In the current technological age, the sharing of data between cities and communities has become even more integral to well-rounded decision making. The panel tackled questions regarding how best to address the issues of data structure, ownership and sovereignty, as well as interoperability.

The opening panel discussion featured the following speakers:

Moderator:

Mr Ng Siau Yong, Director of the Geospatial & Data Division and Chief Data Officer of the Singapore Land Authority (SLA)

Panellists:

Ms Maimunah Jaffar, Lead of Technology & Innovation from IRDA Smart City Initiative, Malaysia
Mr Andrew Bevan, Technology and Digital Services Director, Asia from Jacobs
Mr Lam Wee Shann, Senior Group Director of Technology and Industry Development and Chief Innovation and Transport Technology Officer of Land Transport Authority (LTA)
Dr Zaffar Mohamed-Ghouse, Executive Director for Strategic Consulting & International Relations from Spatial Vision, Australia

Mr Ng Siau Yong kicked off the panel discussion with an apt analogy— “Data is like water in different lakes. Some lakes are connected, some are not. Some belong to the government sector, and some belong to the private sector.” He shared that the growing complexity of the urban system means increased generation of data, and posed the following question to the panellists: in the future of the data landscape, how do we address the issue of data structure, ownership and sovereignty?

Importance of having the right data

The panel concurred that having the right data is crucial to making informed policies and decisions, with Dr Zaffar Mohamed-Ghouse sharing that the impact of using the right data on the economy and society will be huge, possibly even transforming countries.

Concerns regarding data collection and usage

Mr Ng posited that the issue of creating too many portals could arise, which decreases the usefulness of data.

Mr Lam Wee Shann concurred that it is imperative to consider what the data will be used for, and the dilemmas surrounding data collection and usage. He named a few concerns—firstly, that government agencies tend to collect large amounts of data, and there has been a call for them to share the data with external stakeholders. However, this is tricky as there is a need to safeguard the data and ensure data privacy is not breached. Next, Mr Lam mentioned that data could also be perishable, citing traffic management data as one such example. Finally, sustainability and climate change issues should also be considered, as the tendency to collect large quantities of data could contribute to carbon emissions.

Mr Andrew Bevan mentioned that stakeholders’ concerns and data trends should be considered, and knowledge on how to gather data into a meaningful structure would be essential.

According to Dr Mohamed-Ghouse, another concern is avoiding duplication when government and private sectors collaborate. Ms Jaffar concurred, maintaining that “collaboration is the key word” in data governance.

The asymmetry of data

Mr Ng rounded off the discussion by highlighting asymmetry concerns with the sharing of data, and the possibility of creating a rich-poor divide. Ms Jaffar affirmed that working with the community and understanding their challenges is one way around this. There needs to be more private sector collaboration and understanding of the stakeholders viewpoints.