tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post7697285600597084260..comments2024-03-28T03:11:22.839-07:00Comments on PHILANTHROPY 2173: The data ecosystemLucy Bernholzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09253941214286179394noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-58001771687970583002011-12-20T07:24:05.156-08:002011-12-20T07:24:05.156-08:00Jeff,
I love the napkin and wish I could pick up ...Jeff,<br /><br />I love the napkin and wish I could pick up a digital ink pen and interact with it. Two thoughts:<br /><br />-- On Purposes, do you include "continuous improvement" to begin to change that culture to the POV that the underlying purpose is in getting better and creating more social good?<br /><br />-- I would suggest a layer between data and interfaces about protocols and standards that ensures when the data is accessed through the interfaces or platforms, there is a commonality that allows for analysis across programs/orgs/grants/funders? Jeff,<br /><br />I love the napkin and wish I could pick up a digital ink pen and interact with it. Two thoughts:<br /><br />-- On Purposes, do you include "continuous improvement" to begin to change that culture to the POV that the underlying purpose is in getting better and creating more social good?<br /><br />-- Is there a layer between data and interfaces about protocols and standards that ensures when the data is accessed through the interfaces or platforms, there is a commonality that allows for analysis across programs/orgs/grants/funders? That takes the New column to a whole different level.Victoria Vranahttp://www.twitter.com/vicvrananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-31327758361305478982011-12-16T10:08:25.770-08:002011-12-16T10:08:25.770-08:00I'll try to formalize this, but until then, a ...I'll try to formalize this, but until then, a napkin sketch: <a href="http://digitalinfo.org/data-interface-operation-communication/" rel="nofollow">http://digitalinfo.org/data-interface-operation-communication/</a>Jeff Stangerhttp://digitalinfo.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-24762241235648787302011-12-16T09:42:15.202-08:002011-12-16T09:42:15.202-08:00Victoria
I was thinking the same thing - we share...Victoria<br /><br />I was thinking the same thing - we share "finished" knowledge products more easily than raw information/data . I've always credited this (tongue in cheek) to creation of pdfs. <br /><br />I think it speaks a lot to the culture issue. Analyzed, finished, published less scary than raw, iterative, generative, open. Not unique to philanthropy surely - how do we use it as an opportunity, not a threat?<br /><br />LucyLucy Bernholzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09253941214286179394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-50774058572916298862011-12-16T09:37:28.025-08:002011-12-16T09:37:28.025-08:00Not sure my other comment came through - just that...Not sure my other comment came through - just that I was struck by the sequencing issue -- that in our field, the secondary knowledge (from foundations, consultants, nonprofits and intermediaries) often proceeds the raw data (much of which doesn't exist of is released ever). Drawbacks of this of course are that the analyzed data/information is inherently biased by the point of view of the analyst. <br /><br />Is this only a challenge for our sector?<br /><br />Your point about changing the culture while we are working out the more technical data issues is hugely important.Victoriahttp://www.twitter.com/vicvrananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-55339435775342467852011-12-16T09:30:55.258-08:002011-12-16T09:30:55.258-08:00Victoria
This is one of the critical factors here...Victoria<br /><br />This is one of the critical factors here - the cultural uses/expectations of data access, use, and purpose. I think we can postulate all kinds of rational theories of how opening certain kinds of info would improve all kinds of things but data and systems aren't as rational as might like (reading @benkler's Penguin and Leviathan - brilliant). We need to think about data access and use within the real "culture" in which they get used even as we're hoping, thinking, beleiveing that the release of those data will change those cultures. <br /><br />Architecture of collaboration - @benkler's term - is key here. <br /><br />All of this is part of what #ReCodeGood hopes to inform. <br /><br />LucyLucy Bernholzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09253941214286179394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-33470517766392417052011-12-16T08:50:12.650-08:002011-12-16T08:50:12.650-08:00One last (for the moment) thought - does the seque...One last (for the moment) thought - does the sequencing come from a culture that uses data/information punitively and does not have a tolerance for failure and/or support for continuous improvement?Victoria Vranahttp://www.twitter.com/vicvrananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-58186424085946185172011-12-16T08:39:56.697-08:002011-12-16T08:39:56.697-08:00Thanks for the question, Jeff, and the reply, Vict...Thanks for the question, Jeff, and the reply, Victoria. I'm thinking hard about all this right now and not sure I have an answer. I do think that the strategy papers/evaluation/ commissioned research of foundations is a critical piece of the ecosystem. They are of a fundamentally different nature than other data. They are a certain kind of knowledge - internally generated off the very data that I'd like to see made more public. If the other data were more public we'd shift some of the balance of how this secondary knowledge were generated. It's cyclical (food chain metaphor?) but, given dynamics of foundations the sticky question for me "is what's the basic food?" - putting out the secondary knowledge might precede putting out raw data...<br /><br />Would LOVE to work collectively on this. Wiki anyone?