This Week in Data – February 28:

Each week, we compile the best stories in data. Get up to speed on this week in data, without having to search for it.

China still withholding Coronavirus data

One of the biggest pieces of critical information in an outbreak is statistics measuring infection and treatment among health workers. But China isn’t really sharing that information with regard to Coronavirus, and the World Health Organization isn’t happy. Considering China got in big trouble over the SARS outbreak in 2002 for similar problems, the health community is becoming impatient. 

THE TAKEAWAY:

“This is Health Communication 101…Tell us everything you know, tell us what you don’t know and tell us what you are doing to find out what you don’t know.”

How is Asia reinventing digital banking?

In massive ways that we underestimate, according to McKinsey. This piece reveals some of the area’s secrets: partnering with fintech start-ups, experimenting with digital platforms like WeChat to evenly distribute loans, open banking, and more. McKinsey makes it clear: incumbent players need to step it up.

THE TAKEAWAY: 

“To achieve such radical improvements in performance, banks must leverage all the new tools, technologies, and capabilities available today, including digitization, advanced data analytics, robotics, and AI.”

Why data leaders should stop saying “no”

In the corporate world, it’s often IT and security managers who are saying “no”. But as TechBeacon points out, any fear of data sharing shouldn’t lead people in those positions to say “no”. In fact, they should be saying “yes” to data sharing more often. Of course, the data sharing has to be right and appropriate, which is always the challenge…

THE TAKEAWAY:

“Pull the necessary people into a meeting and talk through the likelihood of risks or something going wrong, the impact an incident might have on the business, and how to mitigate it. At the end of the day, it should never be just the CISO making the risk decisions for the whole company.”

Data hammer cracks down on sexual abuse in UK

Several aid agencies in the UK are being asked to join a data sharing platform that will help stop sexual abuse perpetrators. After a 2018 controversy during which that exactly happened, agencies like Oxfam and Save the Children have signed up. But the organizers want more.

THE TAKEAWAY:

“We don’t want these individuals exploiting smaller or local organizations, so we’ve built the scheme from the ground up to be usable by any aid agency, from household names to small local partners.”

Fintech data sharing to be restricted

Hmm, could this be a sign of things to come? JP Morgan has told fintechs in the United States that certain API allowances will be restricted. Screen scrapers, to be exact (they take screenshots and use the information on there to populate information in other applications). In fact, JP Morgan has set a deadline. 

THE TAKEAWAY:

“The transition comes as large banks and fintech companies globally tussle over data-sharing. Banks have said their wariness to grant access to third parties stems from a need to protect highly sensitive information, such as transaction history and income.”

Australian home loan start-ups hesitant over data rules

Oh, and speaking of money. In Australia, fintech start-ups say they’ll be forced to use relatively older methods, (like screen-scraping), in order to use data. Bottom line: open banking is a process, and people are still figuring it out.

THE TAKEAWAY:

“We can’t have a hard transition — we won’t have every customer’s data available for all accounts until the open banking framework is complete, and you need to allow for data aggregation in the interim.”

That’s our wrap for this week. Thanks for reading – we hope you found it entertaining and informative. We’d love to hear your thoughts on these articles and anything else data related!

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