What we did
The project
The World Bank Group’s Development Data Hub (DDH), overseen by the Development Data and Economics Group (DECDG), represents a landmark project aimed at revolutionizing how development data is managed, accessed, and used. To address ongoing challenges, we supported the World Bank to create the DDH to transform its data management practices.
The World Bank Group’s extensive development data resources are crucial for informing policies and projects across various sectors. However, the nature of this knowledge base had led to inefficient data access, fragmented workflows, and hindered program development. To address these challenges, DECDG needed a strategy to streamline data management and enhance accessibility, making it easier for stakeholders to leverage data for impactful decision-making.
Inclusive strategy development
Our primary focus was to develop a growth strategy that would maximize the use of development data across the World Bank’s operations. We engaged with over 600 World Bank staff members through workshops, surveys, and interviews to understand their data needs and challenges. This extensive stakeholder consultation allowed us to create a detailed strategy that included policy recommendations, data governance frameworks, and a robust system architecture.
By integrating industry best practices and insights from other international organizations, we ensured that the DDH could scale effectively and support the World Bank’s mission of reducing poverty and increasing shared prosperity.
Grounding our strategy
To make sure our strategy was both comprehensive and practical, we conducted thorough research on industry best practices, drawing insights from similar initiatives at leading international organizations such as NASA, OECD, DFID, and USAID. With this knowledge and feedback from World Bank staff, we developed a detailed strategy outline encompassing policy guidelines, governance structures, data strategies, system architecture, and an implementation roadmap.
Stakeholders expressed high satisfaction with the outcomes, with over 90% indicating they would use the DDH for data management. The centralized platform not only enhanced data sharing and collaboration but also improved the organization’s ability to make informed, data-driven decisions.
Setting priorities and objectives
We facilitated three workshops, each targeting different aspects of the project. These workshops brought together stakeholders from various departments for a holistic approach to the data management strategy. The workshops were designed for executive, management and regional staff and focused on identifying needs and challenges, developing solutions, and refining strategies.
Planning for change and implementation
Implementing a new data management system required careful change management. We developed a change management strategy that included communications plans, training programs, support structures and governance protocols. This included creating project boards and resource allocation plans that would identify both personnel and technical needs for each phase of implementation. We supported this with a programmatic budget, timeline, risk and mitigation plan.
Launch
Our strategic plan was approved by the World Bank’s executive team and then built and launched as the World Bank Data Catalog in November 2018. The DDH completely changed how the World Bank Group manages its data resources, making them more accessible, usable, and discoverable. The centralized platform not only enhanced data sharing and collaboration but also improved the organization’s ability to make informed, data-driven decisions. This new system streamlined workflows, improved data governance, and cultivated a more data-driven culture within the organization.