<br /><br />LucyLucy Bernholzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09253941214286179394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-5996186624361129782011-12-16T07:38:55.244-08:002011-12-16T07:38:55.244-08:00Hi Jeff - just a quick thought - if we're thin...Hi Jeff - just a quick thought - if we're thinking of thes same kind of studies, papers, etc., to me those are "knowledge" not data/information. It's the analyses of the information that begins to make it actionable. It's an essential part of the ecosystem as well. Lucy, what do you think?Victoria Vranahttp://www.twitter.com/vicvrananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-1282616294142499832011-12-14T13:47:49.241-08:002011-12-14T13:47:49.241-08:00Great piece Lucy. I need your help in clarifying m...Great piece Lucy. I need your help in clarifying my thinking about data... you know where I come from -- I think data, broadly defined, play another role and that's in our public dialogue on the issues that foundations work on and care about. It's different from the flavor of "operational" data that is the primary focus of your post. What should we call this other class of data/information? The studies, the papers, the journal articles -- all intended to be public as a way to inform our public conversation, but largely not optimized for modern digital consumption. How is it distinguished from the "operational" data you are primarily talking about here?Jeff Stangerhttp://digitalinfo.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-36497415994058235022011-12-13T16:00:28.086-08:002011-12-13T16:00:28.086-08:00Brad
Metaphor madness. Yes, they do lead us in od...Brad<br /><br />Metaphor madness. Yes, they do lead us in odd directions. While some fuels certainly need a lot of processing and refining, and centralized processors to do that work, others don't. Think of micro-wind turbines, solar powered houses, and even Edison's original model for the power plant (every company would have had their own - the consolidation came later). <br /><br />I agree with the content behind your comment - raw data are often really dirty data. Data often need lots of work - expensive work - to be made useful. This will continue to be the case - however, it's possible (isn't it) that the work of preparing the data will be decentralized over time? No simple or short term time frame for that, but if we think about the input interfaces for the world's biggest data companies (FB, Google, LinkedIn, etc) - they've standardized the front end so we the users can be blind to the back end. <br /><br />Another read on your comment - the data cleaners (such as FC) become ever more important - they do more than gather and clean, they interpret, analyze, sort, filter, view, etc. All things FC is already doing. <br /><br />Many thanks for writing in<br /><br />LucyLucy Bernholzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09253941214286179394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-46334883638006319672011-12-13T15:54:57.662-08:002011-12-13T15:54:57.662-08:00Thanks Andrea and Todd for your comments. Yes - th...Thanks Andrea and Todd for your comments. Yes - the power of data is that it can come from many sectors and sources. My hope is that the data will help us work cross-sectorLucy Bernholzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09253941214286179394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-77682279278803891362011-12-13T14:08:38.110-08:002011-12-13T14:08:38.110-08:00Nice post Lucy with lots of good metaphors. I was...Nice post Lucy with lots of good metaphors. I was struck, though, about how the metaphors take us down different paths. If data is "organic matter" it reproduces itself. If it is "fuel" a significant amount of effort is required to turn it into something than can produce energy. Some data is easily made open and free and the cost for doing do, subsidized by governments or advertisers. For the data that is more like fuel (data on giving from private sources)who pays(or should pay)for the the extraction and refinement?Bradford Smithhttp://www.glasspockets.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-35586058469158230152011-12-13T03:50:19.705-08:002011-12-13T03:50:19.705-08:00This is right on target, Lucy. I have said before ...This is right on target, Lucy. I have said before that when head and heart find each other, the best of human potential is revealed. Giving from emotion is not contradictory to giving thoughtfully. I do want to emphasize that this way of thinking is just as important on the service delivery side as it is on the philanthropy side. I'd like to see nonprofit executives, managers and workers measuring -- or at least thinking about -- results, impact and outcomes. Not to take the heart out (as some measurement schemes invariably do but as the subtle guide you allude to. As an adviser to philanthropists and the leader of an organization that manages nonprofit performance, I appreciate your insigts. Todd J. Sukol, www.domoremission.comTodd S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12114816794465519173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3614581.post-54748583934119880772011-12-07T10:05:01.617-08:002011-12-07T10:05:01.617-08:00I couldn't agree more about the need for good ...I couldn't agree more about the need for good data, not data for data's sake. The suggestions you make are excellent for what kind of data might actually make a difference in how and what we fund.<br />In addition, I want to suggest gathering data in both the public and private sectors on funding. There is no doubt we fund the same idea over and over again, the various sectors usually have no idea what the other one is doing, let alone any results.<br />In a time of economic challenges this is a big problem.<br />Underneath this is building relationships between the sectors, sharing initiatives, using entirely new strategies and processes which place the end user firmly in the center. <br />I am encouraged by the work and thinking you are doing. Thanks.Andrea Schneiderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03044746911316324503noreply@blogger.com