Policy Brief No. 213 — October 2025
Data Governance and Analytics in Children’s Services Thomas M. Vogl
Key Points → In Ontario, Canada, and England, in the United Kingdom, child protection services encounter problems related to data quality and usefulness, underlying infrastructure deficits, and incongruities between objectives and measures. → Solutions related to data governance, digital and organizational infrastructure, and the range of objectives and outcome measures can help to overcome some of these problems. → Insights from these specific child protection cases are beneficial to other public sector service areas and jurisdictions seeking to govern data for analytics that serve everyone.
Introduction Governments around the world are undertaking strategies to successfully harness the potential of data and digital technologies while also mitigating key risks (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs 2024; Department for Science, Innovation and Technology 2025).1 Data analytics are seen as a way to make services more efficient and effective by identifying areas where decisions could lead to meaningful and observable changes (Daniell, Morton and Ríos Insua 2016). However, governments often struggle with the technological and human infrastructure and capacity needed to govern their data for the purpose of service improvement (Howlett 2009). Government strategies encounter unique challenges and opportunities in service sectors aimed at supporting families and keeping children safe (Department for Education [DfE]
1
See www.ontario.ca/page/building-digital-ontario.