Andy Caldicott, MD of PeopleValue explains why employers won’t achieve better engagement from voluntary benefits unless they learn to communicate them better to staff

It’s no good providing valuable benefits if your staff don’t know about them!

The old adage, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink, may resonate with some when it comes to Voluntary Benefits and in particular, discount schemes. However, I would take issue with that. As with almost everything in life, it’s all about how you communicate it.

It is a well proven fact that engaged employees will be more loyal, perform better and generally go that extra mile when you need them to.

According to Government-backed research by Hay Group, people who are motivated and have the necessary skills/equipment to do their jobs effectively are 50% more likely to outperform expectations and 54% less likely to leave their jobs. (https://www.haygroup.com/en/your-challenges/engaging-your-pe…) The same research found a clear link between employee engagement and an increase in competitiveness and business performance.

High value, low cost staff benefits 

Providing a Voluntary Benefits scheme, where staff can take advantage of over 7,000 different offers and discounts to save on their everyday purchases is something that is a low cost for an organisation to provide yet delivers high value to its employees.

The key to getting the most out of your Voluntary Benefits scheme is making sure that your communications about the programme are well targeted. You need to think about the make up of your workforce and ensure you clearly message you are providing something of value to them. Make sure that any specific retailers you highlight are relevant and of broad appeal otherwise you risk disengaging employees if they think “this isn’t for me”.

Tell ‘em it’s coming, tell ‘em it’s here, and then tell ‘em again

How you communicate the benefits also has a huge impact on take-up. Where do your staff go to get information? Not everyone is online, but certainly younger workers (millennials) will be on social media via their mobiles. Older workers may still prefer the company intranet, email, leaflets or posters in the canteen area. A multi-channel approach is typically what’s required. As well as ensuring that you make information easily accessible to all staff, you need to plan your communications. There are numerous studies that say you need a certain number of touchpoints (anything from 6 to 13) before people take action, so just telling staff about the discount scheme when they join the organisation or hiding it in the staff handbook certainly won’t be enough to get them to engage.

Plan internal comms like you plan your marketing

When launching a Voluntary Benefits scheme you need to plan your comms campaign as you would any other marketing campaign. You need to start before the launch, asking staff what benefits/discounts etc they would like, try and get them to contribute. Then you need to tell them it’s coming – make a big thing of it, maybe even hold a launch event. Depending on the demographic of your workforce you may need to consider training, for example, to ensure that they know where and how to access the service, or where to go on the staff intranet/employee hub/portal. Where possible, seek out “scheme champions”; individuals within your organization who are willing to help promote the scheme to their peers. Nothing sells something quite like a recommendation from one of your colleagues or workmates.

Then once launched, don’t just treat it as a box that has been ticked, you need to continually promote the benefit to ensure that staff stay engaged and that new staff are embraced. Each time there is something new, let people know, gather examples of just how much can be saved to whet their appetite.

With PeopleValue Advantage, we have numerous engagement tools built in to the platform and our consultative approach to delivering a tailored and measurable comms plan ensures we work with clients to maximise service usage and deliver the associated return on investment. We continually work to promote the package, helping to build that all important staff engagement.

As the UK starts a new financial year, the latest report  on corporate compliance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act makes for sobering reading.

The report, produced by TISCreport.org, found that 50.8% of organisations (9627 out of 18939) that should have complied by now still have no locatable statements. This compares with 50.6% as reported in TISCreport’s interim briefing at Westminster in September 2017 at the halfway point.

What’s more, a unique data sharing alliance with the UK Anti-Slavery Helpline, run by Unseen, has been enabled by the platform’s GOV.UK compatible architecture. With in excess of 0.5 Million UK supplier records in TISCreport, the critical mass in order to drive change through supply chains has been reached. The data sharing alliance is breaking new ground by joining live compliance data sets at the top of supply chains with geographical modern slavery hotspots on the ground.

