Data is like people – interrogate it hard enough and it will tell you whatever you want to hear.
I heard this pun at a roundtable event I participated in last week over here in the States, where, with partners and colleagues, we discussed and argued about Big Data and how it was – or wasn’t – driving economic growth, especially in cities and urban areas.
Here in the US, data is deeply entrenched in our society. Our sports – baseball in particular – are data rich; Runs Batted In, Stolen Bases, Batting Averages, At Bats, Runs, Home Runs, Hits, Doubles, Triples – all are measured, monitored – and bet upon.
It has now spread into every walk of life and there is no doubt that over the past two decades, society has collected, analysed and reported more data than ever before.
It’s the price of progress and quite an industry has sprung up around data, so I was keen to learn more.
Each of us has a huge digital footprint, we freely share information and insights with a range of organisations and agencies and are increasingly ‘hard wired’ into digital platforms for the services, information and commercial transactions we need.
At this event we heard from Data Analysts, those pushing or selling Data Management Solutions, and a few case studies where a local or regional agency had used data to address a challenge.
They were all confident in the miracle of Big Data. In the same way our stock market portfolios are dominated by big tech and the data managers, increasingly it seems our economy is doubling down on data too.
I am a little more reticent, but I do subscribe to the world view that cities and their wider metro areas are firmly established as the centres of cultural and economic innovation.
More than half of the world’s population is currently living in cities and as Africa and Asia continue to rapidly urbanise that is expected to hit 75% in the next two decades. Add to that the two-thirds of the World’s population currently connected to digital data via the world’s 5 billion smart phones, tablets and other devices and you can’t deny that Big Data and Urban Living are trending.
Collectively we generate hundreds of millions of terra-bytes of data every day – but my conversations around the table led me to wonder, is it really helping?
Having the data is one thing, but using it is entirely different.
Cities are rapidly growing, and with that comes a host of challenges: traffic, waste and water management, housing shortages, reliable energy, environmental impacts, resource sustainability, income inequality and social tension. The biggest cities in US are struggling with migration, housing, policing and utilities. Some are facing bankruptcy and worryingly remember President Ford telling NYC when they bust their budget and looked for a bail out – ‘Go to Hell’
While everyone in the meeting acknowledged these challenges – after all, they had the data to prove it – it seemed clear to me at least, that if cities were going to resolve these problems, they needed to learn how to harness the potential of that data better.
My take from much of the conversation – perhaps influenced by the skill set and bias of many engaged in the debate – was collecting and analysing the data was the primary mission.
With unerring accuracy, the data hoarders could tell us how much worse air quality was now than a decade ago, the degree to which resident dissatisfaction with local government services had grown, or how many additional housing units were required if current demographic shifts continued.
There were sessions and workshops on data collection techniques, new software systems to manipulate the data, and lengthy discussion about how AI would, along with everything else it is going to achieve, make ‘real time’ data analysis a reality.
There appeared to be an unspoken covenant that holding, owning and controlling access to data was where the value currently sat.
There was a lot less conversation about how data was shaping insights, good policymaking and outcomes.
I work in that funny space where business, politics and public affairs collide. The idea is that challenges are spotted, preferred outcomes identified, and then solutions are applied. In my world, data is useful, it serves a purpose toward a greater good. But it isn’t the answer.
Who, What, Where, When, How and Why – the timeless alpha building blocks of all inquiry – now have their answers captured in 1’s and 0’s in data centres and clouds worldwide. Splendid, but that knowledge should be available and accessible so the right partners and agencies can cooperate and collaborate effectively on answering the big challenges ahead.
Data can realise its value when it serves as a critical asset to inform the decision-making processes, to model desired outcomes, through which cities can then meet resident and service users’ needs and expectations. Over time, smart data identifies trends which allocate cities scant resources more efficiently.
Just simply having the data, but not seeing it in the context of wider ambitions and challenges is, to me, problematic.
If you are only looking at one narrow data set about air quality, then eradicating cars seems like the simple solution. But this doesn’t recognise the needs of suburban commuters, the state of under-resourced public transport networks, or the logistics and supply chain challenges which keep our cities humming. You end up with a Just Stop Oil world view rather than holistic transport and mobility solutions.
