UK Councils missing data opportunities:Objective

October 2, 2009:A UK Audit Commission report that highlighted that many councils do not use data effectively has been sized on by Objective as an opportunity to press home the importance of a modern approach to digital information management

The report, 'Is there something I need to know?' looked at how councils use information to make decisions and found that almost 80 percent say that a lack of in-depth analysis of data is a major problem.

"Collectively, local authorities have the opportunity to be smarter and act more strategically in the way that they manage data, which in many cases contains highly sensitive and confidential information," says Nick Kingsbury, Objective's Director of content, collaboration and process management specialist for the public sector.

"We live in a modern age in which information flows quickly, and traditional filing and distribution systems must be modernised to cope with the rigours of today's working environment, government transparency and efficiency expectations."

"The impression from both our research and the work completed by the Audit Commission, is that organisations in the public sector and in particular councils, need to make changes to the way they manage their data. It is important to have an effective information management system if the public sector is to restore faith in their ability to keep data safe," added Nick.