Andrew Wallis OBE, CEO of Unseen says of the alliance:

“The power of a solidly built register that works with UK Government systems means that our anonymised and redacted data can help companies who subscribe identify where their greatest risks lie, just by sharing their business premises with TISCreport. There is no other register where our data could possibly have this sort of impact.”

Says Jaya Chakrabarti MBE, CEO of TISCreport,

“TISCreport is the only live platform in existence capable of proving non-compliance of individual financial entities. We’ve built our system to enable procurers to quickly check their supply chains for compliance, partial compliance and non-compliance. Just by uploading their suppliers, buyers can keep their supply chains transparent, and they can do this for free.”

TISCreport tracks websites of all those companies and groups known by the system to be over £36M as well as recording voluntary compliance from organisations below the threshold. More critically, the system automatically alerts companies that are overdue that they need to take action where social media or email contact details are available.

The TISCreport dynamic dataset is continually being updated, and there are now 917 UK public bodies within the system. It is a certified open data provider, free to join and enables an in-depth drill down of the data against shared supply chains via private, secure dashboard. Uniquely, beyond the UK, TISCreport interlocks intelligently with related global legislations focussing on supply chain transparency and tackling modern slavery/human trafficking.

Says Stuart Gallemore, CTO of TISCreport,

“We’re worked hard to create a platform to help organisations fight modern slavery collaboratively, compatible with global technology systems. With critical mass reached on the compliance side we are now looking to join things up quickly with intelligence on the ground that can help real victims of exploitation. We’re integrating rapidly now with numerous related data sets that provide even deeper insights for all our members. The Anti-Slavery Helpline team are on the front foot with their approach to data sharing. These are exciting times!”

As a B-Corp social enterprise, TISCreport funds itself through subscription fees and data services from organisations able to afford the £200 annual fee. 50% of the subscription fee goes directly to anti-slavery charity Unseen, which runs the UK Anti-Slavery Helpline.

A business leader from Swansea is this month celebrating 30 years in business with one of the country’s leading high-spec construction and maintenance companies and says he has seen changes both within his company and across the industry over the years.

Managing director of the construction division of The Premier Group, Steve Evans, started with the national fuel engineering specialist in April 1988. He joined the company after completing a successful carpentry apprenticeship and has worked for the firm ever since.

Steve has seen many changes across his 30 year career, not least growth within the construction division.  When Evans joined back in 1988, the company had 4 employees – now there are 80 members of staff.

However, staff numbers are not the only thing to have changed in Evans’ career – he says that the construction and fuel sectors have been constantly evolving.  Over the years, he has had to contend with learning how to run, develop and grow the business within a constantly changing market.

Evans says that identifying and adapting to such changes has been one of the company’s biggest challenges, as well as a personal one:

“There has been a lot of growth and success, but we have also taken quite a few knocks along the way. It is how we have been able to adapt, learn and become better as a team that has made us successful. Without so many good people working with me, we wouldn’t have achieved what we have today. It’s the people I work with that have given me my proudest moments in the business and it’s important to me to be a part of their development.”

When Evans was new to the sector, unleaded fuel was just taking off, and the primary source of income for petrol stations was fuel.  These days, the retail offering is as important as the fuel.  Evans believes a new challenge for the industry is to install sufficient charging points to support fast growth in the demand for electric vehicles.

There is strong ambition for the construction division of The Premier Group to continue to grow. The company has started to undertake more work outside of the petroleum industry in recent years, and has taken on more traditional building and maintenance contracts. The general shortage of construction workers, combined with the company’s experience in a specialist, demanding sector means they are uniquely positioned to deliver the highest levels of safety and quality.  Evans says:

“The business plans to grow more into traditional markets, which we are optimistic about.  We have the advantage of specialist experience from completing large projects with very unique specifications. I look forward to seeing what the future brings as we increase our presence in this market.”

