Today's digital world is witnessing a wave of rapid developments that are radically changing the expectations of members of society. This change has affected the approach taken in interacting with and engaging with government agencies and services. These changing interactions are participatory, empowering, spontaneous, They also differ in many ways from the traditional hierarchical and bureaucratic systems that governments have developed over the decades. This new form of interaction is based on a key element: data: Up-to-date, reliable, easy to use and open.
This need for data has become the main focus that applies to all aspects of our evolving digital society. Take, for example, the field of artificial intelligence, which promises to bring about radical change in society (including governments). If AI techniques are used correctly, Big data will become an important and influential tool. Many researchers have concluded that there is a strong link between effective data management strategies on the one hand and the financial performance of companies on the other, as they stressed that the former helps companies get to the market more quickly and with products and services compatible with the needs of customers. This effectively managed data has the same potential to enhance performance in the government sector in terms of better policies, more specialized government services, and more efficient and effective distribution of resources. If used incorrectly, The data can lead to negative outcomes along with the privacy challenge that has long taken a share of debate.
The private sector, represented by ICT and retail companies, owns the vast majority of the world's data today. However, the rest of the world's data is held by governments, which collectively adopt traditional methods of storing data, either in paper form or in legacy systems. In order to enhance society's benefit from the data age, A new movement to promote open data has been launched. While government data is limited to data or information produced or collected by various government agencies, Making this data open means easily publishing, sharing and reusing it with anyone with an internet connection and without any fees or technical restrictions.
What steps should governments take to improve data storage and management mechanisms?
Government entities are required to design advanced data management processes. They must be able to collect, process and store vast amounts of data in a way that clarifies its content (content-related factors are very important because big data can lead to adverse effects on decisions made in this framework). Governments also need robust processes to ensure and verify data quality. If the data is inaccurate or appropriate, Their value may be reduced for decision-making purposes.
Big data can now be managed efficiently and effectively thanks to advanced hardware and software that has several advantages, the most important of which is the huge storage capacity. A one-terabyte hard drive costs only fifty dollars (storage that covered the entire world just four decades ago). Because of this enormous storage capacity, Bodies have moved to the "Collect Now" approach, Sort later" to handle and manage data. The lower cost of storage and the availability of better methods of analysis mean that you no longer need to determine the purpose of the data before collecting it.
The quality of business decisions, innovations, government policies and all options based on big and/or open data actually depends on how good that data is. Therefore, Data must be verified and maintained in a way that enables it to be updated, used and protected. Here it must be noted that this cannot always be achieved at the source stage, Especially since data sources differ in their types and credibility. As a result, Societies will have more attention to governments to play this vital role.
Finally, Governments should quickly develop and master a new core capability: data organization. The challenge for governments today is that the skills and platforms needed to take advantage of the data age are far from governments' regulations. Despite years of political interest and billions invested, The majority of the world's governments still suffer from outdated databases that are incompatible with each other and that work against any form of data exchange or data-driven design. More importantly, The talent needed to manage this new capacity is not usually attracted to work in government services and enjoys high demand in the private sector. Therefore, Governments should pay special attention to the ability to organize data to gain the necessary efficiency and be able to benefit from the results of big data more quickly.
The data is undoubtedly the new oil, It has the same potential for economic and social transformation. If raw data can be extracted, refined and passed on where it can influence real-time decisions, Its value will rise dramatically. If we succeed in sharing data across countries and communities and making it available in places that benefit from analytics, Data will change the rules of the game and change the way we live and work. To this end, Governments must design, improve and master a new set of capabilities and systems and shape a new culture. This cannot succeed without a new ecosystem at the very least.
