My week (err, month) in digital social housing. We do talk, a lot, about data at the moment. Maybe too much, at the expense of action. For the first time in a while I’ve had chance to reflect on what we are trying to achieve: starting with data governance, improving data literacy and getting better data utilisation… or as we often say, being data driven. Anyway I’ve tried to stitch it all together, if only for my own sanity! #data #digital #socialhousing #governance
Colin Sales
9mo
The need to be data driven when it comes to anything governance, risk or compliance related is undeniable Steve Dungworth. The question is if landlords will strive for this in an environment of limited resources, increased costs (including those from the Regulator and Ombudsman) and reduced budgets. The Regulator's call for landord's to seek external assurance is required, but that comes with risk (of exposing their weaknesses) and cost. We desperately need to work together to find solutions.... another call for collaboration!
Paul O'Neill
9mo
Steve - your article reminds me of the saying - "Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can”. In essence - there is a danger of postponing the most valuable step until then end - i.e. being data-driven and deriving insights. In my experience, organisations already have comprehensive data, which can be used to reveal hidden insights. There seems to be a sense that value could only be unlocked right at the end of this journey. Unless organisations are mining the data they already have, how do they know if what they're collecting and collating will ultimately be worth the effort?
Waleed Shihadah
9mo
Steve Dungworth excellent article mate, you are such a great writer 👏🏼 in recent months I’ve come to get to know and love the sector (thanks to you) and I must say, the opportunities with data are abundant. My thoughts on this include: 1. Data governance is obviously super important, but data strategy should be more concerned with action and unifying IT and business stakeholders around common goals, rather than endless red tape and policies. 2. Housing Asscociations may be underestimating the complexity of the task at hand. Many will not even have the basics in place for data (an automated semantic layer that separates analytics from operations and consolidates data into a single source of truth) but will already be thinking that sticking Bob on a two day Power BI course will be enough to get them to where they need to be. 3. AI is wonderful, but if you don’t have the basics of data in place, it is useless. 4. Associations may worry that “this won’t work here”. Solve this with staunch backing from leadership to support the required cultural change, and start small. Pick one business function with a strong potential data champion, get them involved in the build and provide plenty of support after implementation.
Andrew Giles
9mo
Well "stitched" Steve! Thanks for sharing.
Consultancy to help the property, technology, investor and maintenance sector understand social housing better.
9moThank you for using more “feminine” analogies Steve! Sticking to the knitting makes a change from stepping up to the plate.