GWI was engaged by a government department to design and develop a solution that would support their ongoing commitment to ethical and innovative data sharing.
The client had commenced a process of democratising its data holdings in order to enable business areas to make better use of their data and improve services for its customers. They were also committed to implementing new and innovative ways of collecting, storing and using data, which presented them with a number of challenges, particularly for data management practices. As a result, the client needed to adapt their standards and processes to continue sharing data with a range of third-parties.
Due to the complex nature of third-party data sharing, the client sought guidance from GWI.
We leveraged our expertise in information and data sharing to establish a Third-Party Data Access Framework that supports the client in managing the risks of collecting and sharing sensitive data.
Analysis of the current state revealed that the client shared data with a number of key stakeholders including:
- other departments
- other governments (local, state, territory and commonwealth)
- universities and research bodies
- industry bodies and not-for-profit organisations
- commercial organisations, and
- citizens.
GWI engaged with key internal stakeholders to understand the current data sharing principles and processes. We also compiled a list of existing data sharing agreements and leveraged our knowledge of internationally recognised data sharing standards and best practices.
The solution
We developed a comprehensive Third-Party Data Access Framework. Our solution was designed to ensure that data access requests were consistently assessed against data sharing principles, and to determine terms and conditions required to enable safe data sharing.
As the client captures and manages sensitive data, it was important that our Framework solution provided data owners, custodians, and stewards with guidance on giving appropriate third-party access to sensitive data while mitigating associated risks. It also reduced the time required for data owners to identify and select appropriate data sharing agreements and improved service delivery for customers
As part of the Framework, we also developed a Data Sharing Assessment and a Data Sharing Matrix.
The Data Sharing Assessment ensures that decisions align with the data sharing principles, identifies escalation points, streamlines the processing of ad hoc data requests and ensures the risks associated with data sharing activities are considered and managed appropriately.
The Data Sharing Matrix streamlines the process for determining an appropriate agreement type and the terms and conditions relevant to the data sharing activity.
The Third-Party Data Access Framework GWI designed ensures an innovative and consistent approach to data sharing and encourages an organisational-wide culture of ethical data sharing. The client can safely manage the risks associated with collecting and sharing sensitive customer data, and set the highest standard for transparency and accountability for data management.
Is your organisation facing similar data sharing challenges? GWI can help. Contact us today.
