Developing a new data maturity model for local government

Client: Local Government Association

June 22 to August 23

Ed worked with the Local Government Association (LGA), the representative organisation for English local government, to update their data maturity model for Local Government. The data maturity model is used by councils to understand their organisational capacity to use data. The LGA model is supported by an online tool which brings together assessments from a wide range of officers across an individual council to create a rounded picture of the organisation’s data maturity. 

Ed facilitated online workshops with a cohort of English councils to gather feedback on the current tool. Following these workshops the project evolved into updating the structure and content of the underlying data maturity model to be easier to understand and reflect the current state of data use. The original model was created in 2017 following research by Nesta and the online tool was developed by Porism. As part of this update Ed examined a number of existing data maturity models for related sectors, including the recently released Data Maturity Assessment for Government. 

The updated data maturity model and assessment tool was released by the LGA in August 2023. This included an all new structure and content reflecting the development of data use in the local authority. The tool is a unique proposition in the sector, providing councils with a free and quick assessment of their organisational data maturity allowing them to move quickly on to  identifying the opportunities for better use of data and developing an implementation plan.