Data management
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is Data management? | Data management is managing the full data lifecycle needs of an organization and it involves collection of data, its classification and analysis, organization and storage, proper retrieval and most importantly, its protection. Examples of data in construction industry are Bills of Quantities, material rates, labour productivity norms, rate analysis, tender prices, cost indices, etc. |
| What is Data Protection Act 2018? | The Data Protection Act 2018 is a United Kingdom act of Parliament which updates data protection laws in the UK. It is a national law which complements the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and replaces the Data Protection Act 1998. This Act makes provision about the processing of personal data, provision about the Information Commissioner, introduces new offences that include knowingly or recklessly obtaining or disclosing personal data without the consent-giving of the data controller. Selling, or offering to sell, personal data would also be an offence. |
| What is Data Protection law in UAE? | Federal Decree Law No. 45 of 2021 Regarding the Protection of Personal Data, also known as the Personal Data Protection Law constitutes an integrated framework to ensure the confidentiality of information and protect the privacy of individuals in the UAE. It provides a proper governance for data management and protection and defines the rights and duties of all parties concerned. |
| What types of data systems are used in your organisation? | Computer systems, internet, intranet, computer data backups, external file storages (physically & electronically) etc. |
| What is data retention policy? | A data retention policy, or records retention policy, is an organization’s established protocol for retaining information for operational or regulatory compliance needs. Data retention policies concern what data should be stored or archived, where that should happen, and for exactly how long. Once the retention time period for a particular data set expires, it can be deleted or moved as historical data to secondary or tertiary storage, depending on the requirements. |
| How long should documents be retained in the UAE? | Under UAE Corporate Tax Law, businesses are required to maintain these financial records for at least 7 years following the end of the relevant Tax Period. Limitation Period for Contract disputes in UAE is 15 years, so data must be store for 15 years. |
| Can remedy be sought after end of Limitation period in UAE? | Yes under law or torts. For e.g. waterproofing warranty is for 25 years. |
| What is BCIS? | The Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) provides cost and price data for the UK built environment, for construction, insurance and life cycle costing. People in many capacities – both professional and personal – regularly rely on BCIS information. Quantity surveyors use BCIS data to give early cost advice, to budget and benchmark projects and to prepare life cycle cost plans. Insurers use rebuilding cost data to quote more accurate and competitive premiums for buildings insurance. BCIS historic data goes back 50 years; while their forecasts will help you plan for the next five years. |
| If you want to dispose a document from your office, what are the things you will check | • Is it original contract / legal documents • are they need for any litigation • do they relate to any current project • are they for work with outstanding fee • are they related to any disputes • do they belong to any client • can we microfilm it • is it any confidential information- if yes, it should be disposed securely (eg. Shredding) |
| As a QS what type of data you need to protect? How? | drawings, specifications, tender and contract documents, payment certificates, pricing data bases, variation and claims correspondance , general correspondance, minutes of meetings , technical and commercial reports etc. |
| What are the sources of Price information? | BCIS / BMI, Pricing books, Elemental analysis, In house data base, Libraries, Statistical Centre Abu Dhabi (SCAD) |
| What is your understanding of the term Confidentiality? | Confidentiality is where information is protected from unauthorised access or disclosure. Confidentiality agreements such as non disclosure agreements can ensure that sensitive data can only be accessed by those who are authorised to do so. They can also restrict who is able to view this information and prevent it from being accessed or shared to unintended parties. It is important for chartered surveyors to be aware of as they may be required to access sensitive client information or intellectual property without this being revealed to their competitors. |
| What is your understanding of the term ‘Meta Data’ and why is this important? | Meta Data is information about a specific piece of data for example when a photo is shared it may contain meta data on the location of where the photo was taken, the person who took the photo, the date the photo was taken on, its file size and the device it was taken on. As chartered surveyors, we must ensure that this meta data is afforded the same level of care as all other confidential data. In a scenario where we are sharing a document or removing confidential components of a document we should ensure that any confidential meta data is not shared inadvertently. |
| Can you please explain your understanding of the term intellectual property? | Intellectual Property are the legal rights of creators and owners of songs, books, videos, photos and designs. These rights allow their creators to control the use and ownership of the original works in order to benefit financially and morally by protecting against its unauthorised use. It is important to consider that work generally created by an employee usually belongs to their employer unless copyrights are put in place. It is common within construction for a client to be granted license for use and reproduction of copyright material which should be clearly defined. This could be the right to use a particular design produced by a subcontracting specialist who retains control of the original copyright. |
| Can you please explain the benefits of cloud based storage systems? | Key advantages of cloud based storage systems include the following:- Information can be backed up securely on encrypted servers. Accessibility can be managed via online settings. Cloud systems are often cheaper than the costs of physically storing and managing files. It is convenient to send and share files online instead of mailing physical copies. Cloud systems are more environmentally friendly. Multiple users can access the same documents simultaneously. Online sharing of documents can increase collaboration. Documents and folder systems can be synchronised. |
