Compliance by the Numbers: Data analytics yields results that add up

Effective June 1, 2018, DXC U.S. Public Sector became part of Perspecta Inc.

Many government agencies are awash in data with troves of digital information collected to fulfill regulatory requirements at the federal, state and local level. The problem is that many of these laws, policies and regulations are often implemented via “checklist compliance.” The checklist is often based on the intuition that this action will yield a particular result, convincing us that we know the relationship between actions and outcomes, cause and effect.

As we apply more sophisticated data science and analytics to processes, we are learning that unsubstantiated intuitions can lead us astray and impact desired outcomes.

Checklists can lull us into “checking the box,” rather than thinking creatively and holistically about a problem.

We have all seen examples of checklist-driven actions, like the never-ending project management meetings that repeatedly go over irrelevant tasks simply because they are “on the list.” The apparent ease of monitoring checklists, combined with measuring what is easy, may give us a sense of progress, while missing the mark. The good news is that thoughtfully applied, increasingly sophisticated analytical methods and tools can focus effort on the right things that really affect results and help organizations to be freed from the stovepipes in which the data and people may operate.

The financial industry exemplifies a complex environment with much invested, figuratively and literally, to ensure compliance with laws and regulations. “International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards, a Revised Framework" (widely known as Basel II) compliance is serious business and a solid illustration of control by compliance. Basel II aims to build on a foundation of prudent capital regulation, supervision and market discipline, and to enhance further risk management and financial stability. It commonly had been applied on a product or line-of-business basis. The early result-compliance by the numbers—but not much improvement in the intended overall fiscal health of an institution.

We have been contemplating the technologies, practices and principles that help organizations get the real results they desire. Imagine our interest as we mused over a recent press release about our “FICO Partnership to Deliver Real-Time Decision Management Solutions.” In this case, the FICO reference wasn’t about our personal credit score, but about an organization’s “score” in accomplishing its mission. We considered how taking the right perspective with analytics could contribute to better results.

“Widening the aperture” can help change perspective and shed more light on results.

The partnership with FICO promises analytics and decision management, fraud management, originations, customer management and collections and recovery solutions in sectors for which this is mission-critical. This includes financial services, health care, public sector and other industries. DXC U.S. Public Sector developed a framework that helps the financial industry with Basel II compliance, raising customers’ “view above the stovepipes” by assessing liquidity and risk more holistically. This framework and tools bring into focus the desired outcomes. Progress toward these outcomes are now validated real-time by appropriate metrics and analytics that measure the overall fiscal health of the whole institution, as intended.

Real-time monitoring and analytics also overcomes another so-called “fine tradition” of checklist compliance—a point-in-time view followed years later by a compliance audit. With timely analytical insights, compliance can be ongoing and provide the ability to respond quickly to changing conditions.

It’s amazing what a widened aperture can do. A view above organizational stovepipes, married with analytical technology, adjusts the perspectives beyond the immediate process and beyond checklist compliance to illuminate the whole value chain and new possibilities for improvement.

Learn more about DXC U.S. Public Sector Analytics and Data Management at DXC.technology/analytics.

Contributors: Michael Donovan, Distinguished Technologist; Diana Zavala, Director, Analytics and Data Management; and Bryan Coapstick, Director, Mobile Innovation

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