Assessing Data Governance

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How do we make decisions without data?

In a digital society, information, or data, is all around us, generated by every interaction we have with technology, with and without our consent.

Often when considering data, the most successful companies in the world come to mind. Without data it's safe to say their businesses would not be as successful, however much of their data is proprietary, with only groups generating or paying for the data able to use it.

But private companies are not the only entites that impact modern society, and governments are responsible for some of the most consequential decisions for citizens and the global environment.

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Where does government data come from?

The usual data collection tools still apply in the form of studies and inquiries by government agencies and institutions, but with the onset of government use and implementation of technology, governments are also collecting data via e-services.

A government e-service is an amenity or resource from the government accessed digitally from the digital census form to an unemployment website or a tax website.

These services generate data, which can then be used to make insights and decisions about the modern world.

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What do governments do with their data?

This is the central question of this project. The free flow of information, is a core tenet of democracies, helping citizens become more informed and make better decisions about the health of their society.

The project compares to major datasets, the United Nations E-Government Index from 2014 and 2016 and the Open Data Barometer Rankings from 2014 and 2016 to begin to assess whether governments are making the information they collect freely available.