Enter D4WN – Data for Workforce Nurturing – an initiative of UX, Fundación Capital and Data Elevates that connects data from the Biscate and Con-Hector platforms.
Fundación Capital – Use of Business Intelligence for Informal Workers
Jobs of Tomorrow
SUBMITTED BY
Fundación Capital
PARTNERS
UX; Data Elevates
LOCATION
Mozambique
In Mozambique, more than 90 percent of all workers are employed in the informal sector — jobs that are neither taxed nor monitored by the government, such as domestic workers, street vendors, or home-based workers. These workers face higher poverty rates, economic insecurity, and fewer opportunities for economic advancement. To increase opportunities for informal workers, UX launched Biscate, a digital job platform where workers can advertise their profession, experience, and location, and potential clients can browse services, contact workers, and leave ratings.
Harnessing the Power of Data:
Inclusive Growth and Recovery Challenge Impact Report
The project was developed based on two key impact indicators: increasing workers’ income and increasing
women’s participation. Both were achieved by the end of the Challenge, with calculations indicating an 8% rise in income and women’s presence doubling in D4WN.
Highlights
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1
Creation of D4WN Data Warehouse
Data for Workforce Nurturing (D4WN) is a data warehouse developed and deployed to power delivery of data insights back to workers. To do so, an extensive data analysis on Biscate historical data was conducted to glean the insights needed to make the solution more equitable and impactful.
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2
Re-design of Algorithms to Address Inequities
When the team discovered inequities in the distribution of job opportunities on Biscate in addition to missed opportunities to improve data quality that impeded value for users, they launched a re-design of the Biscate platform and matching algorithms with a focus on fairness and equity, while still rewarding productive workers. The project strengthened their conviction that data science needs to hold the highest ethical standards because mission-driven organizations have an enormous responsibility to their users. They also set up an Ethics Committee to monitor and give recommendations about actions they implemented to address ethical issues.
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3
Launch of Com-Hector Virtual Assistant
Com-Hector takes data from D4WN and delivers it to workers via user-friendly messages to improve their decision-making capacity. As the Challenge evolved, Com-Hector became a toolkit for informal workers, adding features like an automatic CV generator, a price calculator, and more recently, a flier-maker for publicity.
Looking Ahead
Fundación Capital, UX, and Data Elevates and are focusing on replicating and expanding D4WN to increase opportunities for those in the informal economy. They are considering services like edutech, fintech, insurtech, incubators, social enterprises, and others that could be promoted and even purchased through the solution. With this growth, D4WN will become a product akin to data warehousing, and could serve the organizations across social innovation, data for impact and international development.