Like many working in research, I have been reading the proposals for a National Data Library with great interest. The proposed NDL, which will make public sector data sets more accessible to researchers and scientists, forms a key part of the government’s plans to make the UK an AI superpower.
While this is a powerful and laudable ambition, it is important that the government ensures the right guardrails are in place. While personal data has huge potential to do good, large amounts of data can become very powerful when brought together, and security must be of paramount importance. Once data is leaked, it cannot be unleaked.
So how do we provide safe access to data for impactful research, while ensuring individuals’ privacy and trust?
Data minimisation is important; we need to be strategic about the data we acquire and curate for research purposes to counter the tendency to accumulate data for its own sake. One approach is to understand how the data can answer our research questions or illuminate problems we want to solve. For example, focusing on areas such as productivity and prosperity, health and wellbeing, digital society and sustainability makes great sense, providing a focus for both those curating data and those requesting access to it.
The role in research
A crucial factor in the success of the NDL will be establishing the right infrastructure for researchers to improve access to government-held data and to maintain a clear vision. Recent comments from science and technology minister Peter Kyle seem to elide the concept of data for research and that of improving operational data access for the public sector. There are technical and legal differences between research data and operational data, so we must be cautious not to confuse the needs of service delivery with those of researchers.
Scope
From Smart Data Foundry’s perspective, we are also interested in the potential for the NDL to include private-sector data. Wouldn’t it be great if we could facilitate the safe and effective use and flow of data across administrative and research contexts, as well as among the private, governmental and academic sectors?
Integrating data infrastructures from traditional and administrative sources with smart data infrastructure would fundamentally enhance the discoverability of data available for research and insights, while ensuring equitable access to this data for the public good. The primary challenge will be building a cross-cutting infrastructure that research users want to engage with, enabling smooth collaboration across various data types, disciplines and domains.
Gaining confidence
Currently, private-sector data partners approach data-sharing for research with caution. They, understandably, express concerns about customer privacy, security implications, legal compliance and the potential undermining of commercial interests. Data partners require reassurance that sharing data will not adversely affect them and that sharing data for research will support their corporate objectives.
A National Data Library for researchers would be a welcome addition to UK research data infrastructure, provided it solves the issues of complexity of data siloes, clarity over what is accessible and confidence that the data can answer their questions.
The challenges of opening up public and private sector data for research multiply the deeper we delve, but the truth is that what we do gives us hope that, with robust partnerships, it will move us towards a better future. Now, more than ever, there is a pressing need to bring together government, NGOs, academia and the public and private sectors to tackle the socioeconomic challenges we face. A National Data Library could help us meet this goal sooner.
