Unlocking the value of data - Independent Expert Group: final report

Chair's Foreword

This report adopts a holistic, engaged and multistakeholder approach to unlocking the value of public sector personal data in Scotland for use by the private sector. We have developed a Policy Statement, a set of seven Guiding Principles and 19 Recommendations to steer the implementation of this work by the Scottish Government and other bodies in the Scottish public sector.

The report is the main output of the work the Independent Expert Group on Unlocking the Value of Data has conducted over the last 15 months. I am very grateful to the IEG members for their time, expertise and input. I am also very grateful to the academics who conducted the three literature reviews which fed into this report, the Democratic Society who conducted public engagement activities and the Scottish Government Secretariat who supported our work.

It has been an honour to serve as the Chair of the IEG. I hope that our findings, especially the Policy Statement, Principles and Recommendations, will position Scotland as an internationally leading Ethical Digital Nation. In doing so, Scotland will implement excellence and equity in enabling engagement, and sharing the benefits of private sector use of public sector personal data. Furthermore, Scotland can provide an important example of doing data better for other countries and nations.

Professor Angela Daly
Professor of Law & Technology, Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science and Law School, University of Dundee

August 2023