Why we struggle to realise the value of data

Governments and businesses are under pressure to realise the value of data, yet value realisation is often elusive. This paper examines the origins and logics of the discourses that underpin the drive to invest in data and analytics. It finds that a linear-mechanic logic scaffolds the ideas drawn from public administration theory, economics, and theories of data and evidence use that permeate government, business, and academic framings. However, within the critique of these ideas, another pattern emerges. The view that simple metrics and universal solutions should guide and evaluate the actions of centralised, hierarchical decision makers competes with an alternative perspective. Value creation and its consumption are increasingly seen as a collective and complex endeavour. Yet we lack theories of value to support this approach. In response, this paper proposes that a new theory of value is required if we are to understand and articulate what collective value looks like and how to create it. Subsequent papers propose that new theory.