This report reflects the learning from a RUSI/PA Consulting-hosted series of discussion groups on data and technology. The groups were held between June and December 2020, and featured representatives from the public sector, multiple industry sectors and academics.
Data is driving decisions and public policy in remarkable ways. Charts and graphs are regularly used in daily briefings and statistical terminology is becoming common parlance. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the debate about ‘big data’, robotic process automation, AI and machine learning (ML) for better decision-making, corporate efficiency or shaping consumer and employee behaviour was active. That trend is accelerating: global spending on AI is forecast to double, from $50.1 billion in 2020 to more than $110 billion
in 2024.
Safely traversing the data and technology highways is about more than the data and technology: changes will be needed to how organisations are designed and their governance systems, and there are profound issues regarding trust and the role of humans in the future workforce. There are choices to be made – the outcome is not inevitable. Human hands remain on the tiller and, for now at least, the use and development of technology will be mediated by people. However, while data volumes increase exponentially, people’s ability to respond, interpret, decide and act has not kept pace. These broader issues must be understood by leaders making decisions that have far-reaching implications for themselves, their teams, their workplaces and society. This report reflects the learning from a RUSI/PA Consulting-hosted discussion group involving representatives from the public sector, multiple industry sectors and academics run between June and December 2020. It identifies critical themes associated with: improving data maturity; people; organisation design and governance; and trust and confidence.
BANNER IMAGE:Â Courtesy of Adobe Stock/greenbutterfly