However, for Evans, the thing he is most proud of is the improved standards and increasingly professional perception of the construction industry he has witnessed throughout his career.

Construction, he says, has progressed into a far more professional and safer industry to work in. Builders are no longer perceived as a low paid workforce, and working in construction now offers a desirable, fulfilling career.  Far from being a ‘default option’, roles within the industry are now viewed as highly skilled and very well paid – and the shortage of construction workers means qualified professionals can expect to be in demand throughout their career.

So does Evans have advice for new entrants to the industry?  Evans says:

“I’ve learnt that through hard work you can achieve anything – you just have to work harder at the things you’re not so good at!“

“I feel lucky – I’ve have been with the company for 30 years, and I’ve had the opportunities to progress through the business rather than having to leave to progress.   I’m looking forward to the future.”

 

New research has discovered just how often people outside the financial industries find themselves getting lucky in the bedroom department with those who work in other jobs apparently enjoying up to a whopping 17x love-making sessions per month.

According to the poll, those who are involved in trading/brokers are the least lucky in the bedroom, having just two love-making sessions during the average month.

Whilst only half of Britons believe in luck, those who are not involved in the financial trading industry find themselves getting lucky in love with their partner on average 17 times per month, closely followed by those who are not working in marketing or media. Unfortunately for those who are trading in the financial industry (or trading online from home/office), twice a month is going to have to suffice.

The team at TopTradingPlatforms.co.uk have conducted the research as part of an ongoing study into British attitudes towards luck. 2,499 Britons aged 18 and over, all of whom stated that they were in a committed relationship, were asked about how often they ‘get lucky’ in a variety of ways. The team at TopTradingPlatforms.co.uk have than coupled the data with job profiles and have come up with rather surprising findings.

Initially all respondents were asked ‘Do you believe in luck?’ to which just over half of respondents, 53%, stated that ‘yes’ they do. When asked if they did anything to boost their luck, a third of those (32%) admitted that ‘yes’ there are things that they do, including ‘abiding by superstitions’ (39%) and ‘carrying a good luck charm’ (33%).

All respondents were then asked how often they ‘got lucky’ with their partner, as well as being asked to state what job they had in in order to determine job averages. All of the responses were collated and the results were as follows:

• Not involved in Trading/Financial Industry – 17x (love-making sessions per month)
• Not employed in Media/Marketing – 15x
• Carpenters – 14x
• Civil Servants – 14x
• Travel Industry – 10x
• Police/Army/Firemen – 9x
• Doctors/Nurses – 8x
• Administration – 7x
• Mechanics – 5x
• Modelling – 4x
• Working in Media/Marketing – 4x
• Working in Trading/Financial Industry – 2x

According to the poll, the average love-making session was revealed as 22 minutes, with the most popular times to do so revealed as ‘in the morning after waking up’ (24%), ‘when in bed at night, before going to sleep’ (23%) and ‘usually under the influence of alcohol’ (17%).

Those who confessed that they typically had sexual relations with their partner first thing in the morning were asked why the morning was their preference. ‘It wakes you up for the day’ (39%) and ‘we’re too tired in the evenings’ (36%) were cited as the most common reasons why.

Ethan Rowe, Editor in Chief of TopTradingPlatforms.co.uk, commented:

“Whilst some may be jealous of others for getting lucky in the bedroom more than they do, ultimately sex isn’t the be all and end all of a relationship. There are various factors that make a strong, healthy relationship – but being intimate definitely helps. It is not surprising in a way to see that those who have potentially high income and maybe are expected to have more opportunities have to commit more free/personal time which in return has a negative effect on their ‘volume’ of sex-life. ”

Specsavers Corporate Eyecare has held two health and wellbeing fairs for one of its customers, Registers of Scotland.

Registers of Scotland is the non-ministerial government department responsible for compiling and maintaining 18 public registers. These relate to land, property, and other legal documents. Specsavers provides enhanced eyecare for the public-sector organisation’s screen users and works with the organisation to promote the wider benefits of eyecare to employees.

