Winter 2025 Newsletter
February 13, 2025
It’s Time for a Better Deal for Data
In this uncertain time for the social sector, trust and transparency – and our mission to keep communities’ data safe, and use it to their benefit rather than to harm or exploit them – becomes more critical than ever. In this, our Winter Newsletter, we highlight some of our progress toward that goal.
It’s been a jam-packed few months for the Better Deal for Data project, as we advance from in-depth desk research to gathering real world data use cases; considering implementation models; and sharing the Better Deal with a wide audience across civil society. We’re joined by Tech Matters teammates Amaya Webster, Courtney Tiberio, and Derek Caelin from the Terraso project. And, we have been taking the Better Deal on the road!
A Year in Review
Dr. Katy McKinney-Bock, Senior Data Scientist with Tech Matters’ Aselo project, wrapped up 2024 with a look back at her year as a Better Deal for Data Research Fellow. Focusing on data governance and sharing, her work has provided a strong foundation as we move into this next phase of the project. Her concise summary, In Search of a Better Deal, offers a terrific opportunity to get up to speed on all things Better Deal for Data.
A Better Deal for Data x Project Liberty
Jim Fruchterman introduced the Better Deal for Data at a Project Liberty Alliance Pop Up event, while Celine Takatsuno participated in the Fair Data Economy Report launch at the recent Project Liberty Summit on the Future of the Internet, discussing data governance, innovation, infrastructure, and more. Check out Jim’s presentation here!
Data in Kenyan Land Management
Amaya attended the Kenya Landscape Actors Platform conference in Nairobi, where she met with more than twenty people representing government, local farming communities, NGOs, and private sector entities to learn about their use of data in land management. Read more about her conversations and experience in her Tech Matters blog post, Thankful to Serve.
Agricultural Data Wallet Collabathon
Working with our partner OpenTEAM, we collaborated with the Terran Collective and the Agricultural Informatics Lab at Purdue University on the Agricultural Data Wallet Collabathon. This year-long project convened agricultural data stakeholders to examine data, technology, and trust in the agricultural context. Their vision of enabling “farmers, ranchers, and land stewards to securely store, access, and manage their data while exercising full control over who can see and use it” aligns squarely with the Better Deal for Data. Kudos to Katy and Hana Lee for leading our involvement.
What’s Next
We spring into 2025 with a full slate: a three month sprint to learn about social sector data uses; partnering with nonprofit organizations to test initial prototypes for putting the Better Deal for Data Commitments into practice; and a series of essays exploring some of the major questions and thorny issues in data sharing that we’ve encountered thus far.
Look for Courtney and Derek at the Society for Range Management Annual Meeting, and for Jim at the Skoll World Forum in April.
And, as always, we look forward to hearing from you! Share your data stories, feedback, and questions with us directly at [email protected].
– Jim, Steve, and Celine
P.S. Know someone else who should be part of the Better Deal for Data movement? Spread the news(letter) here!