The power of small numbers

_This post is written by Milda Aksamitauskas, chief data officer at the Wisconsin Department of Justice and analyst at Lithuania’s Statistics Department. _

• The problem: governments struggle to open up data and enable the use of data.
• Why it matters: government jobs enabling the use of public data offer rewarding careers and attract talented individuals.
• **The solution: **a focus on the ultimate impact - the greater good - when creating projects and hiring staff.

I have argued before that a role working with data in government provides a rewarding career and changing data culture is a process. Last fall, I went to Lithuania to work on a data project. I was reminded of these two aspects of working in data and also had two additional revelations.

One, data language is truly universal. While in Lithuania meetings and emails were not in English, their content was very similar to the ones I had in my home country - sharing or not sharing data, the need for data documentation, data management challenges, etc. The second revelation was witnessing the power and agility of a small, centralised government. If there is a will to change the status quo there, there will be a way to do it.

In Lithuania I met a group of dedicated analysts, programmers, executive level staff and change makers who truly believe in the power of data, sharing and using data, while assuring people’s rights to anonymity and preserving accuracy. The team I worked with was integrating the whole country’s data including social, health, taxes, employment, education, environment and other data sources, and opening them up for analysis and use. Not one organisation’s data from different departments, but the whole country’s administrative data sources. I wanted to share my experience of this team and their work as it is a truly inspiring example.

The pandemic expedited processes

The statistics department in Lithuania reports data on major statistics topics. Historically, semi-aggregated data was shared by agencies and fed into the statistics agency. In recent years the department has started to transform government data pipelines: the statistics department is now getting access to raw data views, then it does data processing in one central platform and analysts share results either via internal dashboards or with the public. There are statutory requirements, grant money and multiple collaboration opportunities to push for an inventory of data sets and opening up data. COVID, serving as a push for digital transformation, has helped to expedite these changes. Interest from top government officials helps to sustain the movement for change.

My participation in this transformation has been focused on data management and data governance processes. I started attending meetings with data controllers and data processors and was amazed that the essence of arguments about how data decisions are made were so similar to the ones I heard in the US. People grasp the concept that with more standard and central data management comes more transparent decision-making and some individual decision-making is taken away. I hear many people talk about a greater public good as the end result. Government employees also have very similar tools to encourage collaboration. It usually starts with a phone call or a meeting and if parties want to collaborate, anything in writing is usually sufficient. If collaboration is not evident, then some aspect of executive orders, official requests or administrative rules follow. The exact naming, structure and protocol may differ, but the idea is the same.

A once-in-a-lifetime career

The true inspiration comes from the people working there and the impact they have. Executing hundreds of data use agreements or cleaning up data with no standard naming structures become mundane chores, but this team doesn’t lose track of the importance of clean, standardised data that helps to make country-wide decisions. The variety of data, from cultural assets to war refugees, student COVID vaccination rates and the production of the population census solely from administrative sources, proves the importance of all tasks and contributions for the greater good. The motivation in the team then turns into energy to work collaboratively, help others and, most importantly, to attract very talented individuals. Quietly or out loud, people in this team understand that they have a one-of-a-kind data job that comes about once (probably) in a lifetime. Transforming the whole country’s data infrastructure is not a routine task.

My heart was singing working with this team. All efforts were focused on an overarching goal of enabling the use of data. The team’s energy, creativity and curiosity put sparks in people’s eyes. Government can attract talented individuals when the job descriptions are aligned and support a true public good.

Government can attract talented individuals when the job descriptions are aligned and support a true public good.

A career in government is rewarding when people understand how their job is focused on achieving a greater public good. Governments can motivate staff by enabling them to work on things that really matter. In terms of data careers, enabling the use of data and not hiding it from potential users and public scrutiny invites talented individuals to consider a career in government. The impact they can create for their country or community is what motivates them. Sharing such inspiring examples is a reminder of the possibilities of data to public service colleagues around the world.

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(Image Credit: Unsplash)