Technology Record - Issue 22: Autumn 2021

167 operations and lower costs that lead to better overall governing.” Data sharing is one way to achieve such efficien- cies, says Goldberg. “Improving a government’s ability to collaborate and share information across agencies can reduce duplicative costs and administrative burdens, enhancing and simpli- fying the experiences of residents. But how do urban leaders facilitate this data sharing? “Government agencies must adapt pol- icies and practices to actually use the data they collect if they want to improve operations,” says Goldberg. “Elected leaders must commit to an evidence-based approach that relies on insights fromthe data to guide their priorities andprojects.” At the same time, with personal data driving the transformation of smart cities, urban leaders must prioritise the protection of security and privacy. “New infrastructure has to support anonymised data collection and analysis to ensure the public trusts that their data is not being used or shared improperly,” says Goldberg. This is where Microsoft and its partners come in, particularly in terms of service delivery and transparency. “The latter is critical,” says Goldberg. “People need to not just be told that their privacy is being protected, but also to expe- rience it and have some active role in it.” An example comes from Estonia, which went out of its way to establish trust between the public sector and its citizens when implementing digital services and successfully encouraging people to use them. According to an article published by EstonianWorld in June 2020 entitled The right mix: how Estonia ensures privacy and access to e-services in the digital age , the country created an e-service environment by coordinating “clear andestablished legal parameters for personal information privacy, an independent enforcement mechanism for these parameters and one of the highest internet pene- tration rates in the world”, which “provides amodel for nations looking to expand e-governance”. Goldberg believes that this is a strong example of data privacy rooted in the will of a govern- ment to create and maintain this kind of system. “Microsoft can provide public sector partners with the technologies they need to bring this level of transparency to people, but ultimately they need to adopt the policies to ensure they are implemented and used properly.” Governments must also enhance service deliv- ery if they want to build trust with their citizens. PUB L I C S E C TOR “Technology has to elevate the government’s ability to help people”