nicola underdown, head of engagement, centre of excellence for information sharing
TRANSCRIPT
Improving outcomes for vulnerable children through better
information sharingNicola Underdown
Head of Engagement
Who we are• Neutrally positioned between central government and local public
services
• Actively working with local places to identify their information sharing issues, co-design and share solutions
Our vision is to improve service delivery and outcomes for people as a direct result of improved
information sharing between partner agencies.
Governance(legal)
Technology(systems)
Behaviour(people)All three needed to
solve information sharing challenges
Three lenses on information sharing
Two questions:
1) Why does information sharing “go wrong”?
2) What have been the previous responses to the problem?
Technology(systems)
Cultural(people)
Governance(legal)
“You can’t share that – it’s data protection”
“Legally we’re not allowed to share that”
Presenting issue: Legal
Resolution: LegalAdditional legislation
Publication of (contradictory?) guidance
Necessary… but not sufficient.
Cultural(people)
Governance(legal)
Technology(systems)
“Systems don’t talk to one another”
“If only we were all on the same system”
Presenting issue: Technology
Resolution: TechnologicalBuild a big database
Make systems interoperable
Not sufficient… not necessary (?)
Governance(legal)
Technology(systems)
“Information sharing varies across the country”
Presenting issue: Inconsistency
Resolution: SystematiseIntroduce a MASH
One size doesn’t fit all
Cultural(people)
Governance(legal)
Technology(systems)
“Practitioners lack confidence”“There’s a lack of trust between partners”
“I’m not sure what you want to do with that data”“I don’t have the resource to clean the data / extract and send the data…”
Presenting issue: BehaviourCultural(people)
Information sharing is part of a system – behaviour does not exist in a vacuum, but is a response to the system (and also acts on the system)
So to address information sharing behaviour, you need to look for points of leverage where a small change can make a big difference (aggregate value)
In practical terms…
• Embed information sharing activity into the REAL work• Involve practitioners in the design process – ask “what
information do you need?”• Reduce the process to the minimum necessary• Find a coalition of the willing to try something new• Understand the organisational implications of doing
something new• Evaluate your impact• Find champions (at all levels) • Tell stories
Another problem I’m thinking about!
• Humans as rational actors…• But the evidence is that unconscious barriers to
information sharing exist (new idea for information sharing!)
• How do we build information sharing interventions which make the most of our mental shortcuts or address those problems?