Democratising the digital revolution: The role of data governance

As more data is created from a growing range of digitally mediated interactions, there are opportunities to use data in policy - from nowcasting metrics for economic performance, to the design of targeted public-health interventions. Many of these new forms of data are the result of happenstance; they are generated by individual citizens in the course of daily activities, without having been collected with a public policy goal in mind. While use of such data can create significant benefits, its use also brings new potential forms of harm and risks, further disenfranchising individuals in decisions about data sharing and use. In this context, there is a demand for institutions that can bridge the desire to share data for social and economic benefit, with concerns about the vulnerabilities that such data sharing can create.

Data trusts offer a framework for creating such institutions and bringing citizen voices into decisions about data use. These trusts have been the subject of widespread policy attention in recent years, but there remain important challenges to be addressed in moving discussions from theory to practice. Central to the next phase of development for data trusts will be the creation of pilot projects to experiment with ways of working and forms of citizen engagement. Data trusts will need to seek ways of aligning incentives between individuals, groups and organisations; of ensuring that they are accessible to all in society; and of engaging effectively with their members in new forms of participatory governance.