COVID-19 has shown that neither the public nor the private sector has strong organisational competence in well governed access to data and its exploitation. There have been significant limitations in data systems that have hampered the UK’s response. The UK has extraordinary data science capability and there have been large-scale and rapid interventions to build data systems to respond to COVID-19.
This consultation response draws on experience and insight gained from internal and external groups convened by the Royal Society to respond to tackle Covid-19. It also draws on the Royal Society’s body of policy advice relating to data and digital technologies, which has highlighted the strategic and societal importance of well-governed access to data.