Data for Good
Building a citizen-led counter-power in technology.
Data for Good mobilises the energy and scientific expertise of digital experts to address social, environmental and democratic challenges. The association builds open-source tools serving the general interest, supports civil society organisations, and advocates for a lucid, inclusive and sustainable vision of technology. Since 2016, over 130 projects have been co-created with grassroots organisations across three main areas: Climate & Biodiversity, Social Justice, and Democracy & Citizenship.
The challenge they want to solve
NGOs, associations and citizen collectives lack the technical and financial resources to access data and digital expertise, which is essential to amplify their impact. In a context of technological hegemony and accelerating AI-related risks, there is an urgent need to redirect data and algorithms to serve the general interest and rebalance power in favour of engaged actors and citizens. Data for Good fights against tech-solutionism and promotes emancipatory digital tools by resisting innovation for innovation's sake and systematically thinking about ends before means.
The impact they have
Data for Good has delivered over 130 projects of general interest since 2016. 80% of the accompanied projects would not have existed without the association's support. The community has grown to over 7,000 volunteers and partners with more than 100 organisations. Concrete measurable impacts include Trawl Watch, which monitors 1,700 fishing vessels with over 20 alerts per week and has enabled the first legal proceedings; Pink Bombs, which generated coverage in 16 national media outlets and led to a moratorium request; Carbon Bombs, which triggered a Senate investigation committee and over 70 articles worldwide; and CartoCampements, now used by 10 partner associations. The association maintains over two media appearances per week to raise awareness about technology serving the general interest. Volunteer work is valued at approximately 6,000 hours in 2024, equivalent to over €215,000.
The way we measure it
We measure the number of projects supported per year. The transformation rate shows that 80% of completed projects would not have existed without Data for Good. We also track the number of volunteers engaged per season, the number of partner associations and shared tools, the number of webinars and workshops with participants per session, and specific project indicators including media coverage, legal proceedings initiated, alerts generated, and citizen mobilisations.
