Thread by @GavinFreeguard

Responsibility for 'govt use of data' has transferred from DCMS to Cabinet Office (after moving from CO to DCMS back in 2018).

Main thought:

Time for shuffling deckchairs is over - it's time for govt to set a direction, starting with the National Data Strategy later this year

https://twitter.com/GavinFreeguard/status/1285877028668022785

We were a bit more open than most to data policy moving to DCMS in 2018.

Political energy had gone out of the agenda at Cabinet Office, DCMS had a Sec of State (Matt Hancock) who was clearly interested in it.

He was reshuffled to health 3 months later.

But there were clearly going to be challenges:
- DCMS had a wide-ranging & expanding brief
- Data was - & remains - fragmented across Whitehall
- DCMS not a traditional 'central' dept, not clear it had right skills/capabilities at the time

From April 2018 instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/dcms-beco…

It's not entirely clear from the statement (parliament.uk/business/publi…) exactly how this will work.

What *exactly* has gone (back) over? Which bit of Cab Office will data sit in? Who will be in charge? etc

'Data' is an intimidatingly large brief, so some sort of division - between how govt uses data, and data for the wider economy/society makes some sense - though Cab Office and DCMS will obvs need to work very closely together

Enough about the deckchair shuffling/packet switching.

What comes next?

https://twitter.com/jukesie/status/1285880805395435520

The National Data Strategy needs to be published this year and set a direction.

Delayed by #Brexit, politics and everything else, it was first announced in June 2018.

Here's what 11 civil society orgs want from it (July 2019) medium.com/@gavin.freegua…

Govt promised a chief data officer in 2017. Nobody has been appointed.

Govt advertised for a chief digital information officer in 2019. Nobody has been appointed.

There's clearly interest from No 10, but 10ds (e.g.) prompts as many qs as it answers instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/no10-data…

Somebody needs to coordinate the alphabet soup of an already-crowded govt data landscape (

https://twitter.com/GavinFreeguard/status/1276432883717156865

)

Some hopefully positive signs about tackling difficult, longstanding problems #fixtheplumbing committees.parliament.uk/publications/1…

But #coronavirus has obvs raised a lot of qs about personal data to the top of the agenda instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/governmen…

TL;DR

- National Data Strategy please
- Clarity on CDO/CDIO please
- A focus on fixing the plumbing and not being distracted by shiny things please
- More openness, discussion and engagement - especially about use of personal data - please

FIN

(for now)

Open government is part of the brief heading over to Cabinet Office

https://twitter.com/OpenGovUK/status/1285909322015412225

(I'll let you make your own jokes about that not being entirely clear from the ministerial statement)

Downing Street takes back control of government data thetimes.co.uk/article/no-10-…

Some quotes from me in @oliver_wright's piece on the DCMS -> Cabinet Office machinery of government change

Cabinet Office takes charge of government use of data again civilserviceworld.com/professions/ar…

Me on Cabinet Office taking charge of government use of data again, again, in @beckie__smith's @CSWnews piece