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Date: 2024-11-21 Page is: DBtxt003.php bkTVM009020400
Burgess Manuscripts
TrueValueMetrics
ACTION INFORMATION FOR ALL OF SOCIETY
Metrics about the State, Progress and Performance of Society, the Environment and Economy
Metrics about Impact on People, Place, Planet and Profit
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Chapter 2
SYSTEMIC DYSFUNCTION
2-4 INACCESSIBLE DATA
There is a dangerous disconnect between the growth of knowledge, the growth of the economy and the results being achieved. Far too many people do not see progress in their own lives and the degradation of the environment is unsustainable.
Plenty of Data

An enormous amount of data exists. Much of the data has been used once, and once only ... maybe even not at all. The immense value of the accumulation of these data has never been realised.
In my corporate career, we used the phrase 'collect once ... use often' about data, because data was expensive to collect, but increasingly less and less expensive to use.
A huge amount of data is controlled for proprietary purposes and for profit, including a surprising amount of data in the control of the academic community.

Data accessible where needed

The critical aspect of access is that the data should be accessible where needed, and on a basis that is in time and on time. This has not been the norm in society at any point in my life-time. The following little incident a couple of years back in about 2010 is an example of a well known project collecting data, but not making the data available for anyhone but themselves.
Millennium Village Project
 Columbia University's Earth Institute has launched an initiative to reduce poverty called the Millennium Villages Project (MVP). While this embraces several development ideas ... (1) fertilizer ad seeds to improve food yield; (2) anti-malarial bed nets; (3) improved water sources; (4) diversification from staples into cash crops; a school feeding program; deworming for all; and, (5) new technology introduction (energy saving stoves and mobile phones) ... it does not appear to embrace the data and management concepts of TVM Value Accountancy.
It is not easy to evaluate MVP performance and learn anything from it because, though they are reported to have collected a vast amount of data, none of the data are accessible to the public ... to independent researchers and analysts. Rather, what is accessible to the public is a tiny amount of public relations oriented material and a growing body of academic literature that is characterized more by lateness than by immediate relevance.
While this may appear to be success when looked at from the University and academic perspective, this may well be total failure from the perspective of cost effective high performance socio-economic development. Using the basic concepts of TVM Value Accountancy all the indications are that the MVP is a lot of money not doing very much.

Accessibility of Data

This table shows how various types of organization seem to treat data.

Organization type
What data they have and what they do with data 		How accessible to the public
Academic Institutions
Some academic institutions are well funded for data collection, but the data collected seems to be used for limited goals including PhD production and for analysis that supports career development and grant flow maintenance. 		Very low. No data flows into the public space ... none of the data accessible for analysis.
Banking and Finance
Have enormous data stores about personal and business financial information, but tightly controlled and not accessible for analytical purposes. 		Not accessible at all. However, concern about banking sector resilience means that regulators are calling for analysis of these data.
Corporate Organizations
Data collected is used by the corporate staff to do analysis and internal reports that show performance and progress. Used by the corporation to show how much of social value is being done, even where what is being done is very tiny relative to the scale of the main corporate operations. 		Very low No data flows into the public space ... none of the data accessible for analysis, but some material used for public relations by the corporations.
Government Agencies - North
Government agencies have collections of data ... but most of the data are protected from public access . When data are made accessible to the public there are usually major deletions that make the data worthless. 		Very low Almost no data flow into the public space ... and almost impossible to access for independent analysis.
Government Agencies – South
Most data collected in the country goes to the government in one form or another ... but is rarely used in a productive manner, and is not usually easily accessible ... if it is accessible at all. 		Very low. No data flows into the public space ... none of the data accessible for analysis. Much data treated as secret.
Individuals
Data collected and used for work being done by the individual, whether this is work being done in an individual capacity, or for a project or organization. 		Very low. No data flowing into the public space ... however, many individuals would like to share the data so that it becomes public access data but no easy low cost vehicle for this.
Multilateral Organizations
UN, World Bank and all multilateral agencies have huge collections of data, but little of the data are able to be used in effective ways for analysis except within the system. 		Very low No data accessible in the public space ... but huge amount of material is published, most of which cannot be independently validated.
NGOs ... Not-for-Profit Organizations
Collect data and write reports and proposals to attract funding. Publish financial reports required by regulatory agencies ... typical a minimum requirement that shows very little beyond very broad classification. 		Very low. No data flows into the public space ... none of the data accessible for analysis. Data used to strengthen position in the industry.
Projects
Collect data to justify the project and get funding. Collect data for M&E and a report to funders. At the end of the project the data is archived ... and effectively lost for ever. 		Very low. No data put into the public space ... why bother ... worse, it may serve to show the project made little of value even though it cost a lot.
Scientific Research Institutions
Data collected circulates within the scientific elite, but rarely outside academic circles. Reports are prepared that help maintain grant flows and satisfy donors. 		Very low. No data flows into the public space ... none of the data easily accessible for analysis.
Social Impact Investing
Very little data presently available, but growing interest in having such data
Social Media Companies
Collecting huge amount of data about personal behavior and using these data for as a source of revenue and profit for the organization. 		Very little of these data are available for analysis by society at large
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Copyright © 2005-2021 Peter Burgess. All rights reserved. This material may only be used for limited low profit purposes: e.g. socio-enviro-economic performance analysis, education and training.