Activity 5: Document your data practices within specific relationships

Learn how to use a trustworthiness mapping worksheet to document the steps your organisation is taking to be trustworthy and trusted when interacting with members of your data ecosystem

The aim of this activity is to provide your organisation with an understanding of all the systems, processes and structures you have in place in order to be a trustworthy steward of data within the relationship you have chosen to examine.

This activity will involve filling in a trustworthiness mapping worksheet:

• If you plan to work through this process as an internal exercise, use the ‘Trustworthiness mapping worksheet – individual relationship (BETA)'

• If you plan to work through the process in collaboration with a partner or stakeholder, use the 'Trustworthiness mapping worksheet – co-design process (BETA)

• As with the other activities, we recommend involving representatives from multiple departments within your organisation to make sure each department has a chance to note down the steps they are taking.

Step 1

Fill out the top section of your trustworthiness mapping worksheet.

• Taking the relationship that you examined in the previous activity, write the name of your organisation in the box on the left and the name of the other organisation in the box on the right

• Note down the flows between your organisations – data, insights, money etc.

• Write your prioritisation of the elements of trustworthy data stewardship for this relationship down the left-hand column of the worksheet (Column A), starting with the most important.

ODI Trustworthiness mapping worksheet - individual relationship (BETA)

Step 2

For each element of trustworthy data stewardship, ask yourself:

• What steps are we taking to be trustworthy in this area within this relationship?

For instance, what steps are you taking to ensure that your staff have the necessary skills and knowledge to perform their roles and deliver on organisational objectives?

Take time to brainstorm and note down your answers in Column B.

Step 3

Next, ask yourself:

• What steps are we taking to demonstrate to this organisation that we are trustworthy in this area and can therefore be trusted?

For instance, what steps are you taking to make potential partners aware of the skills and expertise of your staff - for example listing relevant training completed or professional certificates attained.

It is often not enough to simply be more trustworthy – organisations also need to actively demonstrate their trustworthiness to others and provide evidence of their trustworthiness when necessary.

Take time to brainstorm and note down your answers in Column C.

Step 4

Next ask yourself:

• What steps are we taking to assess the trustworthiness of this organisation in this area?

For instance, do you have processes in place to consider things like risk analysis and physical and technical measures when assessing an organisation’s privacy and security policy?

Being a trustworthy steward of data is not just about ensuring that your own organisation is trustworthy, but about actively taking steps to ensure that other people and organisations within your ecosystem are trustworthy as well, especially if you are interacting with them directly – for example by sharing data.

Take time to brainstorm and note down your answers in Column D.

Step 5

Once you have filled in those four columns (columns A, B, C and D), take time to reflect on the results and the process:

• Is your organisation taking steps to be trustworthy across all the elements within this relationship?

• Are there any areas where you are doing a lot of work? Any areas where you are doing very little?

• Are there any areas where you are taking steps to be trustworthy but are not demonstrating that to the other organisation? Similarly, are there areas where you are taking steps and demonstrating, but not assessing the trustworthiness of the other organisation?

• Did anything surprise you? Does anything concern you?

• Do the steps you are taking to be trustworthy within this relationship reflect your prioritisation of the elements of trustworthy data stewardship for this relationship in Activity 4? Are there any areas you ranked highly in Activity 4 where you are not taking steps to be trustworthy within this relationship?

The next activity will help you build on the results of this activity and document next steps in Column E.