Opinion

April 14, 2020

Government data: We're all in beta now

Coronavirus is forcing long-anticipated data reform in European governments.


Mike Bracken

4 min read

Switzerland's Bundeshaus. Credit: Jonas Zurcher, Unsplash

Crises are tests of institutional resilience. They also spark institutional reform. A decade ago, the UK government, reeling from the global financial crisis, built GOV.UK and started to take digital services seriously. Government digital service units and single domains are now the new normal. The coronavirus crisis is, at last, forcing governments to take the next step: embracing data for public good at the expense of their own sovereignty.

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