the transformative potential of data, it must receive the right level of investment and focus.

This cultural shift will require leadership, resilience, and innovation. Placing data at the centre of the way a local council sees itself will naturally lead to a shift in the way the organisation operates. None of this will be easy. We recognise that these changes are fundamental and will require vision, determination, and sustained effort on the part of local councils in Wales.

In our vision for local government, data must come out of the shadows. It can no longer be seen as the preserve of the technocrats. It must be mainstreamed and seen for what it is; one of the greatest assets a local council possesses.

Our role

Our role, as Data Cymru, is to support and enable this transformation. In doing so, we will want to help local councils respond to some fundamental questions:

• How do we know what data we hold?
• How do we know what data we need?
• Who is responsible for data within our organisations?
• Are we maximising our opportunities to add value to data through linking and sharing?
• Do colleagues in local government have the skills to understand, use, and improve the data they see every day?
• Are we setting a culture that values data?
• Are we creating a permissive environment for experimentation and innovation?
• Are we promoting the use of data in all policy- and decision-making fora?
• Are we being bold in our ambitions for data?

Our vision for the use of data within local government is ambitious but, we believe, attainable. With buy-in from the local government sector, we believe that the future presents an exciting opportunity for local councils and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) to embrace data and exploit its use. Our approach to supporting local government transformation will focus on four areas:

• Increasing support for local government;
• Promoting and supporting the development of a data culture across local government;
• Doing things ‘Once for Wales’; and
• Building local government capability.

Whilst we have been focused on local government since our inception, the scale of our ambition demands a refocusing of our priorities to deliver strategic transformation. We will develop a programme of work focused on supporting local councils as they progress through their data journeys. To inform this work we have established a Strategic Data Leads network, where senior officers with responsibility for data within their organisations can exchange views and share learning.

Sitting at the centre, alongside the WLGA (where we work closely with the Improvement and Digital teams), we are well placed to develop solutions to common local government issues. We often identify areas where local councils are duplicating effort, leading to increased costs and inconsistent outcomes. Doing things once for Wales ensures the consistency and comparability of data and outputs, reduces overall costs, avoids duplication, and increases opportunities for collaboration.

Part of building a strong data culture is ensuring that all staff understand how data is valued and used within the organisation and have the opportunity to develop appropriate data skills for their role. We will continue to develop and deliver appropriate upskilling opportunities for local council staff and elected members via our annual training programme. Whilst we can simply deliver pieces of work, such as surveys and analyses, our approach will be to ‘work with’, rather than ‘do to’, in order to upskill local council officers.

We remain committed to the view that data is a powerful strategic asset, providing value and insight in everything we do. Transforming the data culture within the local government sector provides a significant challenge which we believe local councils are well-placed to meet with our support.

Are you ready to rise to this challenge?