Introducing Data for Action
We have some good news (part one)...
Today, we - Tom Watson and Tom French - are excited to be launching Data for Action as a company. Data for Action is a new organisation that supports people to adopt a question-centred approach for working with data that leads to doing.
The support we will be offering is focused on people and organisations working towards social purpose. It includes training on the approach, designing/delivering projects that incorporate the Data for Action approach to achieve their aims and objectives, and the development/sharing of some free-to-use tools and resources for you to adopt and adapt.
So, why now?
We’ve been talking about, developing and using the approach for a while as freelancers, both individually and when we’ve been working together on projects or training. Having tested and refined a few tools with a variety of organisations, it felt like it was about time that we formalised this side of our work a bit and brought together all the resources we’ve developed over this period. It was time to be intentional, as Tom Watson puts it, and give it some life and space of its own.
Furthermore, a piece of work presented itself as the perfect opportunity - or boot up the backside - for us to get the ball rolling and present the Data for Action approach (and organisation) as a response to what was needed…
… and that means that we also have some more good news.
Working with JRF
Data for Action is going to be the lead organisation working with Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) over the coming months as part of their desire to understand and improve the ‘infrastructure for insight’ in the UK. This work will be delivered in partnership with Datakind UK (through the Data Collective) and David Kane.
JRF have recognised data has the potential to become a powerful asset that would inform proactive grant-making and activities. Charitable organisations and civil society more broadly collect a wide range of quantitative and qualitative data on the people they support and work with, but this data is largely underused for a variety of reasons. This project aims to explore, create and test models that will allow for the generation of trends and insight relating to people applying for and receiving support by charities around the UK, and to realise the untapped potential of data collected by charities. Through this approach, we are particularly keen to acknowledge and build upon - not replicate - the existing body of evidence and understanding around the needs and barriers of civil society organisations when it comes to sharing data for these kinds of purposes.
We will be doing this through a series of prototyping cycles, starting with Data for Action’s core question-based approach. These collaborative cycles will work through the development and refining of questions, before identifying data and insight as a response to those questions, and then openly prototyping some ways to enable data sharing that recognise the capacity, barriers and needs of contributing organisations.
A key part of our approach will be to adopt a principle of being open by default, both in terms of process and outputs. The iterative prototyping approach will provide JRF with a clear direction for development, as well as helping to shape a wider narrative around this challenge. Through this work we will explore how JRF’s infrastructure can support future platform adoption and product creation both internally and by partners. Our approach is designed to find the sweet spot of proportionate operational practicality and system-shaping potential.
Staying in touch with and learning more about Data for Action
This is just the start of our journey at Data for Action and it’s been great to finally make it public. We would love to hear from or work with you too as part of whatever’s next, so let us know if you’d like a chat about any of what we do or have said above.
You can get in touch through our website here, or you can find us on Twitter here too.