Daring to challenge the orthodoxy of the all-mighty data collectors, I warmed to my task and chanced my hand by suggesting many local authorities and city administrations could learn from the experiences of big brands who have been collecting and using data for as long as anyone.
Coke, Exxon Mobil, Anheuser Busch, Walmart, Apple, Google, all collect, interpret and apply data against a much wider and more insightful set of aspirations, challenges and opportunities. In making decisions about their business, their products and their services they have access to broad swathes of data, drawn from various sources, which they use to inform their strategic and tactical next moves.
Different data, different priorities, different decisions, different outcomes.
What big brands recognise is a single data point or set of evidence is rarely the correct approach.
After all, if you are trying to differentiate your product, city or brand from your competitors but are only using a limited pool of data available to everyone else to make your decisions, you will probably arrive at a very sensible, logical but ultimately generic outcome.
Creative problem solving needs to find twinkles of insight from all the available data. That is what can make them stand apart – good brands, marketers and advertisers operate in this rarified space.
Take the challenge of attracting inward investment and driving economic growth – critical to so many metro regions.
Business investment decisions are never made from a single data point. One city or region will have factors which make it a compelling destination for investors, but another metropolitan area will have something they can dangle to attract the target.
Using data to identify a region’s strengths and weaknesses in attracting inward investment will involve cities understanding how their tax regimes, planning and land allocation policies, available skills and talent pool restrictions, housing and transport infrastructure, global brand recognition, public health and environmental sustainability are all deciding factors in where corporations finally place their investments.
Today, US cities and others at the top of their game in attracting inward investment aren’t focussed on just finding a single enterprise to relocate or expand, welcome as that would be. They are looking at data which helps them understand and respond to a range of conditions which allows them to create a hub, a centre of excellence, or cluster of expertise which generates a whole new or enhanced sector.
I shared a recent example from my home city region of Liverpool, which has a proud maritime heritage, numerous universities providing research skills, a manufacturing pedigree, and a global reputation in sports and entertainment.
In the past few weeks, the city region has gained plaudits for initiatives on Green Shipping, has been selected as the world’s first ‘Accelerator City’ for climate action, started consultation on renewable tidal energy systems, showcased Energy Efficient modular homes at the Government Party’s Conference and has seen Ford Motor Company confirm a £500million investment in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing on the banks of the Mersey.
All these decisions were data driven. They connected existing strengths in the regional economy with opportunities in new sectors and new innovations.
If – as I hope – these were joined up projects, drawing on shared data, presented in a coherent manner to the various private, public, domestic and international stakeholders behind them, then Liverpool is truly on top of its game.
If, however, they were a happy coincidence, that is still brilliant. Just imagine how much more opportunity there is if the insights, data and resources behind each effort were shared.
So, I argued, data collection, analysis and management must become a core mission of city leadership. Data needs to be shared and accessible widely and it needs to be central in shaping policy, decision-making and improving the lives of today’s residents and future generations.
If there is a consensus that growth is the ambition and that inward investment – domestic or international – will drive that, understanding how to attract, secure and nurture that is critical.
Too much of the data available today feels like it is still in silos, under the lock and key of just one part of the agency responsible for delivering change.
Time to move it from the sidelines to centre stage, I urged the room at the event. Give a Deputy Mayor or senior cabinet member for economic development the role of Data Driven Decision Making I suggested. It fell on deaf ears, they were largely data managers and project officers far detached from the political and administrative leadership, but I felt better for saying it.
Surround Mayors I said, not only with the people who know how to collect and store data, but those who can turn it into actionable intelligence. Add those who can create the narratives and stakeholder engagement, and then share it across the financial, investment and sector leads in the local economy so they can market it and sell it to those seeking opportunity.
Data is not the solution, it is a tool to be used, shared and exploited.
Data itself is rather inert, it only becomes powerful when we apply our creativity, ingenuity and human perspective to reveal the insights and knowledge which allows the answers to appear.
This might not have been the right event for me, but it is clear that data is only going to become more important as we move forward. Having the people with the skills to deploy it will be vital for cities, even aging public affairs consultants like me. Remember, old data analysts don’t die – they just get broken down by age and sex.
