1. Data assets

With any healthcare project, it is important to understand what data assets you are accessing, using and sharing. Knowing what data assets you hold from your own project or organisation, and which are acquired from others, enables you to not only manage risk, but also provides an opportunity to save money. Cost efficiencies can be substantial, for example:

• only collecting or paying for the data you need

• reducing duplication in the data held

• decommissioning IT systems or applications.

It is important to keep a record of the data assets you are creating, accessing, using or sharing as part of your health data project, so that the whole project team, or key colleagues and stakeholders, have sight of the same information. Creating an inventory to catalogue data assets is a great way to do this.

Helpful questions to ask:

• How confident are you in the strategic decisions that are informed by data?

• Do you know what data you need to deliver your key project or key organisational outcomes?

• Are you creating specific data assets and/or using external sources?

• Are you planning to share the data being collected through other platforms or data sharing agreements?

A useful resource for data assets is:

• Guidance on how to create a data inventory.