South Africa's government agencies and parastatals are the greatest consumers of IT solutions, many of which are aimed at collecting data. This implies that government has some of the greatest data management needs in Africa.
The Home Affairs National Identification System (Hanis), for example, was already home to an 80TB database in 2005, and home to 30 million fingerprints alone.
Home Affairs and South African Revenue Services (SARS) also collect and maintain a wealth of personal data of citizens, which can be a daunting task that sees numerous information channels employed, from printed forms completed by hand to e-mail, Web forms, telephone, fax and typed correspondence.
Ensuring it maintains accurate data is paramount to government's principles adopted in Batho Pele, which mainly focuses on providing better information on services and increasing access to services, for the best possible value for money.
One of the issues that government will have to overcome is the trend that sees most organisations consider data quality a priority, while only a few have a data quality strategy in place.
What government needs in order to achieve those aims is 10-point plan for managing its data.
Plan
The only way to ensure a programme is working is to take a snapshot of the current situation and, by taking further snapshots at various predefined stages, chart the programme's development.
Mervyn Mooi is business development director at Knowledge Integration Dynamics.
Government organisations will need to plan their strategy by determining what they intend to do with the data. It's a case of not starting at the beginning, which in this case is not a very good place to start.
They need to investigate issues such as who will use the data. That could extend beyond their departmental or organisational boundaries, for example, in which case they will need to incorporate some means of making it accessible. They will need to examine their processes, such as billing, communications and service delivery. Since there are many channels for people to communicate with various organisations, they will need to consider which ones, or if all, will be used, so they cater for all the data fields that will contain information.
Essentially, they need to ensure they cater for the target citizens. Some citizens will have access to all the latest technology channels and some will have access only via completed forms.
* Consider the elements
As with any standard business, government agencies must consider all of the data they aim to collect. Moving beyond the standard name and address will allow them to meet the principles of Batho Pele and improve service to citizens if they can accurately profile them.
* Measuring up
It's one thing to ensure the data is of good quality and another to maintain that quality. Standard good practice means any organisation puts measures in place to constantly check, improve and retain good-quality data and gauge the demand and usefulness of the information.
* Realise improvement
A good perception is a desired result of a data quality programme, but being statistically sure of a return on investment is equally significant to stakeholders. Organisations must measure and report on the performance of their data quality programmes through regular reviews that will also help them ensure projects don't slip off track without anyone realising it.
* IT and business support
Any data quality project is a long-term one that must be justified to key stakeholders and supported across the organisation, from IT to business. Business is the real owner of the data and hence will need to support and help sustain data management initiatives. Organisations undertaking a data quality project will be creating a good perception with the employees with whom they interact, since interactions will be of a far higher calibre. Costs will be driven down since interactions with citizens will be both necessary and appropriate, which means less waste. Organisations will be sure of where they stand with regard to legislative compliance and, equally critically, they will become more efficient and able to reallocate resources to other projects that meet the principles of Batho Pele, improve the perception of the organisation and boost service delivery.
* Progress
The only way to ensure a programme is working is to take a snapshot of the current situation and, by taking further snapshots at various predefined stages, chart the programme's development. That way, government organisations will be able to feed back to all stakeholders on the success of the project, from employees to other civil servants and citizens. While it's one thing to practise good government, it's another to be seen to be practising good government.
* People
Technology is no sinecure, unless supported by skilled resources. It cannot resurrect a dead process or heal a flawed system. It also cannot ensure that executives, managers and employees use it. While technical teams will have to ensure all the right software and hardware is in the right place, executives and managers must ensure that the stakeholders are behind the operation. Many projects have failed through lack of support from the people who must use them.
* Three Ps of data quality
Process, process, process - more specifically:
1) Putting the right ones in place to collect, clean and maintain data;
2) Ensuring they are regularly reviewed; and
3) People are properly trained to use them, which will lead to long-term success of the programme.
* Appropriate tools
Employing the right technology tools can significantly reduce what may at first glance appear to be an onerous burden. Something as apparently simple as verifying an address can be a cumbersome manual task that, when automated through appropriate technology, becomes as simple as clicking a few buttons. Tool selection and deployment are driven by business needs. Do not over-invest in technology when your data management strategy calls for a simple solution.
* The beginning - a very good place to end
Completing a daunting task may call for a healthy dose of rest and relaxation, but it is important to stay on top of data quality by continually revising the process by checking original objectives to ensure the project still meets them, and to regularly check performance so it never dips.
* Mervyn Mooi is business development director at Knowledge Integration Dynamics.
Share