Public Sector Innovation – An Analysis of Privacy Disasters

Abstract

Europe has multiple hubs for innovation. Some of them namely being Munich, Berlin, Paris, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Dublin and many more. Innovations have been the prime driver of economic progress. Most often innovations have brought a country ahead of others in economic prosperity. Innovations like steam engine, electricity, nuclear energy, internet, 5G and many more like these have changed the course of history of mankind by bringing a change in how people live their life from one generation to another. This paper highlights the challenges presented by privacy protection laws in nurturing innovation, if any. These challenges are faced by Educational Institutions as well as public sector organizations across Europe while promoting and nurturing innovation. The old way of collecting information, running surveys, collecting personal or sensitive information about people are no more acceptable due to digitisation, where hacks and security breaches are becoming commonplace. The restriction of knowledge sharing and knowledge gathering due to lack of technology to preserve privacy is also highlighted in the paper with analysis of the current situation on breaches in public sector organizations. This is an exploratory paper which analysis the GDPR fines with focus on public sector organisations and highlights the need of comprehensive action along with impact on innovation in this context.