Dona McLafferty, Corporate Accounts Manager at Specsavers Corporate Eyecare, said:

‘The fact that Registers of Scotland provides enhanced eyecare shows their level of commitment to the wider health and wellbeing of their staff. They don’t simply provide eyecare to comply with the Display Screen Equipment (DSE) regulations, but they very much see the wider health and wellbeing benefits and the importance of promoting these to staff too.’

Eye tests can aid in the detection and monitoring of many serious systemic conditions, such as heart conditions, raised blood pressure, diabetes, risk of stroke, and thyroid problems. It can also help with more minor ailments like headaches, dry eyes and migraine. In this way, eyecare can support wellbeing, morale, engagement, and productivity.

Specsavers Corporate Eyecare visited Registers of Scotland on 26 and 27 February at its sites in Edinburgh and Glasgow, where over 1,000 members of staff are employed.

Billy Harkness, Corporate Director, Registers of Scotland, said:

‘There is a much wider health and wellbeing message relating to eyecare, which goes far beyond the DSE regulations. We are keen to communicate the benefits of eyecare and do so regularly via our internal communications. The eyecare management system from Specsavers also allows us to check that the eVouchers are being redeemed by our employees, so we know they are receiving the care to which they are entitled. The two-day health and wellbeing roadshow is an extension of this commitment and we are delighted that Dona attended with the vision screener which really helps to bring the benefit to life.’

A local Specsavers store staff member was also in attendance at each of the fairs to talk about in-store service, discounts and special offers available to the employees, as well as members of their families.

April is Mental Health Awareness Month – and in recent years, there is far more awareness among employers around what the issues are and how employers can be a vital source of support.

However, it’s still concerning that even where there are provisions in place for improved mental health support, RedArc Nurses has discovered that some employees will still decline help altogether, or at best delay it.

Often, however, a good communication strategy can help.   Christine Husbands, managing director for RedArc says:

“We speak to people from all walks of life and from all backgrounds, and we’ve found that there are a significant number of concerns that employees may have.  Organisations need to address these in order for their mental health support to achieve its full potential.”

Typical employee concerns include:

• Confidentiality – employees worry that if they share their concerns with a third party, be that an insurer, EAP (Employee Assistance Programme), or mental health worker, will eventually be shared with their employer’s HR department.
• Privacy – staff are uneasy about making private phone calls within an office environment, for example to a GP or insurer.  They are also concerned that colleagues may find out if they have to attend appointments within office hours.
• Promotions & Renumeration: employees fear that disclosing mental health issues could mean they are overlooked for future promotions or that disclosing health issues could impact on pay rises and bonuses which would cause financial stress as well as embarrassment and frustration.
• Ability to perform: employees are concerned that their employer may deem them unsuitable to continue in their current role – especially if they are required to drive, carry firearms, use heavy machinery, or be particularly sensitive to others’ situations.
• Split persona: Some employees perceive strongly that they should leave their problems at the office door and split off their home persona from their work persona.  Of course, stress at home or work will have an impact on the other area and most employers understand this.
• Letting down family: Some employees wrongly believe that by acknowledging a mental health issue, they are letting down their family.
• Cost: despite being told that mental health support is offered by their employer, some employees are suspicious that there will be associated costs further down the line – especially if private face-to-face support is recommended.
• Seriousness of condition: Often employees believe they can’t access support unless they have extreme symptoms, and can also be worried about opening a can of worms.

Christine Husbands believes that employers have a duty to clearly communicate that these commonly held beliefs are incorrect, and that employees who raise mental health issues at work will receive compassion and support rather than judgement.  She concludes:

“It’s really important to remember that just because HR professionals and wellbeing experts are making lots of noise about breaking down the taboos of mental health, employees might not feel the same. Millennials may have grown up in a world where they often feel happier to talk about their feelings but the same doesn’t necessarily apply to other generations, different personalities or within specific industries.

