Assess data skills and literacies

When assessing the data infrastructure to support your initiative, it is helpful to understand the skills that are already in place among the organisations connected to the initiative and plan to develop any additional skills that might be needed. Implementing a data access initiative requires focusing not only on technology and data skills, but also other skills, such as service design, innovation and change management.

The ODI Data Skills Framework offers guidance on the skills you might need within the initiative itself, or within the organisations and community who are stakeholders in the initiative. When assessing existing capability you might consider the following questions:

• What are the skills needed to meet the strategic needs of the initiative?

• What skills does your organisation currently have? What skills do your initiative partners and other stakeholders have?

• Should your initiative support a skills development programme within the organisations, or for a wider community?

• What are the key skills or knowledge gaps to be addressed?

• Will the skills needs of the initiative change as new data infrastructure is created, or existing data infrastructure is changed?