Data governance - who's counting?
The role of data governance
The trade-off between timely and accurate data
COVID-19 exposes shortcomings in data management
Establishing a data governance framework
Differences in the data collection and data management policies of each country affect the quality of aggregated data
Breaking down the siloes
In any situation, the urge to report good numbers in a timely manner will always clash with the need for good quality data to support effective decision making. The inconsistencies between data collection and reporting between countries can only be solved with a stronger resilience in the alignment between governments and public health organisations. If we want to bring the gap down, a refinement of guidelines and a more proactive approach is required when designing data-driven solutions. Countries must remain interconnected and speak the same language. Hopefully, this global crisis has taught us all to be better data consumers when dealing with data condition.
* Based on numbers updated at 11AM GMT on 29 October, 2020.
** Population information source: UN Demographics Statistics Database.