Data Protection: Coronavirus

(asked on 14th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage data sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Answered by
Lord True Portrait
Lord True
Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
This question was answered on 28th January 2021

The National Data Strategy published in September 2020 sets out the Government's commitment to transform the way data is collected, managed, used and shared in government. Current initiatives to improve data sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic include:

  • Tackling legal barriers through promoting the data sharing provisions in the Digital Economy Act 2017 to speed up and simplify data sharing across government and supporting public bodies who would like to introduce new data sharing regulations in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Setting and driving the adoption of data standards to improve the consistency, integrity and interoperability of government data.

  • Improving the quality of government data through the work of the Data Quality Hub, such as the recently published Data Quality Framework.

  • Working with ONS to identify data sets to be shared across government to enable a better understanding of COVID-19 in the UK.

  • Improving data leadership in government to drive strategy by establishing a Chief Digital and Data Office.

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