Digital Impact: Idea Board

At each stop on the Digital Impact World Tour, we are asking participants to share the tools, tips and resources that help them use and manage digital resources safely, ethically and effectively. Then we asked: what’s missing? Here is what we heard from social sector leaders across 11 cities.

Data

User-generated data
Remote sensor data
Federated data
Tools for the de-identification of data
Open access to charity data via regulators
Open access to grants data from funders
Open and usable formats for International Data Responsibility Group advice
Openness from NCOs on tech stacks
Transparency around data governance and ethics in journalism
Open data functionality in commonly-used grant management systems
A public rating system for trusting an organization with personal data
Data integration/collaboration with private sector and government

Funding

Short-term project funding to close the digital divide
Government funding for community access to WiFi and phones in rural areas
Support for organizations to release open data
Funding systems for digital strategy, digital capacity and data support services
Improvements to funders’ data governance behavior before asking charities to upskill

Technology

Values-based CRMs with best practice security safeguards
Pooled customer approach to software from big companies
Inclusive design of tools for all users including non-tech natives
Digital signatures to trace data leaks
Values-based donation platforms
Email platforms with best practice opt-in features
Tools to test data quality and potential bias
Recovery data systems to resist data piracy
Strategies to send automated messaging
Apps that do not geolocate
A way to visualize digital society in real time
Tools to manage a workforce in a 24/7 digital world
Digital audit tool

Capacity

Data literacy training
Incentives for data scientists to join the social sector
Tech skills audits for foundation management
Mentorship on data literacy by larger organizations
Clear understanding of informed consent when collecting data
Case studies of the transforming use of data and digital
Digital skills building for: boards, staff, funders, government, everyone
Better understanding of the ideal profile of a data manager
Case studies that show issues and possibilities of digital data
Ways to identify bias in algorithms before using them to distribute funds/resources
More private sector partnerships

Culture

Transparency and ethics in data management processes
Strategy that drives tech tools, not the other way around
“If you can’t protect it, don’t collect it!”
Recognition of the digital divide
Collaborate with technologists to tackle civil society’s challenges
Understand the “digital dependencies” of CSOs
Data is at the center of adaptability, applied ethics, and transparency
“Citizens, not consumers” – focus on trust
Openness to private sector partnerships
“Conceptual sunglasses” to prevent being dazzled by new technologies
Use GDPR compliance to shift organizational cultural
Pressure on commercial providers for privacy and security
Work with people in developing countries for whom tech is being built

Policy

Citizen data protocols
Universal charter of digital data rights
Legislative framework for data management
Digital inclusion index
Frameworks for public versus private use of data
Data philanthropy guidelines
Digital strategy templates
Health checks standards
Policy support from tech companies for NGOs
Co-design of digital strategy with the communities served/affected by data collection
Best practice code of conduct for data management
Better laws and regulation around citizens’ access to and ownership of data about them
Paris/Kyoto agreement for international digital standards
Guide to developing opt-in policies
Data standard for public data as rigorous as those for private entities
Policy guidance for the GDPR
Sector-friendly data protection/open data policy templates
Digital literacy as a Sustainable Development Goal