Using Big Data To Deliver On EU Social Policy Goals

The third section of the European Pillar of Social Rights is dedicated to Social Protection and Inclusion, this involves the right for all people to live in a dignified manner, have access to adequate health care, affordable housing, affordable and quality childcare and elderly care services, as well as income support for people with disabilities. The Europe 2020 strategy for smart sustainable growth aims to lift 20 million people out of poverty and social exclusion. Policy Cloud’s data driven policy is making a key contribution to Social Protection and Inclusion. This is currently being tested through its urban pilot case at a local government level and will be available in the future for wider use amongst european policymakers.

The Policy Cloud analytical tools are being tested by the Borough of Camden is one of 32 Boroughs in Greater London with a population of 262,000, forming part of a vibrant and diverse city. In their involvement with Policy Cloud they are addressing data-driven Policies for Citizens. Two of the policy areas which are being addressed in the pilot are: 

• House and adult social care 
• Children, schools and families 

Policy Cloud big data analytics technologies will help with predictive analytics. Strategically, Camden wants to identify risk factors for clients across services through analytics. For example, is there a relationship between houses needing repairs and other even more expensive services such as social work. Using these risk factors, Camden will be able to identify potential clients of social services with whom the council could intervene early to prevent escalation. This is good for these citizens in that they receive professional help in a timely manner before unhealthy situations develop, but it is also good for the Camden Borough Council, allowing them to use their resources in the most efficient manner possible. 

Operationally, frontline workers, e.g., family support workers, need to be able to see the totality of their clients' interactions with the council, giving a context from which the best measures in social inclusion and protection can be taken. Policy Cloud will also give Camden Borough the possibility to forecast the number of future clients requiring adult social care services, principally the elderly, allowing them to plan future services accordingly and ensure adequate access to affordable and quality care.

Policy Cloud, through big data analytics, will not only allow government budgets to be used more efficiently to ensure social protection and inclusion of citizens, but it will most importantly help those citizens who are most vulnerable in communities, be visible and not neglected by policy makers and governments. These tools, developed by the Policy Cloud project, will be available to policy makers at all levels of government through the European Union.

Policy Cloud: Is an EU project funded under the European Commission’s H2020 programme. It aims to harness the potential of digitisation, big data and cloud technologies to improve the modelling, creation and implementation of policy. In three years (2020-2023) the project will address challenges faced by many businesses and public administrations of improving how they make policy decisions by accessing and using data. 

More on Policy Cloud and EU Strategies:

EU Digital and Data Strategies Spur Data-driven Policy Pilot

Policy Cloud Pilot aims to increase effectiveness of EU ‘Farm to Fork’ policies with big data