I’ve been receiving a lot of calls from people asking how they can use data to ‘help’. 

To help frame a potential response that isn’t just ‘we can build an app for that’ (that’s very rarely the answer), I’ve been trying to encourage people to first look at user needs and prior work. In times of ’emergency’ there’s a rush for people to want to ‘do something’— let’s harness that energy on useful things rather than squander it on ‘solutionising’?

Here’s a provocation process to ask how we can try and focus on what matters; that can unlock rapid-response from a frontline delivery team who can focus on solutions. At the same time, let’s also avoid just breaking things in the process, and give the frontline team (and the rest of us) the confidence that there is a process following them that will tidy up.

Questions to consider:

• What problems are we really trying to solve — based on actual user needs?
• How will data help these problems? (what data, what analysis, etc?)
• Who should act to convene and lead: a sector, public body, both?
• When are solutions needed and what might be our MVP intervention? (this may not need any data)
• What single-issue could act as an exemplar?

[click to comment or edit]  (or quick-link to this slide http://bit.ly/data-triage)

Open Banking—is a regulated standard that addresses data sharing across the banking sector. 

It addresses: 

• Rights
• Liability models
• Dispute resolution and redress
• Consent
• Security
• Legal frameworks
• Usability 
• Logistics
• Technology architecture
• Operating principles
• Myriad related issues

Open Banking was created by convening teams to develop common principles and practice for sector-wide data sharing. They included existing and challenger banks, trade bodies, fintechs, Treasury and regulators. In the UK, this led to the creation of an independent non-profit (funded by the banks) to develop and take the standard to market, with a directory of accredited organisations using it. 

The standard was (and is) developed openly—as a result, it has helped to catalyse initiatives around the world.  Similar initiatives now exist across Australia, Bahrain, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore and the USA.

This work is being extended to ‘Open Finance’. This would further include Investments, Pensions, Savings, Consumer Credit, Mortgages and General Insurance. 

We are also working on its extension into other sectors such as energy and environment (through IcebreakerOne.org). 

We are working with the UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, to help shape the direction of this work.

Can government remember? Is it condemned to repeat mistakes? Or does it remember too much and so see too many reasons why anything new is bound to fail?

Commissioned by Geoff Mulgan, CEO, Nesta, and led by Gavin Starks with Constellation members, ‘Can government stop losing its mind?’ looks at the many ways the government has organised its data and knowledge, and examines examples ranging from the Ministries of Defence and Justice to the BBC and ODI. It shows how research, policy design and tracking can be managed more effectively.

⇥ PDF download

Commissioned by Nesta

On Wednesday 18 April, Nesta is hosting the launch of a new report prepared by Gavin Starks.

The report entitled ‘Can government stop losing its mind?’ looks at the many ways the government has organised its data and knowledge, and examines examples ranging from the Ministries of Defence and Justice to the BBC and ODI. It shows how research, policy design and tracking can be managed more effectively.

Registration will open at 17.30 with the event starting promptly at 18.00. The event will close at 19.00 followed by networking drinks until 20.00.

Great to see Data Infrastructure gaining traction with the National Infrastructure Commission:

1. https://www.nic.org.uk/publications/data-infrastructure-paper-national-infrastructure-commission/
2. https://proftomcrick.com/2018/02/03/data-as-infrastructure

Background
In 2015, while at the ODI, I helped this specific framing gain international attention, including via this paper

https://www.scribd.com/document/266889068/Who-Owns-Our-Data-Infastructure

The Open Banking Standard, which I co-chaired the development of, started to roll out on 13 Jan 2018.

Creating open APIs is part of the fundamental wiring of our financial Data Infrastructure.

It may sound less interesting but, to me, it’s much more interesting and impactful that crypto/blockchain will be in the coming years.

In fact, getting this wiring right (open APIs) across sectors is a foundation that will help new technologies, such as AI, Machine Learning, Blockchain, et al, have access to the very data they need in order to be useful.

I’ve been building business using open APIs for over a decade and helping unpick (open, shared and closed) data licensing for over 20 years. Sorting out open APIs, clear data licensing, policy, liability, business models, communications and standards in both regulated and unregulated environments will help maximise fair free-market behaviours. It will enable both the centralisation and the decentralisation of power (as opposed to the status quo, which only acts to centralise); minimise the risk of bias (e.g. AI only having access to ‘biased’ datasets); provide the potential for greater scrutiny by state and non-state actors; shine the right kinds of lights on privacy and security; and engage in better conversations about what we actually need (and want).

The Open Banking Standard isn’t about technology: in fact a small part of it is about technical standards. It is the principle of open access to licensed data that changes the conversation. It requires collective thought and action to bring together commercial and non-commercial needs: country, business and social impact in sustainable legal frameworks that somehow balance the needs of innovation and protecting us from ourselves.

As McKinsey highlighted

The potential benefits of open banking are substantial: improved customer experience, new revenue streams, and a sustainable service model for traditionally underserved markets. Although the core API value proposition lies in streamlining the systems integration required for data access, the need for guardrails to support protections for the privacy and security of personal data create a formidable infrastructure challenge.

As to what happens next, to quote a recent American Banker article;

To get ahead of the issue, banks in the U.S. should invest in broad customer outreach campaigns that explain what open banking is and what it means for customers, including the new types of services and experiences it will enable for them. Most importantly, those campaigns will need to clearly communicate the ways a bank is ensuring that customers’ data is shared securely to mitigate fraud and identity theft risks.

We will have more news on what Dgen is doing on Open Banking soon as we develop a range of services to help move things forward.

