Summary of the Evaluation of the Implementation of the PSC Data Management Strategy implementation
The PSC Data Management Strategy
The Data Management Strategy is focused on improving PSC data management practices. It includes objectives related to clarifying roles and responsibilities, establishing new data governance, implementing a modern data infrastructure, supporting the release of data of value, developing policies for data quality and ethical use of data, and developing data literacy and change management plans. Implementation began in 2018-19 and will be improved over time in line with the Federal Data Strategy Roadmap.
Evaluation objective
The evaluation objective was to assess and report on the implementation of the PSC Data Management Strategy one year into implementation.
Evaluation context
The evaluation was included in the Public Service Commission Internal Audit and Evaluation Plan 2019-22.
The PSC Data Management Strategy was established to support the achievement of the vision of having “the right data, the right way, in the right hands, at the right time.” From policy-making to oversight, to informing and improving services, the need for quality data in support of evidence-based decision-making is central to the PSC’s work.
Key findings
- The PSC is aligned with the federal government’s overall vision of improving data management to support evidence-based decision-making and reporting and is on track with respect to implementing the recommendations made in the federal data strategy roadmap.
- In 2018, a chief data officer was appointed and the PSC Data Management Strategy was approved. Data governance was established and work has started on developing change management, data literacy and training plans.
- The PSC has improved access to data by making 97 datasets available to internal and external stakeholders on the open government portal.
- There are opportunities for improvement in data governance that supports collaboration among stakeholders, project management practices, data quality assurance, data disposition and cleansing, and documenting dataset management practices.
- It is important for the PSC to decide what the organization’s modern data infrastructure needs are to support the achievement of the data vision.
Recommendations
- Review data governance to ensure it supports internal collaboration in the implementation of the Data Management Strategy that results in an organization-focused perspective on data management.
- Review, update and document data quality policies and procedures to enable proper data quality assurance, data disposition and data privacy practices across the PSC.
- Assess what data architecture and data repositories are required for the PSC. The initiatives to achieve the requirement should be costed with established timelines, approved and monitored through governance.
- Develop a strategy to identify and obtain the required data tools for users that support improved methods to analyze and report on key datasets. The strategy should be costed and approved through governance.