Building an actionable foundation for testing data-sharing infrastructure

Where to start and how it might be useful to frame it for charities and civil society

At Data for Action, we are part of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Insight Infrastructure project. Read more about our role in this here. As we feel our way into this, we’ve been thinking more about the sequencing of activities and what needs to be put in place now to best serve the project’s overarching objectives. Here’s where we’ve got to so far…

It is often hard for charities to (want to) share or contribute data. As previous projects and research have shown:

• Sometimes this relates to perceptions of risk, either about sharing sensitive information inappropriately or giving away their competitive edge (i.e. their relationships);

• Sometimes this is because of a lack of motivation and not making a connection to the value of doing it;

• Sometimes this is about a lack of capacity, whether that’s resources, time, or skills;

• Sometimes this is about a lack of appropriate, accessible support;

• Sometimes the technology or processes presented to them make it too hard to contribute;

• Sometimes this is because it is not seen as an equal process that benefits the charities themselves;

• Sometimes it’s a combination of all of these things.

The work we are doing on the JRF project is all about improving the conditions to increase capacity for - and overcome barriers to - data sharing. But conversations about this need buy-in from charities from the off, not just those who are already engaged. So what about the motivation part and selling the idea for getting involved? That’s where the Data for Action approach comes in…

By focusing on meaningful questions that charities (and others) have and then creating a link between them and what this means they can do, we can demonstrate the potential value of data sharing. Demonstrating this value with minimal input increases motivation to be involved. And that means we can create a rationale for - and open a better conversation about - overcoming barriers to data sharing as a result.

This need has also been uncovered through other parts of the JRF Insight Infrastructure programme as well. As Connected by Data have articulated through their ecosystem mapping work with JRF in this blog:

One of the key take-aways from this part of the discussion can be summed up as a call for a ‘questions first’ approach. As one participant put it: “With all these tools, it feels like the real challenge comes before you even get to the infrastructure. How do you translate your challenge into a question?”

[W]hen it comes to the analysis of data, beyond provision of tables or charts, users may be seeking to answer the question “So what? What should I do (or not do) as a result of this evidence?”

Social Finance have been involved too. Their focus has been on building a user-centred prototype for serving up insight to potential decision makers. Through this work, they clearly stated that:

“We want to build the experience and confidence of our users to take action.”

All of this means that there are two hurdles we collectively need to overcome through our work:

1. Supporting people to articulate and share their questions to demonstrate the value proposition for investing time and effort - i.e. the action that can be taken;

2. Understanding and implementing support that enables people to realise that specific value or action in return for their inputs (time, data, effort etc.)

With this in mind, then, how do we structure our approach for our work with JRF accordingly? Well, to start with we’re going to try a couple of things and see what happens…

1. A prototype Question Bank

Before we delve into the details of how charities can be supported to share their data with others, it is important for us to understand what it is we’re all actually trying to find out about poverty in the UK and for what purpose. This will help us to shape a clear narrative about charities’ insight needs, as well as those from other sectors too. From this platform, we can then unpick the barriers to meeting these needs more tangibly and explore the conditions through which we can overcome them.

This is why we’re starting our work on this project by developing a prototype ‘Question Bank’. Through this, we’re inviting charities, policy makers, academics and other services to tell us what it is they want to know in relation to poverty and its related issues. Furthermore, we want to peg each question in the action or response that an answer enables. Over time, this question bank will enable three broad things to happen:

1. A central place where we can see all of our different questions alongside each other and the perceived value in answering them;

2. We can begin to identify similarities in certain questions, group them and form partnerships around answering them;

3. We have a meaningful starting point for framing, rationalising and prioritising the barriers to data sharing with a view to developing and testing different models in response, which forms the rest of the project.

Some of the questions submitted to the question bank

Read more about the project team's own questions here.

2. Exploring ways to support answers to the questions

As phase 2 of n, and building on the prototype ‘Question Bank’ as a starting point, we will bring together a range of charities and other civil society organisations - local and national - in a workshop to:

• Prioritise some core questions on which to focus, based on the perceived value that the action can bring to workshop attendees and the gaps in current understanding;

• Identify what data/insight attendees have that could support an answer to the prioritised questions, as well as what would be needed from others;

• Explore the barriers to and opportunities for sharing/combining the data highlighted above.

This workshop is intended for charities and civil society organisations whose focus is on the understanding of or response to poverty in the UK and any of its related issues, so let us know if you’d like to be involved. 

This is our starting point (building on what’s gone before, of course). We don’t yet know what will emerge from these conversations but hope that this starting point will provide a firm foundation to direct further experimentation. And from there, we can suggest and prototype ideas - platforms, products, infrastructure - on which we can build throughout the project for overcoming the highlighted barriers and harnessing the opportunities.

So, please submit your questions as a starting point! And share far and wide. If you have any thoughts on this or would like a conversation about the project, then feel free to get in touch.