#133 Building a Safer Internet with Data Science

Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. It plays a vital role in ensuring TV, radio and telecoms work as they should. With vast swathes of information from a wide range of sources, data plays a huge role in the way Ofcom operates - in this episode, we learn the key drivers of Ofcom’s data strategy.

Richard Davis is the Chief Data Officer at Ofcom, responsible for enabling data and analytics capabilities across the organisation. Prior to Ofcom, Richard worked as a Quantitative Analyst as well as being the former Head of Analytics and Innovation at LLoyds Bank, proving he has a wealth of experience across a variety of data roles.

After joining Ofcom in 2022, Richard describes his experience of joining Ofcom, his ambition to bring in new processes, and how he leverages the community of data professionals. Richard also shares his advice for a new data leader, which includes understanding the pain points of the team, making insights more efficient, and keeping data teams aligned with the business's needs. He also elaborates on the key components of the data strategy at Ofcom, including aligning to good data, good people, and good decisions.

Also discussed is the importance of cultural change in an organization and how to upskill data experts and train non-data specialists in data literacy, the difference between technical experts and people managers, and how organizations can enable people to grow to become technical leaders.

Finally, Richard emphasizes the importance of evidence-based regulation, and how data literacy supports effective output. Richard provides excellent insight into the world of regulatory data, the challenges faced by Ofcom, and the solutions they can implement to overcome them.