In 2015, Oxfam was the first international NGO to develop a Responsible Data policy. Two years on, we looked into how Oxfam’s Responsible Data policy is being translated into practice.

What does it mean to implement a Responsible Data policy?

Since adopting the Responsible Data policy, Oxfam has been working towards its implementation by developing practical resources and piloting the policy in six countries, each chosen intentionally as they have different issue focus areas and different contexts.

Meanwhile, the Responsible Data community has continued to grow, and we’ve been thrilled to see responsible data policies taking root in an increasing number of organisations like USAID, the Catholic Relief Services and Africa’s Voices.

We helped Oxfam understand how the concept of responsible data is perceived within the confederation, and how the Responsible Data policy is being implemented in practice – is it changing project-level implementation on a practical level, or rather on an ideological level of raising awareness around these issue?

‘Thanks to the Responsible Data Policy, our data collection framework was very well structured and systematic – now we have become much more alert, on several fronts: for the in-depth process, how this is being handled, the access to the data, the confidentiality agreement.’

– An interviewee and Oxfam staff member

Although the recommendations in the report are specific to Oxfam’s context, we hope that other organisations will also be able to take away ideas, and find inspiration in Oxfam’s commitment to responsible data.

Questions or feedback? We’d love to talk about to you. Contact us at research@theengineroom.org. If you are curious to read the full report, we invite you to read it here.