Satellites, sensors and savings – the 2nd meeting of Defra’s Data Programme Board
This is all very interesting but how much of the information will actually seep useful into the hands of people at the very local level who might be empowered by it? This story tells us:
This blog from Catherine Wright (director of knowledge and innovation at the Environment Agency) provides an update on Defra’s data programme – and in particular its themes and focus.
Catherine joined Defra’s Data Programme Board meeting – chaired by Emily Miles – with colleagues from across Defra group for its second meeting on 19 October. I also met Sophia Oliver, who heads up the Data Programme.
The vision for the group’s data is simple: ‘In future, we will have better data, better used’. There are three guiding principles: that we will be data-driven; that our data will be valued and shared; and that it will be open by design. It is the role of the Data Programme Board to deliver this vision.
The technology revolution is a data revolution, and our challenge is to harness that data, enabling us to work more effectively with communities and customers to support innovation in the UK economy.
Defra’s data holdings are incredibly rich: from long terms datasets on species and environmental quality through to data updated daily such as on animal and waste movements; to data captured in real time on the operations of assets; to harnessing new sources of data, such as from satellites; to data on our staffing resources that enables us to be paid every month.
The vision is simple, delivering it will require focus and effort from us all. That is where the data governance board comes in: to enable Defra group to realise the value of its data.