An event, organized by the State Data Agency (Statistics Lithuania) and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, was held on 9 November. It was dedicated to the presentation of the purpose, vision and mission of the state data inventory - History of the State Data Lake: Part I Ice Age.

Opening the event, Rolandas Kriščiūnas, First Deputy Chancellor of the Government of Lithuania, emphasized the importance of proper use of data. "I have heard that in particular various data in the 21st century equated to oil. As we know, some countries have oil, others - don't, however, we all have data resources. Therefore, I wish to use these resources wisely: both for the benefit of institutions and the state. Today we have a great opportunity to share our experience in order to contribute to what is probably the key stage of the entire data governance process - data inventory. This requires harmonious work of all institutions," mentioned R. Kriščiūnas.

Dr Jūratė Petrauskienė, Director General of the State Data Agency, drew attention to the ice age metaphor chosen for the name of the event. Data in the country is a big iceberg in the ice age, and institutions have a lot of it, however, in many cases it remains unused. "We have already measured the dimensions of this glacier - we are looking forward to a thaw where data will turn into flowing rivers and a rich, vibrant lake of state data. In the halls of the Government, we will meet more and more often to talk about decisions based on data, and not on intuition or personal imagination," noted Dr Jūratė Petrauskienė.

The project "Integration of State Information Resources into the State Data Lake" implemented by the State Data Agency and financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) was presented at this event. Its main goal is to increase the state's resistance to threats, to identify and control them. The first stage of the project - inventory of data managed by institutions - is currently underway.

Representatives of the five following institutions and bodies: Vilma Naujokė, Director of the Center of Technical Aid for Disabled People under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania, Alvydas Masiulis, Director of the Department of Supervision of Social Services under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania, Modestas Gelbūda, Secretary General of the Seimas, Gerimantas Bakanas, Chief Executive Officer of Vilniaus Šilumos tinklai, AB, and Žydrūnas Martinėnas, Director of Elektrėnai Hospital, shared valuable experience and exchanged information on how the inventory of the data under their control is taking place and what challenges they had to face.

"Currently, the State Data Agency project team, consisting of over 40 excellent people of various specializations and experiences, works with more than 150 institutions. What this team does together with people from other institutions will have a huge impact on the change in data culture in the future and, at the same time, for the growth of analytical competences in the public sector, for more accurate decisions, for faster analysis of the impact of these decisions, for transparency and accountability to the population, and in the longer term, for public confidence in public authorities," stated the Director General of the State Data Agency.