Data Maturity Assessment with the Department of Education Ireland – OGP Framework in Action!

Derilinx worked closely with the Department of Education to conduct a Data Maturity Assessment (DMA), whose findings informed the Department’s Data Strategy 2024-2027. The Department leveraged the OGP Technical Services Framework for Open Data and Data Management to get the support they needed to progress their data journey.

Department of Education’s DMA

The Department of Education aims to create an inclusive education system where every child and young person is valued and supported to achieve their full potential. To help achieve this, the Department relies on meaningful engagement with data.

A well-developed data strategy can enhance this engagement by making high-quality data accessible to inform decision-making, support policy design and implementation, and improve service delivery.

Following the recommendation within the Irish Public Service Data Strategy 2019-2023 from the Department of Public Expenditure, NPD Delivery and Reform that all public service bodies (PSBs) with significant volumes of data should carry out a data maturity assessment, The Department decided that it would be a very valuable exercise to inform their data strategy.

Like many other PSBs, the Department leveraged the OGP Technical Services Framework for Open Data and Data Management to access Derilinx’s expertise and help them conduct this DMA.

By running a DMA, the Department was able to:

• Gain an understanding of the knowledge areas they should consider in their data management efforts (e.g., metadata, data architecture, data quality).
• Gain insights on the strengths and weaknesses of their data management practices.
• Establish a benchmark for future comparisons in data management.
• Identify key areas for improvement and set targets for improved data maturity scores in the future.

Steps in the DMA

The DMA was conducted between October and December of 2023. In this process, 60 staff representatives from all sections of the Department contributed their perspectives on the Department’s data management practices, guidance, policies, and infrastructure. The exercise adhered to the data maturity assessment guidance established by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) for Irish public service bodies.

The Department’s DMA process consisted of several steps:

1. Refinement: Organising logistics and refining the questions within the assessment.
2. Kick-off meetings: Held to explain the process and objectives of the DMA to participants and to answer any questions they had.
3. Assessment: Participants completed the assessment questions
4. Workshops: Online workshops were conducted, where participants gathered in groups to discuss their results, the context for their scores, and to share any thoughts on potential improvements.
5. Analysis and reporting: Analysing the qualitative and quantitative results of the assessment, defining the key insights, and producing the recommendations.

The Department project lead worked with Derilinx to inform all steps of the DMA process.

As the new Department’s strategy states, the DMA insights and related discussions were then combined with outputs of other aspects of the strategy development process to determine data priorities over the coming years. Reflecting on the process, the Department’s project lead stated:

‘The DMA process and its findings were very useful in informing our data strategy’.

You can access the Department of Education’s 2024-27 Data Strategy on gov.ie.