Knowledge is Power: How can cultural sector data be more people-centred?

Knowledge is Power: Power: How can cultural sector data be more people-centred?

The Centre for Cultural Value have been working with the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture evaluation team, alongside The Audience Agency, MyCake and Culture Commons, to explore the development of an ambitious data initiative for the UK.

As an essential component of the UK’s research infrastructure and knowledge base, the National Cultural Data Observatory (NCDO) has the potential to transform and join up public policies and sector strategies for the UK’s cultural and creative sectors. The project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and Research England.

In our next Knowledge is Power event, you’ll have the opportunity to help shape the key elements and arguments for the Observatory, from the point of view of the creative and cultural sector. We want to hear from artists, creative freelancers, arts and culture organisations, academics and researchers, as well as those employed in arts and culture and public sector roles.

Join project co-lead Ben Walmsley (Dean of Cultural Engagement, University of Leeds), Clare Daněk (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Leeds) and Stephen Miller (Chief Technology Officer, The Audience Agency) and their teams to:

- Feed into discussions on how this groundbreaking tool could better serve your needs and help demonstrate the impact and added value we know the arts and cultural sector can bring
- See first-hand the demonstrator model in action and learn more about the technical components, research approaches and cross-sector partnerships that underpin this work
- Share your perspective on the challenges you face in the current fragmented systems and ambitions for a more unified approach
- Meet with the project leads and sector peers in the region to explore the case study data available on Bradford and the wider area

Event Schedule
12 PM: Arrivals, lunch and networking
1 PM: Overview of the National Cultural Data Observatory project
2 PM: Local Demonstrator Evidence Sessions
See how the NCDO works using local data, and share your thoughts and perspectives on how the tool could support your work

In advance of the event, we invite you to consider the challenges you’ve faced in gathering and using data, whether qualitatively or quantitatively. There’ll be interactive sessions where you can share your experiences if you’re keen to do so.