Nine ways the Personal Data Store can transform Public Services
Local authorities and public sector organisations increasingly have to face the challenge of improving public services whilst balancing reduced budgets with growing demands from the public. This is likely to be a common theme in the debate between the political parties in the run up to the national election in 2015.
Against this backdrop Mydex CIC offers a low cost, innovative, interoperable solution to these challenges. As highlighted in our recent blog post Five stages of evolution in digital public services, it can be transformative to link online public services to Personal Data Stores (PDS) ‘plugging in’ the individual.
Mydex CIC provides a secure and convenient way to connect to citizens in this way enabling a new, more dynamic relationship based on trusted two-way data sharing. Citizens can control, manage and share their own verified data, set preferences, participate and personalise their experience.
Here are nine ways Mydex CIC can provide value to local authorities and public sector organisations. The context of how our Personal Data and Identity Services are used is key in determining which of these benefits is realised by the connecting organisation and its customers.
1) Delivers massive cost savings
Take one aspect: channel shift. Printing, fulfilling and posting a letter costs 60p even at volume. A connection to an individual via a Mydex PDS is only 4p per year. For the cost of sending a single letter, you could have unlimited, secure digital communication with an individual for ten years. That’s a huge cost differential on just one aspect of administration, and one which can be quantified. Other cost savings are highlighted below.
2) Increases data quality
A PDS can collect different types of verified data including transaction, billing and record data, and it forms a rich picture of an individual’s life. This picture can be shared with the organisation. With the individual fully engaged in the process and in control of this sharing, the data stays up to date, live and complete. It doesn’t become fragmented or lose validity over time. The experience of the Mydex Community Prototype suggests that the cost of poor quality data may be over 10% of a council’s staff budget. There’s a lot to be saved if Mydex-enabled individuals clean up their own data.
3) Enables joined up services and streamlined customer journeys
With individuals at the heart of the data exchange process, they are able to give informed consent to the sharing of information internally and between relevant external organisations which are connected to the Mydex CIC Platform. This privacy friendly way to share data can reduce cost, complexity and risk and improve operations. It also enables new, streamlined customer journeys that transcend organisational boundaries.
4) Supports more personalised services
A connection to the Mydex Platform enables two-way conversations, providing the ability for participation and a personalised service based on trust and consent. The organisation’s resources and services can be targeted based on knowledge of needs and preferences.
5) Enables citizens to get things done online
Citizens can get verified attributes and proofs of claim from the organisation including their transaction history and records, which they can in turn share with other organisations. With a PDS they are equipped with the verified evidence (data and attributes) they need to achieve the level of identity assurance necessary to access government services online via GOV.UK Verify.
6) Reduces risk and ensures compliance
A live, persistent connection between the individual and organisation helps reduce the risk and cost of inaccurate data. Personal data held by the individual and shared only with the individual’s explicit permission helps to reduce compliance risk. This is only possible when receiving data shared by the individual from a completely secure place under their terms, for example under a data sharing agreement, such as we use at Mydex CIC.
7) Builds trust
The new relationship the organisation has with citizens creates trust and confidence. The Mydex Trust Framework provides a uniform data sharing model under contract law.
8) Supports operations such as identity assurance
Mydex CIC can act as the identity provider to the organisation to cut the costs of username and password management. New citizens needing services will be seamlessly on boarded and come with verified attributes and proofs of claims which will enable processes like Know Your Customer, identity proofing and verification to be handled seamlessly with lower friction, cost and risk.
9) Saves time, offers convenience and increases satisfaction
By subscribing to individuals’ PDS, the organisation will be able to receive real time updates of changes to their personal details, such as address and contact details, at low cost. Form filling can be done quickly and easily or avoided completely as some of the content can be populated directly from the PDS. An individual is not required to fill out the same information over and over again saving time and frustration.
So here we have outlined nine ways we can provide considerable value to public sector organisations in the current constrained environment. In many instances this value can be quantified (for example a reduction in postage or in the cost of updating inaccurate data), but there is also qualitative value created (an increase in customer satisfaction).
To sum up the benefits are: it saves cost and time; reduces risk and increases trust; enables the management of consent efficiently; improves personalisation; helps streamline and simplify processes; and increases customer satisfaction.
Personal control over personal data is good for everyone and integrating to the Mydex Platform is simple.
Please contact us to find out more.
