How can you democratize data from Norway’s public services?

What does it mean to have a user centric approach to public services?

What needs to be in place to organize your organization, the public services as a whole, while maintaining focus on good services to your citizens?

I had the pleasure of chatting with Gustav Aagesen, Chief Data Officer at Lånekassen. The Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund, who is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2022. 

Gustav started as Information Architect in Lånekassen in 2012, became analysis manager before taking the position as CDO at Lånekassen. Today, he sees his responsibility in supporting the entire organization and to institutionalize information management.

 We looked at 3 different Perspectives on “Orden I eget hus” a Data Governance framework for public services and Democratization of data in Norway:

 1.       Lånekassen. An internal view on automation and structures, data citizenship, and culture.

2.       Public Norway. A perspective that includes valuable work on the common data catalogue, “orden i eget hus”, common concepts and datasets.

3.        Citizen perspective. Thoughts about finding ways to make use and consumption of data easier and with less barriers, and provide citizen-centric services.

Here are some of my key takeaways:

-          Information Management is not a goal by itself, but a way to create and gain value

-          Information Management has to start with a purpose!

-          Data and Information has a longer lifecycle then applications.

-          Data Lineage is important, with the objective in mind to create services and gather data based on consumer demands, or the needs of the citizens. 

-          The value for the citizen is an end-to-end- value stream that is traceable and can create trust in the data.

-          If you want to give the citizens access to proactive public services, information has to flow between different institutions.

-          It seems easier to get funding for technology then work-processes. That is also a reason automation is in high demand.

-          Data Sharing needs to be balanced with trust and privacy to ensue good solutions for the consumer and citizens.