Culture Commons contributes to major report on a National Cultural Data Observatory
Culture Commons has contributed to a major new report published through the National Cultural Data Observatory (NCDO) consortium, marking an important milestone in efforts to strengthen the evidence infrastructure supporting the UK’s creative, cultural and heritage sectors.
The National Cultural Data Observatory is being developed through a partnership led by The Audience Agency, the Centre for Cultural Value, MyCake and Culture Commons, combining complementary expertise in research, data innovation, policy development and sector practice to strengthen cultural evidence infrastructure.
The report sets out the case, design principles and development pathway for a National Cultural Data Observatory: a shared evidence infrastructure designed to improve how cultural data is generated, connected and used in policy and practice.
Drawing on extensive consultation, research and prototype development, it makes the case for a more coherent approach to cultural evidence at a time when policymakers, funders and practitioners are increasingly seeking better tools to understand participation, infrastructure, investment and impact.
As part of the consortium and core delivery team, Culture Commons has contributed particularly to the project’s place-based and governance dimensions through our work on cultural devolution, local government and combined authorities. This includes evidence-led work convening senior representatives from combined authorities across England to explore how shared cultural data infrastructure could support devolved decision-making and strengthen place-based policy.
That perspective is reflected in the report’s wider argument that cultural data is not simply a technical issue, but increasingly part of the institutional infrastructure needed for stronger public decision-making. At a moment when devolution is reshaping governance and delivery across England, the report highlights how shared data infrastructure could help embed culture more effectively within emerging regional policy frameworks, while reducing fragmentation and duplication and supporting local authorities as primary deliverers of cultural services.
For Culture Commons, this connects directly to our wider work on the role of evidence in cultural policy and to our earlier scoping research on a National Cultural Data Observatory. It also reinforces a proposition at the heart of our work: that stronger evidence infrastructure is essential to a more strategic, inclusive and sustainable future for culture.
This publication marks an important step forward for the NCDO consortium and for the wider field-building work behind it. We are proud to be contributing alongside partners across the consortium to help shape what comes next.
Read the full NCDO report here.
Read about Culture Commons work consortium on the NCDO here.
Read Culture Commons’ evidence report on the NCDO and combined authorities here.
