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Building a data-informed nation from the top-down

Building a data-informed nation from the top-down

Data analytics plays a big role in our move towards building a Smart Nation, allowing organizations and citizens, in both public and private sectors, to make more intelligent decisions that are ultimately aimed at better returns. At Tableau, we term this “being data-informed.”
 
What does it truly mean to be data-informed, though? Data is no longer just the concern of leaders who are charting the direction of their organization. More importantly, data is no longer just the domain of the business intelligence (BI) professional or “IT guy.” In a high performing organizational culture and smarter community, where data is celebrated and harnessed, analytics should be placed in the hands of essentially everyone. It means that everyone is comfortable with and understands data. 
 
In Singapore, there has been much discussion about the country’s drive to become the world’s first Smart Nation, and leaders are viewing this initiative as one that is citizen-driven. A major part of this initiative is about enabling a skilled workforce that is nimble, creative, and largely fueled by data and technology.
 
Truly fostering a data-informed, analytical culture within a nation involves the empowerment of data users across the community, making data analytics available to all sorts of users, implementing training, building a culture of data-curious individuals and more. In other words, this is a movement that needs to start from the top, as much as it then needs to be embraced by literally everyone.
 Data for everyone
 
We have seen organizations across all industries, from manufacturing, to the public sector and even consumer goods, benefit from being data-informed. That is to say, the capabilities that are opened up through data analytics can benefit people throughout organizations and across business units. From store managers and sales executives, to pushcart store owners, using data analytics to gain meaningful insights, or sometimes even simplify processes, will help improve organizational productivity. 
 
To stay competitive in a globally connected marketplace, Singapore’s Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) had announced last year that phase two of their data and analytics masterplan includes driving the adoption of analytics across the retail, wholesale, business and government sectors [1]. Take retail for example, front-end store managers will be able to use customer and store data to optimize promotion campaigns or product placements, logistics managers can analyze inventory to optimize inventory allocation, and operations managers can place resources more effectively.
 
Beyond just business users, from homemakers to students, everyone can benefit from making data-informed decisions. 
 
The key in building a data-informed culture is to place the power of data analytics into the hands of users across professions and age groups, opening them up to discover data on their own. This allows them to gain insights that better their daily work and life. 
 Empowering citizens
 
With this in mind, and as part of the citizen-focused Smart Nation initiative in Singapore, the country’s leaders have taken it upon themselves to develop more technology-driven and open data initiatives to encourage this movement. Data.gov.sg [2],  for instance, is an open data, government-owned portal that provides data sets on a range of subjects, including healthcare, housing, education and beyond. Citizens now have the ability to analyze housing and infrastructure data, giving potential home-owners a data-informed basis to make a home purchasing decision, parents who are looking for a school to send their children to will be able to pull enrolment, passing rates, school funding and transport infrastructure data to decide the best institution to place their children in, and so much more. 
 
Just like the transformation of business cultures and government initiatives, data literacy can indeed be a part of conversations within entire communities. With citizens having access to appropriate data, decisions will be better calculated and will eventually improve the way everyone lives and works. Of course, this will only work if governments set a visible example. Showing how and why data can be used to enhance our daily lives is vital in building a data-informed nation. 
 People and data skills
 
A tipping point on whether becoming data-informed becomes a culture or just a passing fad, lies in how data-curious individuals are. As such, leaders need to take this requirement into consideration right from the onset. That is instilling a culture where analytics is one of the key go-to solutions for people when they make decisions or have discussions. For example, deciding a location to have a meal – whether for a client meeting, or dinner with your loved ones. All a person needs is some data from a restaurant review site and an easy-to-use analytics application, and they’re on their way to data-discovery. 
 
Eventually, data skills will become an important aspect of all job descriptions. Businesses are increasingly using analytics in all aspects and it makes logical sense that the staff they bring in are familiar with these tools and concepts. In that reality, organizations will benefit from assessing employees and future hires on these necessary skillsets. More than the technical skills, it will involve people thinking critically and having a positively curious attitude towards data. 
 
Having said that, current and future workers should equip themselves with data literacy as it becomes more and more common. It is no surprise that data courses rank as one of the most common programs available on Skillsfuture.sg [3], as citizens young and old are looking at bettering themselves with data skills. Taking a step back, this initiative is for people of all ages and professions to gain skills and ultimately drive Singapore’s next phase of development towards an advanced economy, and the necessary Infocomm Technology (ICT) skills to enhance industries is one example. 
 
Moreover, the Singapore government has started pushing ICT skills even further by launching the TechSkills Accelerator [4],  a new skills development and job placement hub. The government-launched hub is teaming up with IT employers and associations to help people acquire new skills and expertise, then find jobs in the growing ICT sector.
 
Research shows that the ability to make quicker, smarter, and more automated decisions and actions will increasingly become a competitive advantage for communities and economies  – and this is something that we can no longer ignore. The key is having that top-down approach where leadership shows the drive and the need to infuse a community with a data-informed culture. To reap the maximum value from data, leadership will need to drive the change by having the right initiatives to develop the right people, and leverage the right technology, to foster data-informed communities.  
[1]Data & Analytics, a Key Driver of Competitiveness and Growth, iDA, April 2015
[2]https://data.gov.sg/, 2016
[3]SkillsFuture Credit Course Directory, SkillsFuture, 2016
[4]TechSkills Accelerator Set-Up To Engage ICT Sector, Reach.gov.sg, 24 March 2016

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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