CURRENTLY FOR REVIEW
There is evidence of a clear return on investment from UPRNs and USRNs for public sector bodies, writes ………..
Public sector organisations are gradually obtaining considerable value from location data and identifying returns on the relevant investments.
This is especially so for unique property reference numbers (UPRNs) and unique street reference numbers (USRNs), the prime identifiers for addressable locations and streets in Great Britain.
But it is not universal, with many organisations slow to adopt their use and others not yet sure how they can obtain the full value. There is a need for a better understanding of the potential return on investment from location data.
This emerged as a key issue during the recent GeoPlace annual conference, with a session on data in public services and the presentation of an analysis of the RoI, commissioned by GeoPlace and authored by location strategy consultants ConsultingWhere.
The report makes clear that location data does not generate value until applied to processes, that assessing the value is a complex task and that it can take a number of forms.
Savings and societal benefits
For the public sector this can be a financial benefit in the form of future savings, or in supporting policy making to provide societal benefits in areas such as public safety, health and environmental sustainability. It is also important not to confuse the value of the information with the full value of what comes from a policy, and to evaluate alternative evidence in supporting decisions.
It leads to four key factors for determining value: the degree of uncertainty faced by decision makers; what is at stake as an outcome of a decision; the cost of using the information; and the cost of the next-best information substitute.
The report says there is evidence of good results from using location data. Investment in national address and street data has generated savings of £253 million with an RoI of 4:1 in England and Wales between 2017-21, derived from reduced data duplication, increased system integration, improved tax revenues, web delivery of customer services and route optimisation in waste management.
It adds that wider adoption – particularly in adult social care, education, planning and environmental health – could raise the savings to £384 million over 2022-26, with an RoI of 6:1. This would lead to a 10-year benefit over 2017-26 of £636 million with an RoI of 5:1, and the return could be even higher for individual local authorities.
This is impressive, but future gains cannot be taken for granted. Claire Holloway, head of corporate services and company secretary for the Local Government Association, warned in the conference session that some local authorities, especially in two- and three-tier areas, are not maximising the benefits of adding UPRNs to their service data.
Adoption barriers
The report identifies a number of barriers to adoption or realising the full potential. These include the incorrect treatment of address data as personal data, which makes some officials reluctant to share it across the authority and cuts off the possible benefits.
There is a lack of understanding at higher levels of the value of location data, with the teams in charge having to justify their work and sometimes being reduced in size, and this contributes to UPRNs often being seen as an afterthought and added towards the end of a process, which reduces the value. Similarly, the lack of understanding can also lead to a lack of investment and resources to integrate the systems.
In addition, software suppliers can be reluctant to add facilities to enable more effective integration of address and street data.
In response, there are recommendations on how to overcome the barriers. For local authorities there is a need to reverse a trend of recent years by improving staffing levels in the relevant roles – although this will be a challenge given the tight financial outlook for local government.
On a broader front there is a need to establish key performance indicators to quantify the benefits from the data, supported by an extension of the improvement schedules process to ask additional questions on realised benefits.
Marketing effort
There should also be a sustained, multi-faceted marketing campaign of video presentations for senior decision makers, the publication of case studies and support guides for procurement of systems for integration of the data.
These are accompanied by a GeoPlace strategy of collaboration with bodies working at a national level – such as the National Audit Office and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities – completing plans for the accurate co-ordination of UPRNs in the National Address Gazetteer at an earlier stage in the planning process, and advancing the concept of improved integration of key registers within government for more consistent and timely information.
It also involves the organisation working more closely with private organisations in the land and property, transport and finance sectors to ensure the data supports their digital transformation.
The conference session made clear it is also time to spread awareness of the value of location data. Catherine Howe, chief executive of Adur and Worthing Councils, said it is critical to highlight this within local authorities, showing the benefits and raising the profile of problem-solving capabilities to gain some traction then following up quickly when this produces some benefits.
It needs a plan to communicate the value to decision makers, and is more likely to succeed when there is widespread data literacy in the workforce.
Public awareness
This can be extended to public awareness, finding examples and a terminology that resonates with people. Howe said that communities should be able to see the relevance of how the data is used to the issues they face. Providing them with the insights it produces and making it part of the narrative for great outcomes can encourage them to appreciate how it can improve their lives.
When the public appreciates the value of location data it will make it easier for authorities to make the relevant investments.
This will all require a sustained effort at a local and national level but, as the report shows, there is now more clarity around the value of location data and this can be used in a case for further investment, with the promise of an impressive RoI in the next few years.
CALL TO ACTION
