The Data Literacy Project

When we look at the world of data literacy and where it has come in the last couple of years, I am amazed at the power and reception the world has created on this wonderful topic. It is with the utmost excitement that I write about a new, independent (and I stress independent) community that has launched: The Data Literacy Project. This community and project is designed to truly bring data literacy to not only millions, but the entire world, but utilizing the voices of experts the world over and bringing in the discussions, stories, and learning to help all. In this post I want to discuss this new initiative and the power it is going to bring to the world.

I chose the quote above by Henry Ford to emphasize the power that a team can bring to a project, organization, or worldwide community. One of the key features of the new Data Literacy Project is the Founding Members that have helped to build this independent community. This group of founding members brings together a set of organizations and individuals who have a like-minded mentality to help drive data literacy, and help to build and facilitate the work around creating the right culture for organizations to thrive in this, the 4^th industrial revolution. These partners include: Qlik, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Cognizant, Data to the People, Experian, and Pluralsight, and we hope to bring in more. Each of these founding members has unique expertise and skills that will help to truly drive the vision, insight, and power of data literacy to the world, but it wasn’t just these founding members that help The Data Literacy Project establish itself, so let’s explore more.

One of the most exciting initiatives from The Data Literacy Project is the new downloadable report: The Data Literacy Index. If I were to ask you the following question, think about how you would respond: what does an enterprise get for becoming more data literate? I think we can come up with many intangible responses to this: quicker insights, data driven decisions, etc., but what about enterprise value? The new report, The Data Literacy Index, outlines the actual value organizations realize from being more data literate. Qlik commissioned a wonderful analysis on data literacy and its impact. From it, it was seen that enterprises can see as much as 3-5% more enterprise value if they are data literate.This was a fantastic find because it put the affirmative “YES!” that if an organization becomes data literate, it enables them to achieve more value. One of the most exciting pieces from the report, in my eyes, was it was found that those more data literate organizations were also quicker to market. Think of the impact being quicker to market has. Being quick to market can help an organization stay ahead of the competition. This Data Literacy Index is very exciting, and it doesn’t just show the value enterprises receive, but it also brings some very interesting statistics to the table on desire to be data literate, what investments are happening in data literacy, and so forth.

Along with the founding partners and the new Index report, The Data Literacy Project aims to bring stories and real-world conversations to the masses. Stories of data literacy success are another way for individuals and organizations to truly see the outcome of data literacy initiatives, and in some cases, it can be life or death; people resonate more with stories then they do with statistics. Along with these stories, The Data Literacy Project wants to communicate and discuss the world of data literacy; the more voices that come to the table, the better the solutions, answers, and progress we can make in closing the data literacy skills-gap.

I am more than excited to see this new, truly independent community come to fruition and be launched to the world. What I have written about is not all: The Data Literacy Project will bring learning and educational resources to the world, helping individuals drive their skills. The community also helps assess comfort levels with data literacy. Finally, the project will be delivering more and more initiatives in the future. I encourage you to check out the new Data Literacy Project website, start to join the conversation the world over, and use the rightly designed hashtag: #BeDataBrilliant.