Forty-five percent of public sector organisations say they do not have a data strategy.
That’s according to HPE’s recently released House of Data – Public Sector Data Strategy Report 2023.
Sixty-seven percent of public sector respondents said that when it comes to spending money on data-centric priorities ‘we don’t have enough budget’. A third went as far to say that they have ‘no specific budget for data initiatives.’
This indicates public sector organisations will find it challenging to meet both their operational service provision goals as they relate to data security, retention and availability.
This also suggests that data is considered an ‘IT function’ first, where directives around data are focused primarily on where it is stored, rather than there being any data-specific approach to how data is used to create value, said Russell Macdonald, HPE’s chief technologist for public sector & hybrid cloud.
“Is it an organisation’s view that data just means storage as opposed to a data-first modernisation view that recognises the intrinsic link between the effective use of data and improving service outcomes?” he said.
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“Any underappreciation of the value of data for an organisation most likely goes hand-in-hand with a corresponding lack of attention to how and where data is stored.”
Another of the recurring challenges across the sector is skills. This is made even more daunting because of the attractive private sector remuneration pull when it comes to securing IT talent, and in particular data talent, said the Macdonald.
“Fifty-five percent of our respondents stated that ‘we don’t have the required skills’, and the evidence would suggest that responsibility for data falls to the IT staff they currently employ. It may also be that some organisations underestimate the value and importance of the data they collect and store.”
Who’s taking responsibility?
HPE’s research highlighted that 35 percent of UK public sector organisations do not staff data specific roles, nor do they intend to.
“Who, if anyone, is advising these multi-faceted, multi-disciplined, stakeholder-dependent entities about data as the engine for innovation and learnings, productivity and efficiency, security and governance? And who, in these highly taxpayer accountable times is controlling the growing costs of public cloud?” asked Macdonald.
