Activity 3: Evaluate and define next steps
Learn how to use the hierarchy of trustworthy data stewardship to evaluate your organisation’s priorities and practices and define next steps
Being trustworthy and trusted with data requires work within all parts of an organisation, across all areas of its activity. It can be hard for organisations to know where to focus their efforts for greatest impact. This is made all the more difficult by the fact that trustworthiness is in many ways context dependent: what is trustworthy for an organisation in one ecosystem may not be trustworthy in another.
Despite these complexities, it is possible to define a generalised hierarchy of steps that organisations can take to be trustworthy stewards of data – no matter their context, use case or circumstances. Building on the '10 elements of trustworthy data stewardship', the 'Hierarchy of trustworthy data stewardship' is a pyramid with four levels of trust and trustworthiness and the 10 elements of trustworthy data stewardship distributed throughout. See our resource, 'Hierarchy of trustworthy data stewardship (BETA)' for more information.
The pyramid is similar to a hierarchy of needs in that each successive level is harder to define and often more difficult to achieve. Organisations don’t need to ascend the levels in order, and taking steps to be trustworthy across the elements contained in the uppermost levels does not mean an organisation can ignore the lower levels. Conversely, being a trustworthy steward of data requires organisations to do more than tick off elements in the lower levels, like installing trustworthy data governance practices or robust data security procedures.
The four levels of the pyramid of trustworthy data stewardship
Level one: Operate legally and don't cause harm
The bottom level of the pyramid contains basic hygiene factors – things that organisations need to do in order to exist, and continue to exist, without causing harm or landing in legal jeopardy.
Level two: Operate smoothly and deliver your services well
The second level contains things that organisations need to do in order to operate and deliver services in a way that meets organisational goals and the expectations of partners or customers.
Level three: Commit to good practice and always strive to improve
The third level contains elements related to good practice, ethical operation and ensuring that organisations are open and accountable to external input and criticism.
Level four: Go above and beyond
The top level of the pyramid is about going beyond simply not doing bad things, to actively seeking out and doing things that are positively good and have a positive impact on people, organisations or communities outside of the organisation itself.
How to use the pyramid
Like a hierarchy of needs, there is overlap between the different levels, and the elements distributed throughout the pyramid are interrelated and mutually influential.
The hierarchy is also a reminder that becoming trustworthy and trusted with data is a long process with a lot of steps. It is well worth the investment and effort, but requires full commitment from organisations over the long term.
This hierarchy should not be treated as a definitive ranking of how organisations should prioritise the elements of trustworthy data stewardship. Different organisations in different circumstances may prioritise them differently. However, the hierarchy can be a useful blueprint for where – generally speaking – organisations should focus their efforts as they strive to become trustworthy and trusted with data. The hierarchy can be used to:
Help organisations assess whether their practices are aligned with their stated goals
Serve as a blueprint to help organisations draft and achieve new goals
Track progress and ensure organisations are on track in their effort to become more trustworthy and trusted with data
"Those leading data projects need to recognise being trustworthy and trusted with data is not a simple checkbox exercise where you can just publish some ethical principles, set up an ethical advisory board, and be done with it. It can require deep, challenging, changes to how organisations interact with consumers and citizens, to their decision making and to their business models. But equally, those of us who advocate for better data practices also need to recognise the enormity of what we’re asking for (and keep asking for it). This is a long journey; it will take many small steps to get us there."
Jeni Tennison, 'Building trust in how you handle data: a hierarchy'
Step 1
Once you are acquainted with the pyramid and its four levels, take some time to think about how your organisation's prioritisation of the '10 elements of trustworthy data stewardship' (Activity 1) and current data practices (Activity 2) compare to the generalised hierarchy.
Are there similarities or major differences between the hierarchy and how you prioritised the elements of trustworthy data stewardship in Activity 1?
If your prioritisation differed from your current practices in Activity 2, how do those practices compare to the hierarchy?
Step 2
Fill in Column E of your internal trustworthiness mapping worksheet (found in Activity 2) by writing down any areas in need of improvement or further work and documenting agreed next steps. For instance, improve the robustness of your data practices, in line with organisational objectives and subject to oversight and correction. Agree and document next steps, such as: put in place processes and procedures to ensure that any data your organisation collects or uses is managed consistently and in line with organisational priorities and commitments. Take steps to review your practices and workflows regularly and update and improve them when necessary.
Ask yourself:
Did the activities in this section of the guidebook spotlight any areas where you would like to seek to raise your level of trustworthiness in the short term? What, specifically, will you do in order to build trust and trustworthiness in that area? Over what timeframe?
With the understanding that the hierarchy can be aspirational for organisations and serve as guidance for how to become more trustworthy and trusted over the long term, are there areas where you would like to seek to raise your level of trustworthiness over the long term? What, specifically, will you do in order to build trust and trustworthiness in that area? Over what timeframe?
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