Data management involves an array of activities to ensure data is managed in accordance with regulations, standards and stakeholder expectations.

It is undertaken by those responsible for data stewardship to enable data quality, security and compliance with relevant laws. Data management implements the data architecture needed for data governance to achieve the goals set out in the data strategy or agreed by stakeholders the data affects. Data architecture encompasses the rules, standards and models that specifically define the type of data collected, its format, how it is used, stored, managed and integrated in an organisation, made open data or deleted. It might involve structured data within databases and information systems, and unstructured data which can include any data not as traditionally stored within a database or in a file such as documents, content, audio or video.

The National Association of City Transportation Officials in the USA created guidance for local and city governments to implement data management in the public interest. The guidance provides four principles, which could also be applied more broadly than just mobility related undertakings [1]:

  • Public good: Cities need certain data from private mobility vendors operating on city streets to ensure positive safety, equity, and mobility goals for public space.
  • Privacy: Geospatial mobility data should be treated as personally identifiable information (PII).
  • Purpose: The reason why each data point needs to be shared should be clear. For cities this could be to answer planning, analysis, oversight or enforcement questions. 
  • Portability: Open data standards and open formats should be applied, as long as data protection standards are met.

In line with this guidance, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) are currently developing a position paper on data sharing principles. It will include data sharing use cases that could be achieved through partnerships between cities and mobility vendors. [2]

Best practice:

[1] National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA) Guidelines for Managing Mobility Data (2019)  

[2]  WBCSD Data Sharing Principles