Comments on: PQs start to reveal scale of the data problem http://idealgovernment.com/2009/03/pqs_start_to_reveal_scale_of_the_data_problem/ What do we want from Internet-age government? Wouldn't it be better if... Wed, 14 May 2014 08:35:11 +0000 hourly 1 By: Iain Henderson http://idealgovernment.com/2009/03/pqs_start_to_reveal_scale_of_the_data_problem/comment-page-1/#comment-2774 Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:47:24 +0000 http://pqs_start_to_reveal_scale_of_the_data_problem#comment-2774 In the private sector the assessment of data content * data quality * use is pretty well understood and regularly undertaken at detailed level (usually as a feed into a business case for improvement activity).

UK public sector just does not seem to have these disciplines in place, database are allowed to grow ad hoc and without regular audit.

]]> By: Guy Herbert http://idealgovernment.com/2009/03/pqs_start_to_reveal_scale_of_the_data_problem/comment-page-1/#comment-2773 Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:01:39 +0000 http://pqs_start_to_reveal_scale_of_the_data_problem#comment-2773 Thank-you, William (and Eleanor Laing) for elicidating something I have been trying for years to get through the heads of activists, journalists and politicians alike: broad abstract categories of information are not the same as “items of data”, and counting the former as an indicator of the threat is bound to lead to miscomprehension.

‘Information about expenses’ is not the same as ‘Virgin Media statements’ is not the same as ‘line-item on particular Virgin Media statement’. It is the interpretation placed by others on the fine detail, regardless of its subjective meaning, or the importance in the context of the larger picture, that causes the trouble.

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