Lessons from data sharing during the pandemic

Sharing data across and beyond the public sector was critical to the government’s pandemic response. From providing vital information needed by leaders to make big decisions to standing up new services drawing on a range of data sources to serve citizens, data was used at the heart of government like never before. We discussed how to maintain this ‘high watermark’ in data use, drawing on various pandemic case studies to highlight lessons and best practice behaviour to continue into the future. The event picked up on different themes from a upcoming IfG report, Data sharing during the pandemic, including: What data sharing lessons should government learn? What are the benefits of existing rules and legislation for enabling data sharing? How do multidisciplinary teams contribute to data sharing success? What qualities, skills and experience do data-literate leaders require? What steps can be taken to reduce the perceived risks of data sharing? The panel, who represented different themes contained in the report Data sharing during the pandemic, were: Jess McEvoy, Principal Consultant at Scott Logic Paul Shepley, Data Scientist at the Institute for Government Ming Tang, National Director of Data and Analytics for NHS England and Improvement Juliet Whitworth, Head of Research and Information at the Local Government Association The event was chaired by Gavin Freeguard, Associate at the Institute for Government.