Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve seen countless examples from around the world of how data can be used to bring about significant social, scientific, and economic benefits.
South Korea, which was seen as the model standard in implementing a pandemic response, used a sophisticated contact tracing system that examined everything from citizen cell phones, credit cards, and CCTV footage. By analysing and democratising the data insights from these sources, South Korea managed to slash the number of new Covid-19 infections by 90 per cent from March to April 2020.
Here in the UK, we’ve witnessed our own data success story. In early 2021, the Department of Health and Social Care collaborated with NHS Digital, BJSS and Oxford University to deliver the online Clinical Risk Assessment and Risk Stratification tools.
The solutions not only helped to identify an additional 1.7 million clinically extremely vulnerable individuals to be added to the shielding list, but they have revolutionised the way the NHS uses data. Now for the first time, the health service can analyse vast amounts of patient information and feed it through third-party algorithms such as Oxford University’s QCovid®.
Examples like these highlight the power of effective data programmes. Yet, it is estimated that around 85 per cent of big data projects fail. And it’s clear to see why.
In the context of the Scottish public sector, there are an array of rich data sets that are spread across different organisations. It’s structurally fragmented, and each department has its unique approach to data collection and management. This makes it extremely difficult to connect and find specific data sets that can be used to transform the citizen experience.
Getting this data into a fit state can feel like an insurmountable task. But it can be done.
As a sponsor at this year’s Digital Scotland 2021 event, the team from BJSS Scotland will be on hand to share our learnings from delivering major data programmes for the likes of the NHS, Highways England and the Disclosure and Barring Service.
We’ll help you identify the next opportunities to realise value from your data. We’ll share the best practices for developing a cloud-native data platform for handling data ingestion and transformation. We’ll also introduce you to MLOps, data analytics and visualisation, which will transform the way you handle data to make your organisation smarter and more efficient than ever before. But crucially, we’ll show you how data can be used to design and deliver citizen-centric digital public services.
BJSS is the UK’s leading technology and engineering consultancy for business, and we’re proud to be a sponsor at Digital Scotland 2021. Ahead of the event, we’ve made our free white paper – How to make data work for your enterprise: five keys to success – available to download here. We look forward to seeing you in Edinburgh on 25th November.
