We are excited to bring you the Data4Good Festival 2021, an online programme of events in May 2021. Brought to you by more than 20 partner organisations, the festival is designed to help social sector organisations make better use of data.
Following the success of the inaugural 2018 Data4Good conference, more than 20 social sector support organisations and charities are coming together to host a flagship event on 10th – 12th May 2021.
The Data4Good Festival is an opportunity to share stories of social sector organisations using data to improve their impact. The Data4Good Festival will showcase those social sector organisations who are at the forefront of harnessing data to design more effective and efficient services, achieve better outcomes, and deliver greater impact. Organisations will share best practice on what data to collect, showcasing new digital tools for data management and analysis, and signposting where to find help and resources.
There’ll be practical sessions on data use, analysis and data science; sessions for senior leadership and those who lead on strategy at their organisations; and showcases where others share what they’ve been up to. There will be something for everyone whether you’re new to using data, or are already well on your data journey.
The challenges that we came together to address in 2018 are still present now. In fact, the pandemic has highlighted crucial gaps where data is not being gathered, stored, and shared effectively, or at all. It has also shone a light on the need to better understand and use the data that these services produce.
Though there are countless examples of brilliant data use within the social sector, the sector as a whole grapples with poor data literacy and low data maturity. Many organisations face lots of barriers, which result in them not asking the right questions with their data and not going beyond their funder’s requirements for data use.
The festival responds to these common barriers that the social sector faces:
The festival is aimed at those who work for social change organisations who are using or interested in making better use of data. This includes:
Charities
Whether you represent a small charity with no data team, a medium size charity with one or more analysts or a large charity with a large data team, there’ll be content to help you take the next step
Social enterprises
Whether you have a national brand or you’re in a local one-person enterprise, we’ll bring you examples of social enterprises like yours who are using data to further their social mission
Public sector bodies
Local authorities, arms-length bodies or national government representatives are welcome, to learn about positive stories of data use within the public sector
Funders
Those in funding bodies, such as trusts and foundations, often shape the data landscape for their grantees. We’ll support funders to connect with each other on data use, as well as hear from charities who are making use of data
Support organisations
Those supporting the sector to make better use of data, including umbrella bodies, infrastructure orgs and social sector agencies
Tickets will be available for those working with data in the social sector and and will go on sale in early 2021. If you don’t fall into this criteria you can still get involved as a sponsor or virtual exhibitor.
This festival will be hosted by a partnership of social sector support organisations working collaboratively to shape the event. It is majority-funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, with additional funding from ticket revenue and sponsorship.
We’re developing plans quickly and across a multitude of partners, there will be much more to tell you soon, including how you can get involved, what you can expect to learn, how the programme will look and everything in between. If you would like to join us and be part of the Data4Good Festival, simply provide your details and sign up to our newsletter in the footer and visit Get Involved to find out ways you can be involved.
The Festival is organised by a collaborative of event partners including:
