Data is a tool for better governance, even if we don't have large technical teams. When we talk about digital transformation, we often think of applications, electronic procedures, notifications, digital files or portals. transparènciaBut there is one element that runs through all of this and that often remains in the background: the data.
Data is the information that a city council uses every day to function: the register, files, licenses, receipts, social aid, facilities, complaints and suggestions, activities, contracts, suppliers, streets, properties or municipal energy consumption.
Although we are not always aware of it, any city council, no matter how small, already works with data. The question is not whether it has it or not. The question is whether it has it organized, reliable and accessible enough to provide better services to citizens.
Data is not just a technological issue
Governing and managing data may seem like a very technical concept, reserved for large administrations or specialized teams. But it actually starts with very simple questions:
- What data do we have?
- Where are?
- Who updates them?
- Are they correct?
- Can we reuse them?
- Are we protecting them well?
- Do they help us make decisions?
These questions are not just for IT staff. They also affect secretarial, intervention, social services, urban planning, citizen service, human resources, environment, economic promotion or any other municipal service.
For example, if an address in the register is not written correctly, it can affect a notification. If there is duplicate data for a person, it can create confusion in the processing. If we do not know how many municipal facilities we have, what they are used for or what energy costs they generate, it will be more difficult to plan investments. If the data in the files is not well classified, it will be difficult to find information when it is necessary to give accounts or respond to a citizen request.
Therefore, data are not just “files” or “records” within a program. They are a basic infrastructure for public management.
An invisible, but essential infrastructure
When we think of municipal infrastructure, we think of streets, lighting, water networks, public buildings or facilities. These are visible and necessary elements for the municipality to function. Data is a less visible, but equally essential, infrastructure. Without reliable data, the city council operates with more effort, more duplication and a greater risk of error.
Good data management can help:
- reduce administrative errors;
- avoid asking citizens for information that the administration already has;
- improve the planning of municipal services;
- facilitate the transparència and accountability;
- detect social or territorial needs;
- share information between administrations with greater guarantees;
- better prepare for the future use of artificial intelligence;
- better protect people's sensitive information.
This doesn't mean that a small city council has to create a data office or incorporate highly specialized profiles overnight. It means that it can start working in a more orderly, gradual and shared way.
Where can you start?
The first step is not to buy a new tool; nor is it to do a big technological project. The first step is to become aware that municipal data has value and that it needs to be taken care of. A small city council can start with very simple actions:
- Identify the main data sets used: registry, records, taxes, licenses, social services, facilities, contracting, activities or incidents.
- Write down who is the person or area that knows each piece of information best.
- Detect which data generates the most problems: duplicates, errors, lack of updating, difficulty finding it or different criteria between services.
- Prioritize just two or three important data points to start improving them.
- Establish basic criteria: how to write an address, how to register a person, how to classify a file, how to update information or who can access it.
These actions do not require large resources: they require method, perseverance and support.
The Local World Data Space: moving forward together
The reality of the local world is very diverse. A large city council is not the same as a small municipality with little administrative structure. Therefore, it would not make sense for each local entity to have to invent its own model of governance and data management from scratch.
The Local World Data Space was created precisely to help build a shared response. The objective is to provide criteria, models, common services and support so that local entities can advance in the use of data without having to assume all the complexity alone.
In this framework, the Smart Local Government Network It wants to become a space for collaboration between local administrations, provincial councils, county councils, Localret and the AOC Consortium to share knowledge, experiences, needs, solutions and reference instruments that help move towards this context.
The idea is clear: data must be used to improve public services, but the path to doing so must be affordable for all city councils, including the smallest ones.
From data to public value
Governing data is not an end in itself. It is not about making inventories for the sake of making inventories, nor about putting more administrative work on municipal teams. It is about making the information that the city council already has more useful, more reliable and more secure.
Well-managed data can avoid duplicate management. It can facilitate social assistance. It can improve notification. It can help plan an investment. It can make a decision more transparent. It can prevent another administration from requesting the same document from a person again.
This is the real meaning of data governance: convert municipal information into public value.
Let's start with the most important thing.
To get started, you don't need to know everything about data governance. You don't need to have a specialized team. You don't need to have all the tools figured out.
We must start with a simple idea: municipal data is a public asset and must be managed with the same responsibility with which we manage financial resources, facilities or municipal services. From here, the path can be progressive, shared and adapted to each local reality.
The first step is to know what data we have and understand that, if we take better care of it, we will be able to serve citizens better.
