Having published a strategy last year outlining its intent to boost the maturity of its data and the value derived from it, the watchdog has appointed a key tech partner
The UK’s privacy and data-protection regulator has signed a near-£5m contract to help transform its own use of data.
The Information Commissioner’s Office last year published a data strategy. The plan is intended to support the watchdog if fulfilling the stated vision that: “The ICO will be an exemplar of responsible innovation using data. Data and insight will maximise our impact, guide all our work and accelerate our transformation.”
Beyond this outline objective, the strategy sets two “overarching goals”. The first is “measurably grow our data maturity”, while the second is to “deliver tangible value from data and analytics for the ICO and its customers”.
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To support this transformative vision, the regulator has entered into a four-year contract with IT services giant Capgemini, a freshly published commercial notice reveals. The deal, which came into effect on 17 January, is intended to provide the watchdog with “technical consultancy, strategic planning and transformation delivery support to drive the ICO’s data transformation and achieve our vision”.
The engagement is valued at £4.75m.
The award of the contact comes less than a month after the ICO signed another six-figure tech deal. On 19 December the organisation entered into a two-year agreement with software outfit Kainos for the provision of “CRM information, case management and digital workflows”, according to another procurement notice. The CRM engagement is expected to be worth £1.2m.
In his foreword to the plan set out last year, commissioner John Edwards said that “having a data strategy is crucial in setting out how we develop, manage, govern and use our data assets in pursuit of our purpose: to empower you through information”.
He added: “Whether it’s providing deep insights into the needs of our customers, identifying and predicting instances of harm, guiding prioritisation and decision making, or underpinning our use of automation and AI, it’s clear that data is a key part of the modern organisational fabric. We have another opportunity, though. As a regulator, we’re shifting our guidance away from ‘don’t do’ to ‘how to’. In a similar way, our data strategy is setting an ambitious vision to ‘show, not tell’. We aspire to be an exemplar for responsible innovation in the use of data – one that can inspire and guide others through our own transformation.”