Benefit Mapping - A visual method of linking project deliverables to business objectives.
Business Intelligence (BI) Tool - standalone tools (or suites of tools) to analyse data targeted to a specific industry. These can be referred to as “data warehouse appliances,” or through an endless number of acronyms (ERP, OLAP, CPM, CRM, etc). In practice, Business intelligence tools are instruments that help analysing, visualising and communicating insights from data distributed across an organisation (or multiple organisations), making it easier to be understood and acted upon.
Big Data - According to the UK Cabinet Office, the term refers to both "large volumes of data with high levels of complexity" and the "more advanced techniques and technologies required to gain meaningful information and insights in real time". Usually referred to any form of data that, because of size, rate of change or complexity, requires a sophisticated analytical capability to be processed.
CDO - Chief Data Officer, see Information Governance / Legal Lead
Data Analyst - a professional responsible for inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modelling data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making.
Data Analytics - the discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns and insights in data. It can be used by individual teams and organisations to better inform their own decisions and activities. It can also be used to help multiple teams or organisations collaborate more effectively. At Nesta, we believe data analytics has the most value when it is used to produce actionable insights, hence leading to better actions.
Data Scientist - a professional responsible for collecting, analysing and interpreting large amounts of data, with the ability to use advanced analytics technologies, including machine learning and predictive modelling, to provide insights beyond statistical analysis.
Data Visualisation - the art of communicating and making sense of data using images.
Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) - A privacy-related impact assessment whose objective is to identify and analyse how data privacy might be affected by certain actions or activities.
Information Sharing Protocol (ISP) - An agreed set of principles about sharing personal or confidential information; it enables each organisation signed up to the protocol to understand the legal powers and circumstances in which it should share information and what its responsibilities are.
Local Authority - A body responsible for the provision of an extensive range of public services in a given area, for example district councils.
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) - a type of agreement between two (bilateral) or more (multilateral) parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action.
Minimum Viable Information Product (MVIP) - A product with just enough features to satisfy early customers, and to provide feedback for future product development.
