Sharing Data Vs. Data Privacy

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“Sharing data vs. data privacy”
A recent article in the March issue of Governing introduced several wicked problems for consideration. One problem is the sharing of data versus myriad data privacy concerns (Barrett, Greene, 2016). The key objectives of the Virginia Department of Transportation are planning, operating and maintaining a safe and efficient transportation system (VDOT, 2016). This requires making important resource allocation and investment decisions that are based on facts and good judgment. To better plan, operate, and maintain the transportation system in Virginia, it is important to continually identify Virginia transportation professionals’ planning-related data needs, obstacles to fulfilling those needs, and potential solutions for overcoming those obstacles. A primary obstacle to meeting data needs is data security (privacy)/availability because some proprietary data owned by VDOT cannot legally be shared with external agencies, some data sets are restricted in how they can be shared due to security concerns, and some data sets can be shared but are not known to external partners (ITD, 2016). Other obstacles include data quality, time required to access data sets, and database diversity as the survey suggested that planners need access to a wider variety of databases than do other types of transportation professionals.
Operationalizing data to drive decisions
Transportation involves intensive use of quantitative data. With cheaper data storage, higher speeds of data processing, and faster communication of information, transportation agencies have the opportunity to increase their effectiveness, providing greater safety and mobility. VDOT, other planning (local) agencies, and other professionals are increasingl...

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...orting about highway performance on congestion, safety, road surface condition, and finance, project development, and public involvement.
Awareness and sharing
Potential solutions are to increase user awareness through seminars or the creation of a transportation data map, improve ease of access for select users through the use of virtual private networks, improve ease of use through providing a single location as a starting point for acquiring some publicly available existing data, and integrate databases in instances where common data elements allow such integration. Working with ITD, there seems to be two feasible courses of action:
1. conduct a workshop to make external partners and VDOT staff aware of some of these databases, and
2. conduct meetings of planning, information technology, and research staff to identify ways to enhance data sharing and security.

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