UK's National Data Strategy aims to create jobs and encourage Smart Data

The government plans to hire 500 data analysts by the end of 2021

The UK government has published its National Data Strategy, outlining the government ' s vision for unlocking the power of data to create new jobs, boost innovation, and improve public services across the country.

The 30,000-word document, which had been in the pipeline for a couple of years, comes nearly six months after global open data rankings showed that Britain had slumped to the bottom half of the OECD ' s annual list.

The National Data Strategy aims to put data at the centre of the country ' s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, so government organisations and private companies can boost their performance.

As part of the Strategy, the government plans to hire and train 500 data analysts by the end of the next year. It will also recruit a new national Chief Data Officer to command a whole-government scheme to transform the use of data, in an effort to improve public services and drive efficiency.

Under the new plan, the Prime Minister's office intends to offer 10 data fellowships each year to attract talented professionals and give them the opportunity to work closely with the No. 10 Data Science team and a peer group of talent.

According to the strategy document, the government seeks to 'take advantage of being an independent sovereign nation to maximise strengths domestically' and to 'influence the global approach to data sharing and use'.

It also stresses the need to introduce new laws to encourage Smart Data use, so consumers can find better tariffs and products in areas such as energy, telecoms, and pensions.

The government also plans to launch a new £2.6m project to address obstacles to data sharing and support innovation to expose online threats.

"Our new National Data Strategy will maintain the high watermark of data use set during the pandemic - freeing up businesses, government and organisations to innovate, experiment and drive a new era of growth," Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said.

"It aims to make sure British businesses are in a position to make the most of the digital revolution over the years and decades to come, help us use data to improve people's lives, and position the UK as a global champion of data use," he added.

Earlier this year the government published a framework for its talks with the EU on post-Brexit data flows, which are worth more than £100 billion.