“The communication of mental health support needs to not only say ‘we offer it and here’s how to access it’ but it also needs to address these very genuine concerns of real employees. Any mental health condition that is left to fester will ultimately take longer to heal which is then more challenging for both the employee and employer.

“We need to take a pro-active stance and tell employees that there should not be any fear around talking or acting upon mental health issues, and debunk some of these concerns and myths.”

Business Ambassador Prologis Inc, the global leader in logistics real estate, recently announced that leading consumer delivery company, Hermes, will be its first customer at Prologis Park Hemel Hempstead.

Hermes signed a lease agreement for the 80,000 square foot distribution centre at the end of December 2017 and a group of representatives from Hermes and Prologis recently attended a groundbreaking ceremony on site.  Construction is expected to complete in October 2018.

Prologis Park Hemel Hempstead, which is at Maylands Gateway, sits within the town’s new Enviro-tech Enterprise Zone.  When complete, the park will provide up to 585,000 square feet of industrial and distribution space, together with a £2.5 million investment in local highway infrastructure.  Prologis will also create a network of safe pedestrian and cycle routes around the site and along Buncefield Lane, as well as a new ‘pocket park’, which the company will maintain for people who live and work locally.

“Our move to Prologis Park Hemel Hempstead will ensure we can continue to provide retailers with world class services and solutions as we aim to become the consumer’s carrier of choice,” said Edmond Leahy, Estates Manager for Hermes.  “The operation will bring new jobs to the area and we look forward to becoming part of the local business community.”

“We are delighted to welcome Hermes to Prologis Park Hemel Hempstead,” said Paul Weston, head of London & South East Markets for Prologis UK. “We’ve been investing in Hemel Hempstead for almost 20 years and having such a high-profile company as our first customer at Prologis Park Hemel Hempstead further underwrites the importance of this area as a key business location.”

Prologis owns and manages approximately 25 million square feet of logistics and industrial space in the UK as of December 31st, 2017.

New research has found that newly qualified teachers are unlikely to be attracted to working in the UK Capital because of high house prices.

Only in January, a report found that the profession was suffering from chronic staff shortages and an inability to keep disenchanted professionals working in the sector.

Keen, newly qualified professionals are therefore in demand, but with average minimum salaries of around £22,500 in both Manchester and London,  and plenty of positions available, new research from Randstad Education reveals that teachers are likely to move further north because their income will offer new teachers a better standard of living there.

The average house price in Manchester is just over £197,000, 40% less than the £484,000 in London, as teacher salaries have failed to keep pace with property prices.

Randstad Education used their research to create a guide based on average teacher salary and house prices to identify the best locations for teachers to consider – and their findings confirm why  cities like Manchester and Liverpool are increasingly popular as ‘first role’ destinations.

Liverpool has the highest average maximum salary, of just under £50,000. House prices in the area are the lowest across all 13 cities profiled at just £185 a week rent – which sees Liverpool top of the league when it comes to salary vs property prices.

The teachers’ guide has an interactive map showing 13 major cities, detailing their average salaries compared to average house prices and average weekly rent. Helping candidates to assess the best location for their financial status.

Victoria Short, managing director of Randstad Public Services said:

“Home ownership is the dream of most workers hoping to work their way up the property ladder but as our guide shows location influences how much teachers need to save to realise that ambition.

“It’s no surprise average house prices are highest in London and while the capital offers workers an attractive mix of jobs and lifestyle options, our guide shows where in the country teachers can do the job they love with the bonus of more affordable housing and cheaper rent.”

The full report can be viewed here – https://www.randstad.co.uk/affordable-places-in-the-uk-for-teachers/

With most UK hospitals now experiencing a doctor shortage, there is a growing need for the NHS to recruit quality talent from overseas. However, after securing work here, many of these valued professionals come up against challenges before they arrive. These include finding a home in a suitable location, arranging schooling for their children and setting up bank accounts.

