Data Sense

Acceleration of smart and informed progress…

The year is 2020, the smell of change is in the air. The world is changing; the need for data is changing.

Sustainability, climate change, and social justice - these are just some of the themes that are pricking the universal social consciousness. Indeed, awareness around the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) continues to grow at a country, investor and company level. As individuals, our decisions grapple with issues that for many of us, would not have made a blip on our radar even a year ago. The writing is on the wall, the winds are changing, transparent knowledge on a myriad of levels is needed. Where our food comes from, how we carry our purchased goods and what we eat; queries which lead back to those overarching themes - consolidated under the SDGs. The need for data at a granular level has never been greater. But is it a question of more and more data? Or smarter data which informs and is transparent?

Thus, begins the era of Data Sense, using data in a smarter manner that can be used and judged by nearly all. It is akin to ‘common sense’, or sound practical judgment concerning everyday matters, or a basic ability to perceive, understand, and judge that is shared by ("common to") nearly all people. Data sense is not a new idea in many subjects, but here it specifically refers to the need for smart data flows of non-financial data (NFD) –> smart data –> data sense.

The solution at the moment seems to construct bigger datasets. But does gathering more data necessarily lead to making smarter and more informed decisions? Or is it just more data for data’s sake? The primary stakeholders for NFD are companies, data users and investors. Data sense leads to effective use of the data for understanding impact, and informing:

1. Resource allocation for companies, including where resources should be deployed to address the SDGs and other material risks/opportunities;

2. Models for ratings/index agencies which require trusted and transparent data, enhancing established models with timely and robust data inputs;

3. Investment decisions informed using trusted and assured data in a timely manner.

Data sense (or smart data) should be transparent and used to drive real impact within the strategy and business models of an organisation. Data sense answers transparently for each data point; where it came from, what is the magnitude of the point, any supporting evidence - the complete monitored process, how is it verified, who logged it, and who assured it – essentially, understanding the full life-cycle and implications of the data, how it is used and gathered.

Data Sense also refers to intentional striving for standardisation, reducing the reporting burden on companies and consistent dissemination to data users. Data sense supports the link between smart data, generation of value for shareholders and long-term success of both investment and business. Data sense identifies data, which is the catalyst for smart behaviour, and can increase positive contribution and decrease negative contribution. Making good investment and business decisions requires using data in a smart way to inform strategy and purpose.

Current practice around NFD is to scrape it from public data, repackage it and sell it as something “new ``. There is a real concern about greenwashing, given the heightened interest in these issues. Gathering more of the same data is not the answer. Indeed, the growth of innovative technologies allow for sophisticated and smarter greenwashing –‘gaming’ the system, irrespective of the size of the dataset.

Innovative technology should not facilitate the ‘gaming,’ but should use its disruptive skills to link the products and services of companies with investors to support the delivery of the SDGs, inform decisions and be part of a transparent solution to the significant SDG challenges. Collection of smart data, data with Data Sense, at the granular level can identify those who are gaming the system and those who are assessing the data in terms of strategy, business modelling and value creation for shareholders.

World Wide Generation (WWG) is an active player in the delivery of Data sense (smart data) as a sustainable development fintech company. The mission is to be an authorised data source for NFD. Our G17Eco platform is ideally placed to gather granular data from the golden source, standardise the data against the SDGs, and disseminate it with an even hand. This allows for data users to trust the data, data suppliers to reduce their reporting burden and restricts the ability for gamification of the system as transparent data using distributed ledger technology highlights rogue data.

Tech and data providers are part of the solution, when the goal is Data sense and not larger datasets. The writing is on the wall, the winds are changing and smart data, or Data sense is on the forefront of the change.