At Government Transformation Magazine’s Leaders Night, surrounded by senior civil servants and public sector innovators, one theme dominated: Data is no longer a side issue. It’s the infrastructure upon which we will build faster, fairer and more responsive public services.
Against the backdrop of the newly published UK Industrial Strategy, this gathering reinforced a critical insight about the future of government transformation.
Like any critical infrastructure, we need to be intentional about outcomes, incentivise collaboration, invest in future capabilities, and treat data as infrastructure that connects stakeholder outcomes to government decisions.
The Intelligence Revolution
Public-private partnership built modern Britain. In the 18th and 19th centuries, government and industry created incentives and capital to build canals, turnpikes, railroads, and urban services that powered the world’s first industrialised economy.
An interconnected transport system moved, coal, iron ore and workers to industrial centres, and finished goods to urban centres and trading ports. To keep workers healthy—and therefore productive—urban sanitation, gas lighting, water and sewerage services were delivered by privately funded contractors with state and municipal backing
Now, in the age of intelligence, we must build infrastructure of data and intelligence. Once again, public-private collaboration is essential. But this time, the prize extends beyond economic efficiency to sovereignty, resilience, sustainability, and public trust through common standards, interoperable systems, outcome-based metrics, and fit-for-purpose data.
This means we need to revisit how we design incentives and prioritise investment, to build the infrastructure of tomorrow.
Four pillars: Intentions, Incentives, Investment, Infrastructure
Intentions
This is a point signalled by the UK’s Industrial Strategy, which in its intention to create a national framework to value data, reflects a system-level view that recognises better coordination of data assets across institutions can deliver broad stakeholder benefits, including businesses, citizens, and public services.
- Map desired outcomes to the data that matters in a measurable and repeatable way.
- Establish a common data valuation framework to guide systematic decision-making.
- Measuring and communicating progress against stakeholder outcomes, through engagement, patient capital and good intelligence (data!)
Incentives
- Design outcome-focused partnerships: Public-private partnerships should be structured around clear, measurable outcomes where data availability, quality, and interoperability are central to delivery, and where incentives align to achieving shared public impact.
- Shift to value-based performance indicators: Metrics should reflect citizen outcomes and societal value, not just internal compliance or volume-based outputs. Data maturity, reuse, and impact should be tracked and rewarded in funding, procurement, and operational models.
- Make data sharing the default, not the exception: Trustworthy, interoperable data must flow between departments, local authorities, and delivery partners. This requires aligned standards, clear ownership models, and a shared belief that data enables collaboration, not competition.
Investment
- Treat public sector data as a managed asset class: Just like roads, hospitals or water systems, critical data assets require lifecycle management, investment planning, and return expectations. This mindset shift allows departments to argue for funding not just on need, but on the measurable impact of better data.
- Apply valuation models to guide prioritisation: Data valuation helps identify the assets that deliver the most value to public outcomes—be it improving early intervention in social care, targeting infrastructure investment, or accelerating climate action. It allows government to back the data that matters most.
- Enable social impact investment in data infrastructure: Investors are looking for measurable social returns. Structuring data initiatives to support outcomes like health equity, decarbonisation, and local economic growth makes them investable. Data infrastructure should be seen as a lever for place-based, inclusive growth.
Infrastructure
- Focus on fitness-for-purpose: Public sector datasets are often fragmented, incomplete or outdated. Investing in data stewardship, standards, and usability ensures data is ready for decision-making when it matters most.
- Embed trust, privacy and security in design: Trust is both a requirement and an outcome. Confidence in data sharing depends on ethical governance, transparent access controls, and privacy by design.
- Apply asset management disciplines to data: Tools like ISO 55013 provide proven frameworks for managing data with the same rigour as physical assets. This includes ownership, maintenance, lifecycle planning, and performance measurement.
What’s different this time?
1. Open access: to high-quality, decision-grade public sector data
2. Measure its value: financial, operational, and societal
3. Seek appropriate return: from better services to smarter policymaking
Ready to Lead the Data Infrastructure Revolution?
The UK Industrial Strategy has laid down the challenge. Now departments, agencies, and delivery bodies have to act.
Treat data as infrastructure. Value it as an asset. Invest in its stewardship. Build the partnerships that will shape the next generation of public value.
If you’re interested in understanding the strategic and economic value of your data assets, get in touch.