As generative AI and data becomes more prominent in society, Ireland has shared a new roadmap on how to harness data effectively and safely.
As the world becomes more digitalised, it is becoming more vital for organisations and governments to manage data properly.
This issue has grown more important with the recent surge in AI – technology that relies on vast amounts of data to work effectively. Utilising data effectively holds the potential to improve humanity in various ways, but it also presents cybersecurity and privacy risks.
To balance these issues, a “Data Governance Roadmap” has been released by Ireland’s Government, presenting a strategy to use data and AI responsibly and effectively in the future.
The roadmap was launched at the Innovation Value Institute Summit in Maynooth University today (12 July) and was developed with the help of various data governance experts.
What exactly is the Data Governance Roadmap?
In simple terms, this roadmap is a set of guidelines to help Ireland become a data-informed society – one that is able to effectively benefit from data and AI while keeping data safe and secure.
There are various ways to define the term ‘data governance’, but the document itself describes it as “the structured facilitation of people, processes and technology, aimed at cultivating appropriate data acumen, skills, and behaviours within organisations and across society.” In other words, it involves bringing everyone together to ensure data is managed properly.
Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs Seán Fleming, TD, launched the roadmap today and said it “represents a clear vision” for the responsible governance of data and AI and will lay the foundation for “a sustainable, data-informed society driven by research and innovation”.
This roadmap includes various descriptions of practices, outcomes, and measures which can be used to assess Ireland’s “level of maturity” when it comes to data governance and data management.
The roadmap includes four key themes that the roadmap says are “common” across the national, organisational and individual perspective. These themes are leadership, policy, skills and technology. By improving these four themes in the context of data, the roadmap says Ireland can become a global leader in data governance and AI.
What does the roadmap aim to achieve?
Through its various recommendations, the Digital Governance Roadmap aims to improve Ireland’s data capabilities and promote data literacy, making it easier for Ireland and its organisations to share data in a fair and responsible way.
Through these improvements, it is hoped that data can bring various improvements to Irish society. Tánaiste Micheál Martin, TD, said the governance of data is becoming more important with the “rapid advancement of generative AI technologies and associated regulations”, such as the EU’s AI Act and its Data Governance Act.
“Generative AI has the potential to revolutionise the public sector, industries and the economy by creating new services, content, products and solutions,” Martin said. “It is in this context that robust data governance becomes even more critical.”
The trend of sharing data
The move to make Ireland a more digitised, data-driven country takes place as a similar push occurs on the EU level. Various initiatives are taking place to facilitate the sharing and utilisation of data.
For example, the European Health Data Space was recently approved by the EU Parliament, which aims to improve the access citizens have to their own health data, while allowing large amounts of anonymous health data to be accessible across the EU.
Experts have previously expressed support for this initiative in the Irish context, as it could boost national health research and improve the control Irish citizens have over their health data across the EU. But there are concerns that Ireland currently has a “fragmented health service landscape” for digital services and may struggle to benefit from this EU regulation.
Recently, the EU also approved landmark rules around digital identity, paving the way for citizens to quickly authenticate themselves using a digital ID. The supporters of this regulation say it is an important step on the road to digitise public services across the bloc and let EU citizens securely store their digital identity.
But some people have concerns that this regulation will endanger the privacy and digital security of EU citizens, while opening the door to potential surveillance.
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