Page 33 - Service Delivery Review

Public Sector Data Governance

Neglect of Data Governance Undermines
Service Delivery

Information Technology Specialist - Dr Ayanda Madyibi

The South African Government is not What is data governance?
Data governance is a comprehensive set of process-
fully leveraging the data it routinely es, policies and standards intended to guarantee

generates to improve service delivery, that stakeholders and employees use data ethically
and efficiently. The Organisation for Economic Co-
argues Dr Ayanda Madyibi, an Infor- operation and Development (OECD) suggests that
mation and Digital Technology Special- data governance can aid the extraction of value from
data assets by facilitating increased data access, ex-
ist at the Eastern Cape Socio-Economic change and integration at an organisational level and
Consultative Council (ECSECC) under beyond. Moreover, data governance can boost over-
all efficiency and accountability. In general, data gov-
the Office of the Premier. ernance in the Public Sector would focus on adding
value for citizens through improved public services,
policy-making and accountability. In contrast, the pri-
Government has an ambitious goal of digitally trans-
forming the Public Sector in line with the imperatives vate sector primarily leverages data to drive competi-
tive advantage and the maximisation of profits.
of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). However, this
is unlikely to come to fruition if the status quo around The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the significance
data governance remains. The lack of a common of data and data governance, which has been essen-
policy stance on data governance is the single-most tial to managing the effects of the pandemic in many
impediment to the deployment of data for better deci- countries. For instance, most countries used data
sion-making and improved service delivery. to monitor the number of Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW | Volume 15. No. 3 of 2023 33