Taking Positive Activities information further: Managing information

This post is taken from the ‘Sharing the Learning Report‘ from year one of the Information and Signposting Project (ISP), which is available in full as a downloadable document.

In our last post in the Sharing the Learning series, we explored key learning on how to gather positive activity information. As more information is collected, finding ways to manage it effectively become more pressing. In this post, we explore key steps to effective management of positive activity information…

Step 1: Standardise and aggregate data

The variable range and consistency of positive activity information held by local authorities has made it difficult for them to present good quality information on all positive activity ‘instances’. Most authorities have been able to produce leaflets and brochures in PDF and hard copy formats which provide relatively comprehensive information for ‘fixed’ time periods such as school holidays. However, it is a far greater challenge in relation to the population and maintenance of ‘live’ media channels such as ‘one stop shop’ branded youth offer websites.

The technical demands of such resources require a level of data consistency, which can be challenging, but which does fit with non statutory guidance highlighting the core elements of data required to ensure effective publication of high quality positive activity information.

Through the ISP, an aggregation platform has been mobilised to help collate and pool activity ‘instance’ data together. This phase of the project involved intensive work with local authorities and third sector providers and the use of a variety of approaches including data feeds, spreadsheets and direct input tools to ensure the collection of data from organisations at different stages of development.

The action of aggregating data with consistent standards has established the foundations for a new dialogue and set of trials underpinned by a shared confidence in the quality of the information being worked with.

What information to include?

• Name and description of the activity
• Where the activity is delivered
• The date, start and end time of the activity
• The provider and contact details
• Cost of the activity
• How to get to the activity
• The accessibility of the activity and venue for young people with disabilities

You can find out more about the data standards that the Plings platform uses on the technical documentation website.

Step 2: Enhance the data

Beyond the collection of positive activity information in its raw form the ISP has been keen to look at ways in which additional material can be added to these datasets, so that they become more descriptive and ready for communication. Increasingly, it has become apparent that the communications and marketing teams involved in promoting positive activities have an interest in, and increasingly prominent role to play, in improving the quality and form of the data.

Through its first year the ISP has been generating a series of tools and resources to help the pilot authorities:

• Tag — providing simple exercises and tools that enable people to quickly and easily tag activities with keywords and categories in a ‘fun’ way which will help people to find activities.
• Search — producing games and tools focused on optimizing the search terms that young people use when trying to locate information
• Describe — providing materials and guidance on the presentation of text with which to describe activities in generic and locally appropriate ways
• Illustrate — presenting graphics and pictures for people to use when promoting activities

These resources are increasingly being adopted to enhance the quality of the raw data being submitted, with the end result that the information will become more relevant and appealing to its target audience

Step 3: Use analysis to plan & commission

The Government has put in place arrangements to capture the impact of the statutory duties included in Section 507B and related policy initiatives. Local level data is currently being compiled through the TellUs survey 5. This data provides valuable information to help us understand young people’s opinions on matters affecting their participation in positive activities and will also help local authorities to meet the requirement to ascertain the views of young people.

In accordance with the Government’s new commitments to ensure the provision of positive activities on Friday and Saturday evenings there is growing pressure on local authorities to monitor this provision. Following a recent review by the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit it has now been agreed that data on local authorities ‘youth offer’ is to be collected in early 2010 6.

Through the ISP efforts have been made to synchronise the easy analysis and reporting of positive activity data with the data aggregation process which resulted in the production of the first dedicated positive activity information analytics tool. This tool provides the functionality to interrogate activity instances and to filter them by authority, ward, location, type of activity, provider, day and time, both retrospectively and in relation to upcoming activities.

Important as the activity data is, authorities’ analytical and reporting needs extend beyond the counting of activity instances in particular wards. It is vital that they are also able to present information accessibly as it relates to the channels of communication being used to promote activities and, critically, the engagement with those channels. A series of tools to assess people’s engagement with activity data have now been identified which will be mobilised through the next phase of the project so that each of the 20 pilot authorities will be able to seamlessly monitor and report on their published youth offer. Furthermore, this functionality will enable real time local analysis which can be used to inform a wider commissioning strategy for positive activities.

Share your learning

If you’ve been involved in managing positive activity information for the Information and Signposting Project, or for any other projects, what learning can you add? Post a short comment below to share your learning…

The content in this post is Crown Copyright, originally from document DCSF-01077-2009.