Technology and data are the two biggest components of the pensions dashboard.
Without either, the concept will not work. It's an electronic symbiotic relationship between the two, with data informing how the technology will develop the dashboard to full usefulness, and the technology creating a dashboard that is useful and safe.
To do this is no mean feat, as Fiona Tait, technical director for Intelligent Pensions, explains: "The biggest challenge will be for the pension and service providers to ensure they can provide quality data to the pension finder service."
Prototype demonstrations for the pensions dashboard show how far it has come already over the past few months.
The HM Treasury Pensions Dashboard Prototype, managed by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), has made significant strides in the past few months, not least by proving to the industry that the underlying technology to deliver dashboards is already in existence.
As Rob Yuille, head of retirement policy for the ABI, says: “The project also proved that commonly used data standards could be adapted for industry-wide adoption.”
According to Duncan Howorth, chairman of data specialist ITM, the prototype has already proven it is possible to link the vast amount of different data sources and present them to users through the dashboard technology.
He comments: “This requires adherence to data and messaging standards only.”
LV=’s head of policy, Philip Brown, is also confident that the “vast majority of building blocks” are already in place.
However, while the basic technology is already in place, there are some challenges remaining.
Frontend
For Andy Kirby, managing director of The Pensions Portal, the front ends for the consumer still need work.
He explains: “My Money Alive colleague, Ian Beestin, was part of the winning team at the government/ABI techsprint, where user experience ideas were generated by tech teams in a two-day event against the clock.
“Based on what the teams came up with in such a short space of time, consumers will be offered well-thought through, attractive interfaces that will allow them to access the information they need, quickly, through a number of engaging formats.
“But the challenge is to make these interfaces intuitive. Great thought will have to be given to how the data is presented and interpreted so it becomes engaging, and meaningful, and have a strong call to action.”
If this is not in place, Mr Kirby thinks this will be a lost opportunity to engage people in their retirement planning.
Tech advances
Another challenge is simply the pace of change in terms of technological developments.
Mr Howorth says technology changes at such a pace these days, that the real challenge will be ensuring the standards developed for the dashboards “do not preclude the take-up of new technology as it becomes available”.
