USAID Data Governance Primer - Interview Guide

USAID DG Primer - Interview Guide

The Privacy Act Statement for this interview guide can be found below under the heading PRIVACY ACT STATEMENT AND INFORMED CONSENT. All interviews will be conducted verbally via phone or videoconference, and participants will not see this interview guide.

INTERVIEW SUMMARY:

• Issues & Debates:

• Key Components:

• Approaches:

• Follow-ups:

INTRO:

We are on the Development Informatics Team in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Innovation, Technology, and Research Hub (formerly US GDL). Our team develops tools, training, and resources to help USAID Missions, implementing partners, and partner governments be more data-driven.

As we said in our email, in March, 2020, USAID released its first ever Digital Strategy for 2020-2024. In line with the Digital Strategy, the Development Informatics team is developing a knowledge product (KP - a primer, briefer, or similar) on Data Governance (DG) policy. USAID staff, both in the U.S. and abroad are the primary audience for the KP, and we would like to equip them to design and implement DG-improving policy interventions in countries where USAID works. We plan to publicly publish the KP.

The purpose of this interview is to gain a broader understanding of DG and related subtopics. We are more interested in DG at the policy level than the practice level. Based on your expertise in [area], we thought you would add greatly to our understanding of the subject.

PRIVACY ACT STATEMENT AND VERBAL INFORMED CONSENT

In compliance with the Privacy Act of 1974, we are required to read a Privacy Act Statement as part of our informed consent process. We are collecting information on DG on behalf of USAID. Any information we collect from you today, including personally identifiable information (PII), may be used to inform our development of a DG KP. Any information we collect from you will be stored in a USAID system of records. We plan to publicly publish the DG KP. Your participation in our research is voluntary, and any information you choose to provide is voluntary. There will be no consequences to you if you do not wish to participate in our research. We anticipate that this interview will require 45-60 minutes to complete.

• Do you consent to participation in our KP research?

• Do you consent to being named as a participant in our KP research?

• Do you consent to being quoted in our KP, if we confirm with you before quoting you?

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Please tell us a bit about your background and your work (M)

2. What are the biggest issues or debates in DG policy? (L)

3. What are the key components of DG policy? (N)

4. What are the risks for stakeholders in your field of not having an effective DG policy? What are the benefits of having one? (N)

5. What do you think is the best approach to DG? (M)

1. International, Regional, or Country?

1. All-in-one Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Policy or Strategy?

1. Which orgs/bodies are best-equipped to promote/enforce policies?

1. What structures can/should coordinate DG across government?

   1. National Statistical Offices (NSOs)? ICT ministries? Newly formed DG or Data Protection Authorities?

   2. Should other stakeholders be involved (i.e. private sector reps?)

6. What are the best policy mechanisms? For example, should USAID promote principles, strategies, legal levers such as laws and regulations, technical levers such as standards? (L)

7. What level of technical expertise and infrastructure do countries need to implement a DG policy? (M)

1. Do you think countries should have their own technical infrastructure (i.e. clouds, data centers, data exchange layers, etc.)?

8. How can government, private sector, and citizen interests be balanced? (N)

1. What is an appropriate role for the private sector in development of DG policy?

9. How can privacy and security, data use, and transparency and accountability be balanced? (L)

10. What are the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) issues relevant to DG? (M)

1. Do you think DG policy can limit algorithmic bias?

11. How might policy vary based on different norms and types of government (Authoritarian govs, democracies, etc.)? (L)

1. Perspectives on privacy in different countries

12. Are you aware of a good/robust national DG policy or framework example, e.g. one that “ticks all the boxes?” (N)

13. Is there anything else about DG you would like to share and is there anyone you suggest we speak with? (M)

OPTIONAL (or we research them ourselves)

14. Rank ordering of DG elements/components? (once we have answers to #2)

1. Gauge differences in opinions between experts

15. What DG policy elements should be present in a 3-phase maturity model? (lookup Stanford maturity model)

1. Ask them to break elements into phase 1, 2, 3

16. Does the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) include DG elements beyond data protection and privacy (this may be more appropriate for us to research ourselves)?

17. Are you familiar with the EU’s forthcoming Data Governance Act (DGA), and if so, what are your first impressions?