How do we change the data culture? Or do we need to?
Happy New Year and welcome back to a whole new year of blog posts by ADC!
A New Year is upon us and yet I’m still stuck questioning the value of data and how everyone else values data. I know I talked a bit about this last year in my What happened with the “old” data anyway? post and I know I have sprinkled this question in a few other posts, but I’m really struggling with the value or maybe the perceived value of TODAY’s data and not just the archived or “old” data. Are we just going to collect data as we have in the past, grab what we need from it, then let it sit on a shelf to be forgotten? We need to wake up and change the data culture, to recognize that in order to value data – we need to care for it!
Let’s see if I can explain my concerns and worries. In the agri-food industry, or really any industry, we talk about challenges at a very high level – is the industry sustainable, climate change outcomes, etc… We love to talk about the challenges, the impending changes, the effects any change may or may not have on a particular outcome, and really the list goes on….. If there is a data person involved in these conversations, you betcha that the answer ALWAYS falls back on the data to support whatever claim people are making.
BUT…..
My worry is the state of that data. I think it’s safe to say that many questions we ask – can indeed be answered with DATA. Isn’t that the basis of evidence-based decisions? But what happens if that data you are using to answer your question is NOT very well documented, is NOT stored and accessible for future use, is NOT managed or governed appropriately, or is NOT FAIR – do we have a problem?
If we recognize that data is important to help us make decisions then why are we NOT seeing resources aka funding set aside to ensure proper data management and governance? I know what you’re thinking – Michelle, you work in the research world – it’s really not your problem – so stop worrying! And that’s where I am really challenged – this problem goes beyond the research data world and I’m not getting the sense that anyone – beyond the data archivists and data managers are concerned about it! I’ve been actively participating in national data spaces meetings that cover data beyond the research field – such as industry/producer data, and in discussions such as the What is the State of Agri-Food Sustainability in Canada? CAPI Webinars – and the need for proper data management and governance beyond the research world is really becoming clear, and as an industry we are missing something crucial! We need to start seriously giving thought to supporting data management and governance at regional levels, at the associations, and at the producer level of the agri-food industry. In the research world, we can develop tools, such as the Semantic Engine and soon to be released Data Request Tracker – but we need more resources to get these out into the industry! OK let’s call that spade a spade – we need money and positions to make this a sustainable action. We need more efforts for training and discussions across the agri-food industry around the topics of data management and governance!
Oh my! Can you see I’m a tad passionate about this? If we can agree that DATA helps us make decisions – then let’s find a way to work together to better manage the data! Let’s get this data culture moving along and acknowledging the true value that data possesses.
