Comments on: “The trouble with data” – SA Mathieson

By: Ian Brown

Ian Brown — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:14:59 +0000

My experience of Matthew Taylor at RSA meetings is unfortunately that he is part of the Blair/Brown data-mania problem, rather than the solution. It is clearer in hindsight that Blair was not solely responsible for the New Labour surveillance obsession. That makes me think twice when my RSA annual subscription demand arrives in the post. Good work Steve Mathieson.

By: Philip VIrgo

Philip VIrgo — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:11:45 +0000

We need to remember that data degrades rapidly if not regularly accessed, used and corrected by those who have a vested interest in its accuracy.

A further problem with government data is that so much is collected from people who have no interest in its accuracy in the first place.

Most is therefore commercially worthless.

I leave it to others to consider whether this increases or decreases the risk of abuse.

It certainly raises the question of liability for innaccuracy when data is claimed to have a spurious “authority”

By: Ideal Gov administrator

Ideal Gov administrator — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:08:29 +0000

Fred Perkins writes:

S A Mathieson is absolutely right – but he’s not the first to make the point. There is a myriad of examples.

My own favourite relates to roads. There are targets galore impacting those with influence on traffic flows, but they all ignore the real cost of delays to road users. Because, of course, no Department “owns” wasted driver time.

So, we have police closing vital routes for up to a day while they log details of a fatal accident; we have LA’s “co-ordinating” roadworks, which seem to have the effect of leaving streets dug up for months, with no work being done, and nobody responsible; we have £millions spent on ‘information’ displays on motorways that are not kept current; we have cycle lanes put in that provide negative benefits to both cyclists and motorists…. All of these great- and much-touted – initiatives are driven statistically, but with no ‘closing of the loop’. We all end up worse off.

The laws of unintended consequences seem to not only be ignored, often they almost seem to be INTENDED, but not that anyone would want to publicise the negative consequences of the latest data-driven initiative.

We have a policy equivalent of stealth taxes – government by stealth statistical manipulation.

By: Shane McCracken

Shane McCracken — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:01:58 +0000

The Border controls behind Northern Ireland and the Republic are worse than the queuing time you mention. The intangible and unmeasurable damage that putting up such divides far outweighs that which you’ve mentioned.