“Without quality data there is no useful artificial intelligence or real digital transformation.” This reality has led neoCK Group to create the first data space in the Third Sector, Social Data Driven or SDDI.
An initiative as pioneering as it is necessary, which seeks alleviate the gap that the Third Sector (TSAS) has in digitalization with respect to the private sector and which, according to data from the Social Action NGO Platform, could be estimated at a delay of 5 years, with 48 percent of entities with less than 1,000 euros per year of investment in technology.
“To put an end to this lower maturity and allow Third Sector organizations to access the new data economy, technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and spaces such as SDDI are essential,” the neoCK Group explains.
This space was born “in 2024, after reflecting on the impossibility of promoting technological development without having the necessary raw material, which is more data, of quality and shared between organizations, in an ethical and safe manner. To make it possible, it is necessary to support organizations in the development of data capture, management and analysis capabilities, and to articulate the technological infrastructure with the regulatory guarantees and the precise accessible usability,” he explains. Rocío Pérez, director of the Social Technology Business Unit of neoCK Group.
Thus, and promoted by the European Data Strategy of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Public Service, SDDI is based on four pillars:
- Data sovereignty: Each organization maintains control over what data it shares, who can use the data, for what, and under what conditions.
- Federation: It allows each actor to keep their data in their own environment while making it available to the ecosystem under common rules, permissions, and trust mechanisms.
- Interoperability: Systems, including different data spaces, can “speak the same language” thanks to compatible standards.
- Governance: Common rules are established that decide who participates, how data is shared, and how trust, security, and compliance are ensured.
But, in addition, these spaces make possible a pending issue for the sector: measuring the social impact of its actions. In that sense, one of the main use cases of SDDI is neoIMPACT, tool that allows standardizing and automating the measurement of the social impacts of organizations and programs, under European and Spanish reference standards on the subject, saving work time, bureaucracy, costs of subcontracting specialized consulting firms and enabling evidence and metrics that help organizations, financiers and administrations make decisions.
“We are talking about a paradigm shift in which public aid can be evaluated with greater precision, the social impact can be measured with real evidence, future decisions can be supported by comparable data and public and private financing gains in transparency and efficiency,” says the CEO of neoCK, Jesús Martín.
With an investment of 2 million euros, of which more than 1 million has been contributed by the company, and a dedicated team of 20 professionals, today SDDI already has 224 connected organizations, becoming the second most in-demand data space in Spain after the agri-food sector.
COCEMFE, Cáritas (Moda Re-), Save the Children, Anesvad, Plena Inclusion, Plan International, Integralia DKV Foundation, Provivienda and Confederación Salud Mental These are just some of the entities that are already part of SDDI.
“The fact that there are already almost 300 organizations connected, consolidating SDDI as the reference data space for the social sector in Spain, reflects a change of era: entities, companies and administrations are beginning to understand that measuring impact is not a bureaucratic burden but a strategic advantage to improve their programs, attract financing and be accountable with transparency,” reflects Jesús Martín.
