Data Literacy Project must help people understand data

Low literacy remains a problem. But it can be found not only in the field of reading and writing, but also in the field of data. Today, a number of global organizations are launching the Data Literacy Project to work together to meet the growing demand for data-savvy employees.

The Data Literacy Project is designed as a community project, with the aim of teaching society how to speak data fluently, and places data literacy at the heart of both individual and business success. It is necessary for people to be able to ask questions about data and machines, to build knowledge, to make decisions and to share their meaning with others. However, experts estimate that only 1/3 of people can really work with data with confidence.

Data Literacy project

The Data Literacy Project was set up by Qlik, market leader in data analysis, and further developed in collaboration with five co-founders: Cognizant, Experian, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Pluralsight and Data to the People. These organisations will set the agenda, provide the educational material and training and ensure that the project actually achieves its goal. This is necessary, because according to Mike Capone, CEO of Qlik, it can enable companies to increase their business value by 500 million dollars when they set up a data literate corporate culture.

The Data Literacy Project has a number of goals: to encourage large organisations to put data literacy at the top of the agenda; to set up the most accessible and complete educational data literacy ecosystem; and to provide educational institutions worldwide with a tool to add data literacy to the standard curriculum.

Working out the coming months

Over the next six months, the companies will roll out the project with a roadmap to achieve the set goals. Various parties will be invited, including companies in the private and public sector, but also governments and educational institutions, to work together on a data-literate society.

The educational materials are regularly updated in order to be able to offer continuously handmade learning processes for individuals. Companies are invited to try out the assessment tool that will be uploaded soon. With the tool they can map out where they stand in terms of data literacy and gain insight into how data literacy improves their business performance.

Finally, a Data Literacy Project Advisory Board has also been appointed. This board will supervise the project on a strategic level and look at how best to achieve the goals. In addition, the council advises on the design of the educational materials and assessment tools. The various members of the Board will be announced at a later date.