Decision-Making and Data Use Landscaping: Better Data, Better Decisions

The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and DG released the report Decision-Making and Data Use Landscaping: Better Data, Better Decisions in 2018. This work examines the role that data plays in supporting key decisions taken by DFID at the strategy, portfolio (sector or country), and program level. Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through DG’s Results Data Initiative, the report synthesizes in-depth interviews with approximately 60 DFID staff across four country offices, all sector teams, and senior management.

Since the report was finalized in late 2017, its recommendations have been implemented by integrative work across analytical and technical professions in DFID, and made possible by the creation of a new cross-departmental DFID Statistics Hub. The report also informed DFID’s thinking on how to harness the potential of data in tackling extreme poverty.