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Data Infrastructure for Common Challenges
  • Data Landscape Playbook
    • Data Landscape Playbook: status
    • What is this playbook for?
    • Who is this playbook for?
  • Play one: Explore the problem and how data can address it
    • Define how improving access to data can help address your problem
    • What type of data infrastructure does the initiative aim to create or maintain?
      • Build or manage data assets
      • Create or adopt data standards
      • Build or improve technologies
      • Create guidelines and policies
      • Build or support organisations and communities
    • Carry out initial research and engagement
    • Summary of Play One
  • Play two: Map the data ecosystem
    • Engage with key stakeholders
    • Create an ecosystem map
    • Identify gaps, barriers and opportunities
    • Summary of Play Two
  • Play three: Assess the policy, regulatory and ethical context
    • Understand the legal, regulatory and policy context of the initiative
    • Understand the ethical issues impacting your initiative
    • Summary of Play Three
  • Play four: Assess the existing data infrastructure
    • Make a data inventory
    • Assess open standards for data
    • Assess data skills and literacies
    • Summary of Play Four
  • Play five: Plan for impact when designing your data initiative
    • Plan an impactful initiative
    • Identify risks, assumptions and dependencies
    • Sketch your evaluation framework
    • Summary of Play Five
  • What comes next?
  • Acknowledgements
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  • Consider the assumptions
  • Consider external factors
  • Consider the consequences

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  1. Play five: Plan for impact when designing your data initiative

Identify risks, assumptions and dependencies

PreviousPlan an impactful initiativeNextSketch your evaluation framework

Last updated 4 years ago

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Consider the assumptions

Assumptions are your underlying beliefs about how your program will work. Inaccurate or overlooked assumptions can impact how the success of your initiative is viewed. To understand your own assumptions, tap into your own experience, local wisdom, research, or best practice – think about:

  • your personal ideas about the problem or situation

  • the way the programme will operate

  • what the programme expects to achieve

  • how stakeholders learn and behave, their motivations, etc

  • resources and staff

  • the knowledge base

  • the internal environment

Faulty assumptions are a common reason for poor results. We are often unaware of our own assumptions, so alongside doing this activity collectively as a team, we emphasise the benefit of having external people review your logic model, to challenge it and help you to notice where your assumptions lie.

Example from OpenActive: stakeholders from across the sport and activity sector, such as gyms, sports clubs and dance studios, buy into OpenActive’s roadmap for the adoption of standards.

Consider external factors

These are the conditions in the environment in which the program exists over which you have little control, but which can influence your initiative’s success. It is important to consider these factors to help mitigate against any negative outcomes they may bring. Consider using a to think about the following:

  • Political changes from the government

  • Economic factors such as growth and interest rates

  • Social factors including cultural and demographic changes

  • Technological changes

  • Legal changes, including new laws and regulation

  • Environmental factors such as climate change

  • Other

    • media coverage

    • local or national events that may influence support for your initiative

    • changes in your organisation’s leadership, or the policies and priorities of your funders

You might also want to set a risk register to identify mitigation measures to address and monitor them.

Example from OpenActive: There is a shift in government policy putting further emphasis on the UK population becoming more active, which could build further interest in funding or maintaining the standards beyond the duration of the initial project (Political).

Consider the consequences

  • What are the intended and unintended consequences of your initiative?

  • What are the positive consequences you want to focus on?

  • What are the consequences you want to mitigate against?

Answering these questions will help your team to share knowledge and expertise and raise concerns in a dedicated and guided format. Doing this will allow you to have important conversations, identify roadblocks, and discover new ideas, while making sure your initiative affects the change you want it to achieve.

Many evaluations and logic models only focus on intended outcomes and impacts – but it is important to consider unwanted or unlikely positive or negative results as well. provides you with the opportunity to focus on the positive aspects of your initiative and mitigate or address potential harms or disasters before they happen. Essentially, consequence scanning involves answering the following questions:

If you find these questions difficult, or would like further information, please refer to the resources on the to help you.

PESTLE framework
Consequence scanning
Consequence Scanning website