In the digital age, data plays an important role in decision making (data-driven decision making) process, find solutions and drive the organisation for success growth. These days many organisations are aware of the importance of data quality as the effectiveness of work implementation depends on the quality of the data used. If the data is accurate, it will be easy to analyse the problem and find proper solutions. However, if the data is inaccurate or outdated, it will be difficult to achieve the desired objectives. In some cases, it can lead the implementor to a wrong decision making.

Most of the data in the energy database will be used for decision making in the preparation of the provincial energy action plan; such as data of provincial energy use in various sectors, data of energy infrastructure in each province etc. These are the starting point for setting up Thailand’s energy target and designing the projects to achieve the goals.

Therefore, GIZ has cooperated with the Strategy and Planning division, under the Permanent Secretary Office of the Thai Ministry of Energy to develop Quality Assurance and Quality Control Manual for energy data at the provincial level. The manual will be used as a guideline for Quality Assurance and Quality Control operation (QA&QC) of provincial energy data displayed on the provincial Thai energy database. Provincial Energy Officers will use this database in preparing the provincial energy action plan and tracking its performance in various dimensions.

What are the difference of QA & QC
Quality Assurance (QA) : To ensure the quality of data to make users confident of the quality. For example, the project implementor considers the data and signs to guarantee the data quality before handing it to the users.

Quality Control (QC) : To control the quality of data that is being used in accordance with project objectives. For example, the staff verifies the quality of collected data using mathematical methods by finding the deviation of the data or the variance of the data.

This manual consists of three parts as follows:

1. Basic principles of data QA&QC operations
2. The current provincial energy data reporting structure
3. QA&QC operational guidelines of provincial data

Moreover, the recommendations for future operations are provided in the manual’s annexes for further consideration and guidance on QA&QC in accordance with the principles and what needs to be followed.

GIZ has already delivered the manual to the Strategy and Planning division of the Thai Ministry of Energy since April 2021.