Making Data Better

The focus of computer technology historically has been on the manipulation and communication of data and information. Yes, there’s always been the monstrously obvious admonition of “garbage in, garbage out” when speaking of data. But as our dependence on data grows, the issues of data quality, of making data better, have grown in importance and complexity. Data, it turns out, is endlessly nuanced.
Government Data Generation and Usage
Government has an enormous interest in data. It is an issuer of data when it assigns account numbers, for example, to its citizens to ease service delivery. It is also a considerable consumer of data in order to establish policy, measure program efficiency, support planning, and, just as with any business or individual, for decision making of all kinds.
But this isn’t simple. The term “government” masks the fact that multiple agencies exist, each with its own goals, never mind data handling policies and procedures. Sharing data across industries is as nuanced as data sharing between enterprises or even more so.
Understanding how governments think about the data they consume and generate is key to long term data security and online identity.
Talking with Data Expert Ian Oppermann
In this fascinating and stimulating conversation, Steve and George discuss these topics with Ian Oppermann, the former data director for the state of New South Wales, a director for Standards Australia, and advisor to multiple startups.
Ian shares his insider’s knowledge of government agency priorities and the fact that sharing data across agencies is “extraordinarily hard.”
Just at the Beginning
Standards Really Really Matter
Ian’s participation in ISO standards development comes from his insight that data sharing requires very crisp definitions, detailed use cases, and specific guidance for each use case based on privacy and data custodianship requirements. And he points out that we are just at the beginning.
For example, the latest ISO standards tackle the basics of terminology definition and use cases, ISO 5207, and guidance of data usage, ISO 5212.
These standards do address the use case of AI but even at this stage the standards address the basics.
People Matter
As with many technology management concerns these days, the concerns are rarely about the tech itself. They’re about people, too. Here’s Ian:
“If you want to use [data] for important purposes, you actually need people who know and understand what data is, who know and understand what data governance is, and who know and understand how to actually use the data for appropriate purposes and then put guidance restrictions or prohibitions around the data products you create.”

Ian concludes with:
“But [for] the general use of data, we're only just beginning to understand the power, the complexity, the mercurial nature of data and starting to build frameworks around it.”

Take a listen if you care about data management and governance in large organizations. We are just at the beginning of getting this right.

Credential sharing is complex and exciting. Take a listen to our guest, Dan Stemp from JNCTN, in this installment of Making Data Better. We discuss JNCTN's credential sharing platform and its major use cases.
Discover how managing digital identities supports the work of critical industries, from power generation to healthcare. We unpack the intricate relationships between those who rely on credentials, the individuals who hold them, and the authorities who issue them.
Dan tells us the story of his firm's evolution from card personalization bureau to today's digital credential management scheme. We discuss the firm's clients' transition from physical tokens to digital credential presentation. Of course, we discuss wallets because they are the natural containers to hold verifiable credentials and we address JNCTN's proprietary approaches, the W3C, and big players like Apple and Google.
Implementation of systemic systems is never easy. JNCTN has multiple stakeholders to convince. We examine enterprise adoption and the leverage points that resonate with the relyingn parties, the risk owners, who deploy these systems. It's not just about risk mitigation and operational efficiency.
So, take a listen as Dan, Steve, and George share their enthusiasm for verifiable credential sharing and the breadth of applications ahead.

A key actor in risk assessment is the data provider. These commercial operations aggregate and analyze the data produced by governments, enterprises, individuals, and even other data providers. All to feed today’s insatiable appetite for understanding who it is we are dealing with online.
In this Making Data Better episode, Steve and George are joined by Cindy Printer, Director, Financial Crime Compliance and Payments, at LexisNexis Risk Solutions. The company is a major data provider to government and enterprise; Cindy focuses her work on financial services firms and their need for regulatory compliance.
We discuss the granular nature of the data LexisNexis Risk Solutions offers its customers and the breadth of sources used to meet their needs. It’s astonishing.
Cindy makes the point, one we heartily agree with at Lockstep, that risk is specific, a concern for each individual entity and that the data required by each entity varies based upon its specific concerns. And that’s why LexisNexis Risk Solutions tunes the data services it provides to the industry segment and individual firm.
Sitting on top of such vast data resources and knowing the complications associated with deriving meaning from it all, LexisNexis Risk Solutions also provides analytical services that saves an enterprise from having to analyze the data itself.
This is a great conversation if you want to understand the data provider role, the scale of its operations, and its priorities. So take a listen.

Online trust? Digital identification? Wallets? Privacy? Data quality? If these topics resonate, join Lockstep's George Peabody and Steve Wilson in this, the first episode of Making Data Better, a podcast about data quality and the impact it has on how we protect, manage, and use the digital data critical to our lives.
We focus on making data better because data quality has everything to do with making good decisions. We introduce the critical and complex concerns that affect online trust and risk management.
One area where this really applies is in assessing risk. We believe data quality has an outsized impact on risk management. From relatively trivial decisions about where to go out to eat, to opening new bank accounts and sending money cross-border, each carries risk. Do we trust the data? Does it let us know who or what is on the other end of our digital interaction?
There are so many moving parts to understand, evaluate, and discuss. We’ll unpack all this with experts from fintech, cyber, healthcare, government services, and academia.
So take a listen and join us on this journey.

Self-sovereign identity, digital wallets, risk management, federated identity, and a recap of the Identiverse 2023 conference are among the topics discussed in this episode of Making Data Better. George and Steve complete their landscape view of data quality and security.
Identiverse 2023 reflected those topics, indicating a shift toward digital wallets, passkeys, and verifiable credentials as essential components of a resilient digital ecosystem. We discuss these and what's not being addressed to date.
So take a listen as we set the table for Making Data Better and begin our series. We will speak to practitioners of the latest in data protection, tell the stories of data quality initiatives that have succeeded—and failed—and regularly rise above the weeds to provide perspective.
With so many moving parts and so many changes, Making Data Better keeps it all in context.