DataKind launches UK arm to support charities’ use of data
Howard Lake | 26 April 2013 | News
DataKind, the US nonprofit that helps connect data scientists with charities and voluntary organisations to help improve their work, has created its first international chapter. DataKind UK will work with UK charities and mission-driven organisations to empower those that want "to use data in the service of humanity".
The UK chapter's creation follows DataKind's inaugural DataDive in London last autumn. Over 70 data scientists spent a weekend with Oxfam, Keyfund and Place2Be to help them tackle their toughest data problems. Most of the UK directors – Duncan Ross (Teradata), Fran Bennett (Mastodon C), Stewart Townsend (Big Data Week), and Kaitlin Thaney (Digital Science, Strata London) – have been involved with DataKind since it was Data Without Borders.
DataKind UK's data scientists work on a volunteer or part-time contract basis for charities, paid for by the charities or sometimes by corporate partners. It also houses full-time data scientists who work on projects.
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DataKind UK joins a thriving data scene: in London there are already events such as Londata and Data Science London.
The UK chapter will work as an independent organisation but collaborate closely with its American partner.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.