This Week in Data – February 22

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Australian data right takes first step to becoming law…

Australia has been at the forefront of consumer data law for a while, and it’s taken another big step: the country’s Consumer Data Right legislation has entered Parliament. The fintech industry is super happy about it. Pretty easy to see why – the ability for consumers to move their information across providers will make it easier for startups to compete on a level playing field.

THE TAKEAWAY:

“Open Banking will help us lend to more small businesses by empowering business owners to use their own data and get a better deal…it will increase product choice and enable further product innovation by both non-banks and banks.”

 

…and the energy companies are next

The banks aren’t the only ones that will be disrupted due to data consumer rights in Australia. Energy retailers are now preparing for the laws to affect them, with one in particular saying they’re starting to gather and organize information now. Given the GDPR rollout suffered from a lack of take-up, this is a prudent move to say the least.

THE TAKEAWAY:

“Under proposed CDR legislation, energy providers will be required to provide ‘standard, comparable, easy-to-read digital information that third parties can readily access,” tender documents state.”

 

Behind bad customer experience? Poor data sharing, says Microsoft

This is an interesting one. Microsoft has a new survey out which shows only 28% of companies have a company-wide strategy for sharing information, and that specifically has an impact on their ability to deliver better customer service. About 37% of companies said 20-40% of their CX projects had failed. Just goes to show, the effects of a positive data strategy ripple throughout every aspect of an organisation.

THE TAKEAWAY:

“When asked about the importance of data in terms of automating business processes, 83 per cent of respondents said it was “somewhat to extremely” important; 82% said the same about access to data to gain a 360-degree view of the customer; and 79% said it was somewhat to extremely important for generating a real-time insight into the pipeline of opportunities.”

 

Looming Brexit deadline made worse by data woes

In case you haven’t been paying attention to the Brexit timeline – and who would blame you if you haven’t – the end is coming up fast. If the UK doesn’t form an exit deal by March 30, the country leaves the European Union without any sort of transition period. That’s bad news for data sharing, as the stop could affect the free flow of data – it could potentially even open up ways for citizens to sue the government.

THE TAKEAWAY:

Any adequacy talks cannot get started until after the U.K. has left the EU, currently scheduled to happen on March 29. Unless the two sides can agree before then on a formal withdrawal agreement that specifies that personal data can continue to flow uninterrupted, the “two-way free flow of personal information” will be affected.”

 

Japan’s fourth industrial revolution targets data

Japan is on a big technology kick, pumping up this idea of a “fourth industrial revolution”. It has a bunch of elements, but one of them is data sharing. The country’s government is joining forces with the World Economic Forum and the Asia Pacific Initiative, and so far all three have been thinking up how a future society could be run on data. All sounds pretty cool.

THE TAKEAWAY:

“We believe data is something we should use as much as possible. With everyone in agreement on that, there still needs to be rules.”

 

That’s our wrap for this week. Thanks for reading – we hope you found it entertaining and informational. We’d love to hear your thoughts on these articles and anything else data related! Email us anytime at enquiries@datarepublic.com!

Until next week,

Team Data Republic

 

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