The story so far

There is a crisis in cultural data. The national research infrastructure for data in the arts, cultural and heritage (ACH) sectors is incomplete, incoherent and lacks a unifying strategy.

The problem of fragmented and hard-to-compare data matters to us all – not just researchers and analysts. It makes it harder to justify and evidence the social and economic impact of cultural activities in a compelling way. This limits investment, hampers innovative policymaking and inhibits collaboration between public and private sectors. It also leaves the ACH sectors vulnerable to public funding cuts, as witnessed in recent announcements by local councils across England, themselves a symptom of a lack of public and therefore political support.

Another major issue with the way ACH data are inconsistently collected, synthesised, managed and interpreted is that it separates the development of public policies and cultural sector strategies from the people and places that should be at the very heart of them.

The commitment to deeper devolution will bring increased funding and decision-making powers to local and regional authorities. This shift has significant implications for research: as policy moves closer to local communities and economies, researchers will need to adapt, and rethink established approaches to data collection and analysis. Current ways of working all too often fail to capture peoples lived experiences of arts, culture and heritage.

As the leading political scientist Robert David Putnam argues, civic health and social wellbeing depend on a flourishing cultural and information ecosystem. Yet there is consensus among researchers, policymakers, funders and the sector that cultural data are not fit for purpose.

As policymakers at all levels increasingly focus on culture as a driver for social and economic development and place-based regeneration, this crisis urgently needs to be resolved.

What the project set out to do

The pilot investigated whether it is possible to bring together cultural, social and economic data at scale and make it more comparable, more people-centred and more useful for decision-making. This included:

Mapping existing datasets, observatories and indicators to understand what currently exists and what is missing.
Developing a shared use-case taxonomy to define what different users, from policymakers to cultural organisations to researchers, actually need from cultural data.
Designing a blueprint for a UK-wide Cultural Data Observatory based on common standards, a translational data layer and federated governance.
Building a demonstrator model focused on West Yorkshire and the Bradford 2025evaluation ecosystem, integrating datasets across demographics, cultural participation, mobility, funding, events, wellbeing and education.

What we’ve learned

Through 470+ conversations with researchers, funders, local authorities and cultural organisations, the project surfaced major challenges and opportunities:

The UK lacks a coherent, comprehensive cultural data infrastructure. Key gaps include data on the cultural workforce, non-ticketed activity, everyday creativity, cultural assets, local authority provision and longitudinal data.
Data needs to be more people- and place-centred. Traditional measures miss the lived cultural activity of communities, especially in diverse places like Bradford.
Users at every level need consistent, comparable evidence. Whether national funders designing programmes or local organisations evaluating impact, everyone relies on the same core building blocks: participation, population, infrastructure, funding and context.
Qualitative data must be able to sit alongside quantitative data. Numbers alone cannot explain change - or tell the real story of culture’s impact.

Where the work is heading

The pilot has demonstrated both the need and the feasibility of a National Cultural Data Observatory - and created a blueprint for how it could work. The next phase aims to:

Secure investment to develop the NCDO into a fully operational national infrastructure.
Grow the demonstrator into a multi-region, multi-dataset platform with stronger data standards, governance and partner contributions.
Work with local aand regional authorities, funders and cultural organisations to pilot shared data models, new indicators and people-centred evaluation approaches.
Build a national consortium that supports sector-wide data capability, reducing duplication, improving evidence and strengthening cultural policy.

What comes next - and how to join us

The pilot has shown both the need and the feasibility of a National Cultural Data Observatory. The next phase is about building it - together.

Over the coming months, the project partners will continue to refine the blueprint, expand partnerships and seek investment to scale the NCDO blueprint into a UK-wide cultural data infrastructure. This will include:

Growing the demonstrator into a multi-region, multi-dataset platform.
Developing shared data standards and a federated model of governance.
Working with local authorities, combined authorities, funders and cultural organisations to pilot new indicators, shared data pipelines and people-centred evaluation approaches.
Building the evidence base needed to support cultural policy that is rooted in people and place.

Our thanks

We are grateful for the institutional support and guidance from colleagues at the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Arts Council England, Historic England, Bradford2025, Born in Bradford, Spirit of 2012, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the Local Government Association. Their insight has been invaluable in shaping the direction of the pilot and informing what comes next.