Navigating Data Governance: key takeaways and insights from the 3rd NTO Data Governance webinar series.

The session brought together over 100 participants from tax authorities across the globe, affiliated with NTO member tax organisations. The third webinar of the series was moderated by Raúl Zambrano, Technical Assistance and Innovation Director at the Inter-American Centre for Tax Administrations (CIAT) and co-author of Data Governance for Tax Administrations: A Practical Guide. The event was conducted in Spanish and English with simultaneous French interpretation, fostering a rich, multilingual discussion.

This final webinar built upon the foundations laid in the previous sessions, "Data Governance at a Glance: from Theory to Practice" and "Data Governance in Action: the Road to Data Quality", offering deeper insights into practical application and upcoming learning opportunities.

Announcing the NTO MOOC on Data Governance

A key highlight was the announcement by the Secretariat of the NTO of the upcoming Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Data Governance, authored by expert Esteban Alonso. Set to launch this year, the comprehensive course, titled "Fundamentals of Data Governance in Tax Administration," will be offered free of charge to tax administrations affiliated with NTO member organisations.

Mr. Alonso explained that the e-learning course, featuring video lessons, case studies, and additional resources, is designed to provide a deep and applicable understanding of data management & data governance tailored specifically for tax administration contexts. 

He emphasised its unique value: 

"It offers deeper understanding and practical applicability on the subject matter, it was developed by professionals who apply Data Governance in their daily work. It is a course created by tax administrators for tax administrators.”
 

Lessons learned: the Indian Tax Authority experience

Following Mr. Alonso's presentation, Sri Aditya Rayaprolu and Nidhi Barad from the Indian Revenue Authority shared key lessons learned in practical data management. Sri Aditya provided a detailed breakdown of how the authority leverages data within its processes. 

Their presentation covered challenges and best practices, focusing on data cleansing, imputation, validation, and taxpayer feedback mechanisms. A key success highlighted was the creation of the Annual Information Statement (AIS) platform, which provides taxpayers with comprehensive information on their transactions and allows for instant feedback, thereby enhancing transparency, trust, and usability. 

Techniques such as utilising the Permanent Account Number (PAN) as well as fuzzy logic and demographic data were also detailed, demonstrating a practical approach that led to a significant improvement in usability (reported as 15%).

Sri Aditya underscored the importance of communication, stating, 

"Outreach matters when explaining what is important.”

The webinar concluded with a lively Q&A session, where participants from various tax authorities expressed keen interest in the upcoming MOOC and shared their own perspectives. If you are interested in participating in the NTO MOOC on Data Governance kindly contact the NTO Secretariat at secretariat@taxcompact.net.

In case you missed the previous webinars:

Find here insights from the first webinar "Data Governance at a Glance: from Theory to Practice".

And here from the second event "Data Governance in Action: the Road to Data Quality".

Learn more about the NTO Data Governance initiative here.