Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment he has made of the potential barriers to cross-departmental data integration; and what steps he is taking to help mitigate them.

The State of Digital Government Review identified five root causes for the issues with the current state of digital government, all of which are barriers to cross-departmental data integration: Leadership, Structure, Measurement, Talent and Funding. In addition, an extensive data management discovery has recently concluded which identified strategic, cultural and technical barriers to data capability across government.

The Blueprint for Modern Digital Government sets out the first steps in the government's plans to address these challenges, including work to strengthen and extend our digital and data infrastructure. This includes developing guidance, standards and tools for fast and secure data exchange, such as a mandate for the publication of a standard set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) by public sector organisations, and the development of a cross-government Data Management Hub to support the adoption of consistent best practice. We are also expanding data sharing legislation, where necessary, and creating the National Data Library to provide the trusted data foundations needed for the delivery of a modern digital economy.