I’ve joined the Advisory Board of DECODE, which is exploring tools that put individuals in control of whether they keep their personal data private or share it for the public good.

https://www.decodeproject.eu/

I joined the judging panel at FutureHack, the first ever Hackathon to take place around Davos during the week of the World Economic Forum, as a call to action to hack for solutions for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

https://futurehack.io/

Supported by the Slovenian Government, the hackathon focused on Social Impact and Partnerships to demonstrate that blockchain projects can be compelling solutions for the United Nations SDGs for the future of humanity.

I’ll update with the results here when we have them.

“The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data” says The Economist

“Data is the new oil”, said Clive Humby and many others [*update: or “new water”, “new electricity” etc… ugh]

Some people have described why it is and that it’ll be a new currency.

2014 Wired said it was and that “data infrastructure should become a profit centre”

In 2012 Forbes asked “Is Data The New Oil?”, saying “Data is just like crude. It’s valuable, but if unrefined it cannot really be used. It has to be changed into gas, plastic, chemicals…”

And, while it’s easy to run with these kinds of comparisons, they are shallow.

They miss at least three critical attributes.

1. Data doesn’t run out — data can be for everyone

2. You can make a copy of the data for (effectively) zero cost

3. Data increases in value the more it is connected

The economic model for a commodity that doesn’t run out is more like solar power than oil.

The value of data is not based on scarcity (even if you think it currently is, it wont be).

The economic model for a commodity that increases in volume and value the more it is connected is, well, more like the web. It might be more accurate to say that the ‘web of data’ is the new ‘web of documents’. Extrapolating… the value of data is greater than the value of oil.

Oh, and since I’m a climate geek, setting aside the carbon footprint of the internet (which is big), data doesn’t cause catastrophic climate change in the same way that oil does. Although, we may soon need data sequestration for all our binary dust.

And, lest we forget how organisations often relate to data, here is a potential vision for the future of data—if we don’t pay more attention.

(NB: original photo is copyright Richard Olsenius and used with permission here)

Other links

https://hbr.org/2012/11/data-humans-and-the-new-oil by Jer Thorpe

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/03/05/heres-why-data-is-not-the-new-oil/

Data is the new Water I: Water gives life (oil takes it)

In 2005, I was working with climate change charity Global Cool and global hedge fund Man Group (in my spare time) to try and create a global movement around climate change awareness and action.

While chairing the working group that created the “Global Cool Tonne” (which became one of the first UK Government’s Gold Standard offset mechanisms) I became very concerned about the transparency and credibility of the information being used in the market. As a result of this I started to pull together ideas about how to solve that problem.

To create long-term, scalable change I believe you need credible, transparent information. We have all witnessed that the Carbon markets have suffered greatly from a lack of such credibility.

Andrew Conway and I studied astrophysics together at Glasgow University, and have been friends for over 20 years. Diggory Briercliffe and I worked together to to design and build Virgin Net’s web systems, and have been friends for over 15 years.

The genesis of AMEE (in 2006) was the combination of three events: (1) a conversation with Diggory to discuss the potential of representing emissions data and a computational and transactional engine, in a web-service API. (2) a conversation with Andrew to discuss the potential of codifying Government and environmental standards in such an open platform, and (3) a presentation I gave to Climate Change Capital presenting my ideas for treating carbon as a global currency – with CO2e values mapped against every line-item on financial statements.

I funded the initial development through Dgen and, via various friends and colleagues, we were noticed by Bryony Worthington from Defra, who was lead author on the Climate Change Act. The Friday before Christmas in 2006 I was called into Defra to explain what our plans were for helping to open up Government data (the bedrock of the calculations used in carbon footprinting). At the end of that meeting I was asked to write a white paper for UK Secretary of State, David Miliband, to go in his briefcase on the Monday so he could digest it over Christmas.

We began working directly with Defra on 2nd Jan 2007. Six months later, the Secretary of State went on national television to launch the project, “Act on CO2”.

There were many “firsts” that came from this project:

• The first Government standard for domestic footprinting in the world
• The first national climate change campaign in the world
• The first Government-backed open data initiative around carbon footprinting data
• The world’s largest survey of domestic energy and carbon consumption (1.8 million homes)
• Proper separation of data of personal identity from underlying profile data from a data protection perspective

AMEE was also one of the first commercial companies to pioneer access to open Government data using a web-service API, and to address privacy issues by anonymising citizen information as the default setting within our solution. As a result AMEE was held as an exemplar by both Government and industry leaders, such as the Open Knowledge Foundation, and referred to as “the magical machine behind most carbon calculators”. 

This “founding team” of AMEE included Anna Clayton, Andrew Conway, Diggory Briercliffe, Marcus Bointon, and Chris John.

While they remained an integral part of the project for some time, Diggory, Chris and Marcus chose to continue running their own companies, while Andrew chose to continue to run his own venture and join AMEE. Anna continued as project and account manager.

After DECC’s official launch, AMEE adoption grew exponentially – over 1.8M end-user profiles through Act on CO2, Google, Morgan Stanley, Radiohead, The Energy Savings Trust, Dopplr, EEDA, The RSA, and many others signing up and pioneering use of the service.

After presenting at the 2008 O’Reilly conference, ETech, I met with Mark from OATV. On the strength of this and meeting with the AMEE team, OATV led (within 3 weeks) our $2m Series A investment with Union Square Ventures, and catapulted us on our journey to provide Environmental Intelligence — Everywhere.

After our investment, we added Bryony Worthington (now Baroness Worthington), Jamie Andrews, James Smith, Calum Alexander, Dickon Ausden, and James Hetherington to the startup team, shaping the core of the AMEE platform and its content.

Part two to follow….