DataDelta

How DataDelta supports social sector leaders

DataDelta, previously Data on Demand, goes directly to the source to equip government and social sector leaders with the highest quality survey data, shaping policies and programs that impact people’s lives.

The DataDelta team customizes each project so social sector leaders can receive the actionable insights they need, when they need them, with survey data they can trust.

The DataDelta team deploys sampling innovations, highly-trained data collection teams, and custom-built software to provide decision-makers with top-quality survey data at scale when they need it for decisions and impact.

Social sector partners are using DataDelta survey results to inform decisions that affect people’s lives, strengthen their own data systems to improve decision-making over time, and ground-truth remotely collected data.

Features of DataDelta

DataDelta enables social sector leaders to draw authentic insights directly from communities to improve their policies and programs.

Tailored: We customize each project to our partner to ensure the data collected is decision-relevant, actionable, and delivered on time.

High quality: We care about maintaining the integrity of our data and of each respondent. We use innovative data quality techniques that facilitate real-time feedback loops with our field teams to maintain data integrity, even at scale.

Representative: We collect and analyze survey data in near-real time, including representative samples of diverse populations that can be hard to reach.

Rapid turn-around: Our sampling innovations, data collection teams, and streamlined survey management enable our team to quickly test, refine, and rapidly roll out new projects.

Scale: Our largest survey captured 60,000 households. Our custom-built software, SurveyStream, enables us to maintain quality while processing large amounts of data.

Use case: Data for rapid decision-making at scale

In 2020, the team conducted seven rapid phone survey rounds during the first wave of COVID-19 to inform the Government of India’s COVID-19 response strategy. The time from request to results delivery for the first round was just 13 days, representing 80 million of India’s poorest residents. Now, the DataDelta India team is focused on multiple large-scale surveys. Working with a state government in southern India, the DataDelta team is collecting data from ~ 60,000 households on maternal health, child nutrition, and education indicators to inform resource allocation and geographical prioritization, and other government priorities. It is one of the largest state-level panel surveys in India.

Use case: Improving the quality of administrative data

As part of the Aspirational Districts Program in India, the team is using DataDelta surveys and tools to diagnose and address gaps in data quality in administrative data in the health, nutrition, and education sectors in 45 districts. By improving their own data quality, districts will be more invested in and able to use the data to track progress on key social indicators and to inform changes to social programs.

In the Philippines, the Department of Health has asked IDinsight to conduct capacity building for data use in several local government units. This will include raising awareness about the value of data for decision-making and impact in social service programs, setting standards for technical rigor and data quality, and considering resource requirements for ongoing data collection and use. In these ways, DataDelta aims to help institutionalize the use of high-quality, representative data in public sector decision-making.

Innovations and growth

Support from Co-Impact allows IDinsight to invest in the expansion of DataDelta in Africa, Southeast Asia and across India, and is also enabling continued technical innovations that allow DataDelta to optimize across cost, speed, and quality, and to foster sustained data use by public sector partners. Co-Impact’s support also enables IDinsight to integrate a gender and intersectionality lens across the project cycle to ensure that data collection and use within government and non-government partners help reveal and address inequities.

Read more about DataDelta in our news announcement.