| What is the meaning of a non disclosure agreement? | Non disclosure agreements are used to protect against the disclosure or sharing of any confidential data. Prior to the confidential data being shared with a recipient, clients will typically request that the recipient signs up to an NDA. They are often used when confidential, sensitive, innovative or intellectual property information is being shared to prevent this information being used by competitors |
| If two separate departments within your firm were working for two rival companies how would you ensure that your client’s sensitive data was managed? | In the first instance I would make the client aware of the risks involved and check their understanding around the conflict of interest. After making the client aware of this and assuming they wanted to continue with the appointment, I would seek to obtain a letter of instruction to continue. Exclusivity of staff between departments would need to be arranged to ensure there is no cross over of personnel working for both clients. The use of non disclosure agreements would need to be considered in addition to ensuring separate working locations are designated for each of the teams. Secure document and data storage would need to be arranged that would be used exclusively for each of the separate teams with their access managed accordingly. |
| How do you secure data in your company? | 1. Back up your data 2. Use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication 3. Be wary of suspicious emails 4. Install anti-virus and malware protection 5. Make sure your Wi-Fi connection is secure 6. Dispose of old IT equipment and records securely |
| What is the difference between data and information? | Data is defined as unstructured information such as text, observations, images, symbols, and descriptions. In other words, data provides no specific function and has no meaning on its own. Information refers to processed, organized, and structured data. It gives context for the facts and facilitates decision making. In other words, information is processed data that makes sense to us. |
| What is Structured data? | Structured data is data that has a standardized format for efficient access by software and humans alike. It is typically tabular with rows and columns that clearly define data attributes. Computers can effectively process structured data for insights due to its quantitative nature. |
| What is Un-Structured data? | Unstructured data (or unstructured information) is information that either does not have a pre-defined data model or is not organized in a pre-defined manner. Unstructured information is typically text-heavy, but may contain data such as dates, numbers, and facts as well. |
| What is Big data? | Big data refers to extremely large and diverse collections of structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data that continues to grow exponentially over time. These datasets are so huge and complex in volume, velocity, and variety, that traditional data management systems cannot store, process, and analyze them. |
| What are the potential uses of big data in the real estate and construction sectors? | In the construction sector, the use of big data from BIM provides considerable potential for optimising the use of resources and waste, generative design, performance prediction, visual analytics and energy management |
| What is Data redundancy? | Data redundancy occurs when the same piece of data exists in multiple places. |
| What is Data inconsistency? | Data inconsistency is when the same data exists in different formats in multiple tables. |
| What is Electronic Incident? | Electronic Incident means any unauthorized action by a known or unknown person which should reasonably be considered one of the following: an attack, penetration, disclosure of Confidential Information, misuse of system access, unauthorized access or intrusion (hacking), virus intrusion |
| What is Data breach and how it occurs? | A data breach is any security incident in which unauthorized parties access sensitive or confidential information, including personal data and corporate data. |
| How to prevent Data breach? | Use strong passwords Use multi factor authentication keep software upto date use secure urls educate and train employees create a response plan |
| What is One Way (Unilateral) NDA? | A one-way non-disclosure agreement involves a single disclosing party and a single receiving party. This arrangement is commonly used when a party needs to protect its proprietary information when sharing it, for example, with a consultant, contractor, or business partner. |
| What is Two way (Mutual) NDA? | This occurs when one party gives over their confidential information. Then in exchange, the other party also provides confidential information. |
| What is Data mining? | the practice of analysing large databases in order to generate new information. |
| What is General Data Protection Regulations? | The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information from individuals who live in and outside of the European Union (EU). |
| Who publishes material prices in Dubai? | Dubai Statistics Center and Statistics Centre – Abu Dhabi (SCAD). |
| What is Primary data? | Primary data is the data that is collected for the first time through personal experiences or evidence, particularly for research. It is also described as raw data or first-hand information. |
| What is Secondary data? | Secondary data means data collected by someone else earlier. Surveys, observations, experiments, questionnaire, personal interview, etc. Government publications, websites, books, journal articles, internal records etc. Always specific to the researcher’s needs. |
| What is Data cleansing or Data cleaning? | Data cleaning is the process of fixing or removing incorrect, corrupted, incorrectly formatted, duplicate, or incomplete data within a dataset. |
| What are the 5 V’s of Big Data? | Big data is often describe by five characteristics: volume, value, variety, velocity, and veracity. Volume: the size and amounts of big data that companies manage and analyze Variety: the diversity and range of different data types, including unstructured data, semi-structured data and raw data Velocity: the speed at which companies receive, store and manage data – e.g., the specific number of social media posts or search queries received within a day, hour or other unit of time Veracity: the “truth” or accuracy of data and information assets, which often determines executive-level confidence Value: the most important “V” from the perspective of the business, the value of big data usually comes from insight discovery and pattern recognition that lead to more effective operations, stronger customer relationships and other clear and quantifiable business benefits |
