Wikimedia Deutschland/Data Partnerships Model/The Phases of Data Partnerships

The Phases of Data Partnerships

There are six distinct phases to our data partnership work. While certain partnerships go through all six phases, other partnerships do not. Once a partnership reaches the assessment phase, it becomes clear whether it will proceed to the next phase (implementation) or skip to the last phase (monitoring & support) (see diagram 1 below). The speed at which a partner progresses through phases can vary significantly.

Diagram 1: The movement of partners through the various phases of the data partnership at Wikimedia Deutschland

1. Initial contact

In the initial contact phase, both parties engage in tentative enquiries about a potential partnership. This can occur digitally, in person or through an intermediary and be proactive or reactive. At the moment, reactive contact is much more common than proactive contact. However, in the middle to long term, we would like to adopt a more proactive approach to this phase.

In the case of a reactive contact, a potential partner finds us. This occurs in a variety of situations: at conferences, via word-of-mouth or referrals, through volunteers in Wikimedia projects or from other partners.

In the case of a proactive contact, a potential partner may be completely unaware of the potential offered by Wikibase and Wikidata. These partners may be discovered through user research, our desire to enter into new disciplines or as guided by our strategy papers and the Wikimedia Movement strategy.

2. Feasibility and profiling

This phase begins in a conversation with the potential partner where we try to get a better understanding of their needs and capabilities. Here we evaluate the absolute necessities for us to work together based on a series of questions related to technical capacity, alignment, impact and feasibility.

Questions to ask of partners in feasibility and profiling include:

Are they currently working, or interested in working, with Wikidata and/or Wikibase?
Do they possess the technical knowledge to move forward with their project?
Do they have usable data i.e. correctly structured and in a useful format?
Are Wikidata/Wikibase really the right solutions for their project?
Will a collaboration with them free data and bring us closer to our vision?

Based on the answers to these questions, we decide whether to progress the partnership or, if possible, provide the contact with a third party who can assist, such as a community member or other Wikimedia chapter. If neither is possible or reasonable, the partner remains in our contact pool so that we may follow up if circumstances change in the future.

3. Assessment

In this phase we gather in-depth information about the partners organisation, use case, and ultimate goals through workshops and regular meetings.

The aim of the assessment phase is to reveal the desires, needs and capacities of both parties. If these can be balanced we then undertake contract negotiations and create project milestones, deliverables and success criteria. The partnership then progresses to the implementation phase. If we cannot reach agreement or there are too many obstacles revealed during the assessment phase, we look for third parties who can assist, such as community members or other Wikimedia chapters. Otherwise, the partner remains in our pool of contacts as this allows us to follow up with the partner in case circumstances change in the future.

In some circumstances the assessment phase reveals that a formal partnership is not suitable either because the partner can proceed without any major intervention on behalf of WMDE or the partnership does not require a formal agreement (e.g. most Wikidata partnerships). If this is the case, we move straight to the monitoring and support phase where we provide consistent support to the partner in helping them reach their goals (and vice versa), bypassing the implementation, and conclusion and debrief phases.

Below are some of the topics we may review during assessment:

Alignment

We determine whether the organisation is a fit for us, both culturally and strategically:

Strategic/product fit: Do they match our strategic vision? Do their needs match our short, mid or long term product plans?
Cultural/ethical fit: Are our visions for the world aligned? Are they active in the free knowledge movement and passionate about increasing access to information?

Impact

We assess the level of impact using three criteria:

Organisation size and reach: Is this an international, national, or federal organization, regional association or local organization/project? Will this open new doors to other partners or expose us to marginalized groups?
Importance of the knowledge area: Is the organization working in a strategically important field to us (GLAM, science)? Might they help us close knowledge gaps by providing data for underrepresented knowledge?
Ecosystem impact: Can/will they grow the ecosystem as a whole? Are they able to onboard and integrate other organisations? Does this partnership increase interaction and knowledge exchange within the ecosystem?

Technical capacity

Technical capacity is reviewed on the following basis:

Technical expertise: Do they have the technical support to undertake a project like this? How much help do they need from us to set up and run their Wikibase instance?
Technical resources: Do both sides have the people, software, hardware and knowledge to proceed with the project?

Miscellaneous

There are also a number of other questions that may impact either parties decision to continue through assessment:

Learning opportunity: Will either side gain new knowledge or expertise from this cooperation? Will this help us to grow into new disciplines? Does this partnership create learning opportunities for us in software development? Do we create new opportunities for the partner within the free knowledge movement?
Funding: Does the partner have financial resources that could support additional personnel at WMDE? Are there resources for the development of new software? Are there opportunities to apply for joint funding?
Additional outcomes: Are there potential outcomes to this project that could help us with in future e.g. software that makes our or partners lives easier? Will this partnership highlight our work to a larger audience? Will they become spokespeople for us and vice versa?

4. Implementation

This phase includes all activities on the roadmap such as capacity building, training, software development, stakeholder meetings, user surveys and workshops. Activities are monitored and evaluated based on the agreed-upon plan.

5. Conclusion and debrief

In this phase we engage in a final evaluation where we review documentation, deliverables, milestones, success criteria and outcomes to determine how successful the project was and what can be improved in the future. Questions we ask may include:

Did we complete all activities outlined in the original agreement?
If there were certain activities we failed to complete, why?
What worked well in the project team?

We produce a full report with this information and hold two debrief meetings. The first one is internal and includes all Wikimedia Deutschland staff members involved in the partner project’s implementation phase. The second includes both Wikimedia Deutschland and all partner staff involved in the project. Both debrief sessions cover what went well, what did not go well and highlight areas for improvement.

6. Post-project monitoring and support

This last phase either begins three to six months after the conclusion and debrief phase is complete. Alternatively, this phase may already begin after the assessment phase. Here we ask questions about the project’s longer-term impact and survivability:

Did the project continue after our participation?
How is it faring? Is it growing?
To what extent are we still assisting?
Is the partner now acting as an ambassador in their field?

Answers to these questions will help inform future data partnership work and ensure that we learn from the partnerships in which we engage. This phase goes beyond a typical project management task that has a defined end.