Insight Infrastructure 2.0: A toolkit to tackle injustice and inequality in the UK

The second anniversary of the JRF Insight Infrastructure programme is a good time to reflect and think about its future.

For those who are new to the programme, here is a bit of history in a nutshell.

In early 2022, JRF officially committed to the creation of an Insight Infrastructure programme of work, to guide better policy and action in the fight against poverty in the UK. Our starting point was the adoption of an ‘infrastructure’ mindset, underpinned by a crucial question: what role can JRF play in enabling better generation and use of insights to support social change?

We had a mission and an ambitious task ahead of us — we needed a team to deliver the plan. As we are committed to harmonising how numbers and statistics (quantitative evidence) and the experience of those facing the issues we care about (qualitative evidence) can better complement each together, we quickly established a team that could bring that range of expertise to the programme. If we genuinely want to build a better picture of poverty, it is crucial we bridge the gap between the quantitative and qualitative worlds of insight and evidence.

The next step was to start building on those newly established foundations. However, before jumping straight into experimenting, building, and testing, we decided to start a long but necessary series of open conversations with many representatives of the communities and organisations we hope to support and work with.

We have learned so much from those who were kind enough to engage with us: from the partners we work with, to the people with direct experience of the issues we’re trying to solve, whether directly caused by hardship and inequality or the system we’re part of and trying to change.

The mission evolves

JRF now has a renewed mission and impact pathways for change. The Insight Infrastructure has gone through a similar evolution, not just because we are part of JRF, but also because of what our audiences and collaborators have shared with us and, more crucially, have taught us.

The need for an insight infrastructure goes beyond the mere need for better data. We exist to speed up the transition to a much more equitable and just future, free from poverty. How we go about enabling that transition and sustain social change is even more important than the tools and resources we can imagine and build.

When engaging with our intended audiences, we asked two fundamental questions:

1) What would the ideal infrastructure look like?

2) What are the technical requirements intended users and collaborators would want to see?

Some key learnings

The ideal infrastructure

I am grateful to the individuals and experts who have engaged with us. Importantly, they’ve helped us to truly understand our role and the difference we can make. In addition, they’ve also enabled us to grow. Whilst there is certainly great reassurance in knowing that we are building something that people have been asking for, there are some key learnings that shaped our ethos:

· There should always be a ‘human’ element at the core of what we do, from the evidence we gather, to the insights we generate, and how we disseminate them.

· Lived experience should not simply complement the work we and others do, but rather feed into the design of tools, solutions, and policy arguments.

· Stakeholders want access to timely, accurate and trustworthy data.

· Access to better and accessible data and evidence is not sufficient without clear guidance on how to turn knowledge into action.

· Insights and data need to be accessible and discoverable, as evidence currently available through public and open data can be difficult to find, access and interpret.

· The infrastructure ‘toolkit’ must be driven by the needs and values articulated by JRF and echoed by potential users.

Current toolkit

Over the last year, we have launched a series of resources informed by what we knew and what we have learned, but also by what audiences have been asking for. Here is an overview of what we have done to date and the different types of data our work involves (existing, experimental, and brand-new sources):

· We are actively collaborating with people with lived experience: Grounded Voices, Social Media Listening and GPAG.

· We have worked with and assessed existing data sources: N.E.I.F. and our work on Making Sense of Data Gaps (involving major national survey data).

· We have made available new sources of data: R.A.P.I.D., the Income Volatility Dashboard, and the Cost of Living tracker.

· We are evaluating the potential of experimental data such as that collected by charities (our Role of Charity Data project) and through our work with Access to Social Care.

There is no doubt these tools will evolve and improve. However, albeit in their first iteration, there is already plenty of useful information that can help us gain a better understanding of what is happening in the country. Most of the tools we have released are, in fact, powered by close to real-time information which is vital for our ability to understand the issues, think about solutions, and bring lasting social change.

You can find out more about all of the above on our website.

What next?

We have a lot to celebrate, but the journey is far from over. We have been focusing on generating ideas and building ‘good tools’ that are not just edgy and innovative but, more importantly, useful for our intended audiences. However, we are yet to start putting together the pieces of inequality, in a manner that would provide us and others with actionable insights.

Whilst we will continue to build, implement and experiment, our focus moving forward will start revolving more around sense-making of the information we are generating, as well as building movements of experts around thematic areas, challenges, and solutions.

That is why we are publishing an updated website, which has been designed to guide existing and new audiences through the tools we have launched to date, convey even more clearly what we stand for and want to achieve, and provide opportunities to work together on existing and new ideas.

We have also further refined how we frame the work, our goals and how we will get there:

Visit our page to find out more about the programme and our projects, and keep an eye out for what comes next as we venture into a new and exciting phase of the Insight Infrastructure 2.0.