Navigating the Data Economy

Data Management

Navigating the Data Economy

Over 3 packed days of presentations, candid discussions and exchanges during formal and informal networking sessions, innumerable side conversations and personal connections forged over meals and on running trails around the city, ConnectGov 2019 brought participants from 11 countries together for an intense engagement experience planned around the recent Leaders’ Summit in Edinburgh, Scotland. Built around the theme of ‘Navigating the Data Economy’, the Summit programme was designed to spur discussions and exchanges among delegates on key data challenges facing organisations today, as well as emerging data approaches and insights that apply across industry domains. Thanks to support from the Scottish Government, Scottish Development International (SDI) and institutions like the Bayes Centre, delegates also got to learn first-hand about some of Scotland’s leading data initiatives and projects developed in Edinburgh’s centres of innovation.

What emerged from the Summit proceedings, delegate interactions and conversations over the 3 days was that the data economy presents immense prospects but also real challenges. While the harnessing and leveraging of data are ostensibly tech-related issues, the complex underlying human dimensions such as policies/governance, ethics, culture and trust remain fundamental. There was also alignment on how data-driven initiatives need to be mission- or business-led, and yet take human dimensions into account while addressing real needs, as is evident from exchanges among speakers and delegates alike across different industry and application domains.

Setting the context for the Summit on Day 1, P. Ramakrishna, CEO of CIO Academy Asia, in his Opening Remarks also spoke to this, remarking that People, Process and Technology are consistent facets across many discussions at events led by CIO Academy Asia. Against this backdrop, he shared findings of a recent survey of tech leaders by CIOAA which found data topping the list of key implementation areas for next 2 years, while AI and data analytics were seen to impact businesses most. Data’s prevalence and the value expectations around it are key drivers today, as is evident by the various metaphors referencing data as water, oil or currency.

In this context, ConnectGov 2019 could not have been held in a more apt location, as Edinburgh and the South East Scotland City Region is ranked 4th in a Global Innovation Index of the most innovative economies in the world. The thriving local startup ecosystem and active indigenous tech scene as a product of some of the best data scientists from Edinburgh University and innovation hubs across Scotland presented a compelling test-case of the possibilities of well-aligned partnership across government, industry sector and academic research institutions.