How we work with policymakers, regulators and public services

Ada is committed to using its research, public deliberation and expert convening to create real-world change. Engaging with policy, regulation, law and public sector delivery is essential to ensure data works for people and society.

We do this by sharing evidence, shaping debate, offering tools and guidance, and advocating for policy or legal development.

We are an independent organisation that seeks to build consensus around change needed. All our positions are grounded in research, expertise or public deliberation, gained through:

• Primary research
• Secondary research and analysis, including national statistics, peer-reviewed research, government research and evaluations
• Convening or consulting multidisciplinary experts
• Deliberation with publics, with particular attention to affected populations or marginalised groups
• Legal or conceptual analysis
• International policy reviews, case studies or evaluations
• Prototyping tools to support practice/delivery
• Translation and synthesis from academia to a policy or practice audience

In some areas there may be direct and clear policy objectives which trigger research, for example, the need for new regulation of biometrics, influencing the adoption of COVID-19 technologies, co-convening discussions with the ICO on immunity passports, or working with partners to run discussion workshops on the National Data Strategy.

No less important are areas where we seek to support the policy-making terrain through shaping debate or undertaking necessary groundwork by clarifying concepts of debate, connecting decision-makers to the academy, exploring areas of disagreements or trade-offs, and amplifying missed viewpoints.

We also welcome opportunities to collaborate with public sector institutions to undertake research or deliberation, like our six-month ethnographic study on the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham’s data practice and use of predictive analytics.

Interested in working with Ada on a project or topic? Contact us at hello@adalovelaceinstitute.org.