In response to this, leading medical recruitment consultancy Remedium Partners is supporting the doctors it places into the NHS with the launch of Red Carpet by Remedium, a premium relocation, accommodation and information service. Working in partnership with dynamic platform provider Benivo, the Red Carpet service offers doctors a complete online relocation solution, supplying everything from rental and property sourcing across the UK, to finance arrangements, local property market insights and education and schooling support for families. In addition, each doctor receives details of relevant social and local insights, scam and fraud protection and a personalised Welcome Box.

The service is a natural extension of Remedium’s hugely successful Care and Transition team which supports all Remedium-placed doctors in coming to the UK with key issues such as pre-employment paperwork, transportation and appointment screening.

Speaking about the new service offering, Remedium Partners co-Founders Philip Braham and David Green said:

“At Remedium, we always go the extra mile for our doctors – and Red Carpet is just the latest, innovative example of how we treat our candidates like VIPs! This fantastic portal will allow our doctors to have all aspects of their relocation at their fingertips, giving them and their families the smoothest of starts to their new life in the NHS.”

Commenting on the partnership, Benivo CEO and Founder Nitzan Yudan said:

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Remedium Partners team. We know from hearing feedback from their doctors, Trusts and recent industry recognition, that Remedium have an excellent reputation for the highest quality of candidate care. The Red Carpet platform we have developed together takes this to the next level. Red Carpet ensures that Remedium’s doctors are fully informed about every aspect of their relocation, giving them real peace of mind as they focus on the next chapter of their medical careers.” 

The data breach by Facebook and Cambridge Analytica has raised numerous concerns surrounding the security of personal data when using social media and browsing the web. London-based TheInternet.Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation dedicated to promoting digital rights, is leading changes in how personal data is used in commerce.

TheInternet.Foundation was created in 2013 by Dele Atanda, a digital visionary, entrepreneur and long-standing advocate of digital human rights. He is also a cyber and fintech expert, a crypto-economy theorist and an advocate of using technology to form a more compassionate, empathetic and human-centred world.

Back in 2013 TheInternet.Foundation (The IF) pioneered the call for a Universal Declaration of Digital Rights ratified by the United Nations. It leads the development and implementation of the initiative, with leading digital think tanks and consumer rights groups from around the world. In parallel, The IF also leads an initiative to establish a framework outlining how enterprises and brands can responsibly use consumers’ personal data in a fair and mutually equitable manner.

According to the world economic forum, it is estimated that by 2020 personal data will be worth €1trillion in Europe alone. Personal data is an incredibly valuable asset, and currently individuals neither own nor control their personal data or digital identity. There are a number of challenges surrounding personal data, and with the introduction of GDPR on May 25 2018, companies will have to change the way they collect, share and use customer information.

Dedicated to promoting universal digital rights as a natural extension of human rights, TheInternet.Foundation is set to make the use of personal data in commerce much more sustainable.

Dele Atanda commented on the importance of personal data management, “Today, you don’t own your data and you don’t own your identity, so the question really is – who does?” 

Even before this latest scandal, the Equifax data breach in 2017 left over 143 million American citizens in a state of permanent, lifetime threat of identity theft, identity crime and identity exposure. Unfortunately, there is no solution except for them changing their identity. Their names, date of birth and social security numbers are now in unknown databases forever. Those identities are effectively owned by the company that compiled and created this information, and not by the individuals whose details were stolen. The stolen information was gathered through no willing participation of the hack’s victims and little has been done to rectify their exposure.

If you look at the history of financial profiles, you find the foundation of what is becoming pervasive commercial surveillance. The use of our data in this commercial framework – for example in advertising and sales – can make business models based on this ethically questionable.

