Regulations, emerging data regimes, innovation opportunities and business requirements are imposing greater complexity, risks and data challenges on organisations.

The first day of the ConnectGov Leaders Summit held in Edinburgh, Scotland last July ended with a panel discussion to discuss specific approaches to managing and leveraging data assets to deliver value outcomes in the face of compliance pressures.

Key Takeaways

• Jude McCorry, Head of Business Development, The Data Lab, Scotland, shared insights on their collaboration with the National Health Service to address the resource issue of long-term bed occupancy by elderly and infirm patients using data and predictive analytics.
• Arvind Mathur, Chief Information Technology Officer, Prudential Assurance Company Singapore noted that mindset change was key along with fostering an environment and culture of innovation.
• Dr Farouk Abdullah, Chief Data Scientist, Natural Intelligence Solutions, commented most organisations own legacy information systems and often do not even know where their data is. As such, a priority for organisations is knowing what data they have and the challenges of data management. CIOs should think beyond cost management or revenue generation to consider broader implications such as whether the nature of the business would even remain the same.
• Colin Low, Chief Information Security Officer, Singapore Press Holdings, This challenges more common perspectives of data and needs to shift from being seen as just a resource to be managed and kept safe, to becoming a tool for achieving business-goals.