How creating a single source of truth can deliver greater success within government

Stacey Lewis Date published: Oct 04, 22

The government relies heavily on data in order to improve its own systems, make better decisions and ultimately provide higher quality services to its citizens.

Sharing files and collaborating on documents can be tricky. There is a tendency for departments and agencies to become dependent on insecure, consumer-grade file-sharing apps. Additionally, they often inherit legacy portal-based solutions that are inefficient, difficult to use and do not provide the appropriate level of security.

Governments being highly regulated means they need a single place where all client and project information can be stored so you can see a complete picture of any given project at any given time.

Inadequate data can cause problems

The quality of data required for decision making, often needs to be accumulated from across . Effectively managing the information that is gathered and used can speed up the management of projects and accelerate performance. Mis-managed information and documents can slow them down or bring them to a complete halt.

Data was crucial in determining which communities and individuals received COVID-19 vaccine first during the rollout across the United States. Race and ethnicity data, however, were largely absent when these decisions were made. The public health data infrastructure in the US was inequitable, resulting in disproportionate effects on marginalised groups.

How did this problem arise?

This was due to the fact that the data being used to make those significant decisions did not accurately represent the needs of the communities.

Based on an analysis of health system executive survey responses published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA), 41 percent of respondents claimed that public health agencies did not have the capacity to receive data electronically for electronic lab reporting and symptomatic surveillance.

According to the study, “digitising hospital records without a concomitant investment in the IT capabilities of state and local public health agencies contributed to our reliance on a patchwork system of fax, e-mail, and paper to track the spread of COVID-19.”

Developing a more comprehensive picture of communities required data equity across all sectors - health care, housing, income, employment, and education.

Many health departments in the US still rely on paper records due to the limited capabilities of current systems. A more realistic and real-time assessment of community needs can be established by using a single source of truth to update these records and collection methods.

In another case regarding Transforming Rehabilitation in the UK- the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) did not understand how probation trusts worked and what the costs were prior to replacing them with Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). As a result of multiple CRC failures, the MoJ terminated CRC contracts 14 months early.

What can be done to support the efficacy of transforming rehabilitation?

To make informed decisions about how to move forward in the future, governments need data that can be aggregated from a variety of sources, through a secure, controlled portal.

The need for secure client portals

In order to work across teams and agencies, government bodies need a document and file sharing solution that is user-friendly and collaborative without compromising on security or compliance.

A Single Source of Truth provides better ways of working and encourages more transparent communication, helping organisations drive change faster without compromising on quality. By building portals and workspaces around your team or project, it ensures the ease in navigation of documents and that all project leads, and clients have access to the correct information they need when they need it.

A Single Source of Truth is fast becoming a requirement

It's time to remove manual processes and increase visibility by implementing robust information management and collaboration processes, including:

• Automated filing
• A Document Management platform
• Using client portals as a central collaborative hub