Dele Atanda continues,

“There is a fundamental conflict of interest for companies such as Facebook and Google when it comes to information provisioning and data sharing, because their business models are based on advertising. This in effect means the information they provide is based on advertiser interests, not truth or merit, which makes such information fundamentally unreliable at best and untrustworthy at worst. This is the heart of the crisis of fake news”. 

The issues surrounding data are only going to get worse with the rise of artificial intelligence, virtual reality and the internet of things. Dele Atanda explains,

“As our buildings and cities become more connected, the internet of things becomes more prevalent and the 3D world becomes more digitized, these threats will rise exponentially. As data becomes the new oil, we are faced with increasingly prevalent surveillance commerce corporations in what we refer to as ‘The Dirty Data Economy’.” 

“This year we will see the introduction of GDPR. It is perhaps the most significant piece of legislation of our generation and a complete reset of the digital economy. 

“As people, we are social creatures that become richer by our ability to share experiences with each other. This is a great thing that should be celebrated, and the internet is a powerful and incredible tool that enables this. What we need is a framework to ensures we are able to use it in ways that enrich us that are not harmful. We should be able to share our thoughts and feelings with friends and family without this sharing being used to manipulate and exploit us.”

Wayne Hughes manages data compliance with one of the UK’s leading UK IT Support specialists, ITCS.  Wayne believes that GDPR will improve information security, but won’t negate the ‘big brother fears’ people have – because in reality, much of our browsing will continue to be manipulated for advertising purposes.  He says:

“Of course, GDPR protection will not apply to US citizens, but for EU residents geographical boundaries won’t matter.  It also applies to organisations outside the EU that offer goods or services to individuals within the EU. 

“The processor will no longer be able to rely on small print exclusions within the terms and conditions.  New consent forms will need to be completely open and name any third parties which will rely on that consent to process the information.

“However, provided Facebook (and similar platforms) don’t disclose your data to a third party (as they did in this breach), they will still be able to manipulate the content you see in your news feed based on your viewing history – and will continue to have control which posts they show in your feed, and when.”  

TheInternet.Foundation has created a “Clean Data Charter” – a self-regulating set of principles for companies to adopt, allowing for the fair and equitable use of data in commerce in contrast to the “Dirty Data” model of data acquired through surveillance commerce. It is partnering with the British Standards Institute to introduce an international Ethical Data Standard based on these principles. This will allow personal data to be used commercially in an ethical and sustainable manner.

Dele Atanda continues,

“The three focuses of the Ethical Data Standard are privacy, ownership and consent. GDPR to a large extent addresses privacy and consent, but does not tackle ownership and it is data ownership that most urgently needs to be resolved. Personal data is personal property, which businesses must acknowledge and respect.

“We are creating a global framework that businesses will be able to use to do this. Self-regulation is one part of it and technology is the other. We are using cryptography and blockchain technologies to create a protocol – the mPod Protocol, that allows sealed data objects to be created by people and consensually accessed through tokens in marketplaces. By using encryption and tokens we can provide a data sharing model that is mutually beneficial for data owners and data seekers alike. Information can be protected and used in a universal and ethical standards based manner. People can choose how much exposure they are comfortable with and who they wish to share what with based on clear transparent value exchanges. We call this the ‘Clean Data’ framework analogous to Clean Energy in the ‘old oil’ economy.”

“As personal data is so valuable and personal we should be able to determine who has access to it, take part in its value exchange and earn equity from transactions should we so wish. By introducing the Clean Data framework, no one can exploit your personal information or use it without full transparency on what they wish to do with it and your clear consent for it to be used in this way. Clean Data enables us to clean up the swamp the web is at risk of becoming today.” 

Wayne agrees:

“GDPR is a fantastic step forward and we shouldn’t diminish the impact it will have.  However, many professionals believe more clarity of data ownership is needed.  The first cases to test the new law will show us the impact of the rules in practice, like most in the industry, we will be watching with interest.”