Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
01 November 2023
Post No. 324
The Week’s Contents
• The Month of the Economics of Education and Skill Formation (Skills Development Month) 2023
• “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) Campaign – In Focus for Week Beginning 30/10/2023: Preserving Adetomyrma Venatrix, Dracula Ant
• Support the Educationally Needy Children Impacted by Crises in Africa
… And much more!
Key Messages
• The Month of the Economics of Education and Skill Formation (Skills Development Month) 2023
November is the Month of the Economics of Education and Skill Formation (or in short Skills Development Month) within CENFACS. It is the month that we recognise the economic value of education as well as of the non-economic benefits from education even though there could be a dispute about these values or benefits. It is also the month we pay a particular attention to the technology of skill formation; month in which we try to find out how skills are formed and how technologies relating to them can help us to further reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.
So, our November work on economic issues relating to education has started today. This work will first be about the link between education economics and poverty reduction, then between education economics and sustainable development. This work will include the identification of causal relationships between African organisations’ work and outcomes in educational projects in 2023 and beyond.
In this identification, we shall refer to the human capital theory, which will be the theoretical and working paradigm to be used this month. In other words, all along this month we shall work on this assumption: the importance and capacity of education and training (skills development) to help reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development.
Skills formation and development will be about forming new skills (that is, any abilities to perform an activity in a competent way) to continue to fight poverty; for example poverty induced by the cost-of-living crisis or any other crisis. This month, Skills formation and development will include three types of skills: data and insight skills, cottage industry skills and self-efficacity skills.
~ Data and insight skills will be foundational statistical skills that help to understand data and insights relating to families’ or households’ life and matter. Data – which is raw, unorganised and unprocessed facts and information – require skills to be treated or managed. Insight, which is analysed information, needs as well skills to deal with.
~ Cottage industry skills will be those needed by some of our users who are craftsmen and artisans who hand craft goods within their cottages to run their families’ income-generating activities to make ends meet and reduce their own poverty as well as others’ poverty.
~ Self-efficacity skills will make up the theme of our Development Day, this month. Self-efficacity skills are resilience, flexibility and agility skills – which are the third top skills of 2023 in demand, according to the World Economic Forum (1).
This above-mentioned variety of abilities or skills will make our human capital this month.
Under the Main Development section of this post, you will find further information about this first key message.
• “A la une” (Autumn Leaves of Action for the Upkeep of the Nature in Existence) Campaign – In Focus for Week Beginning 30/10/2023: Preserving Adetomyrma Venatrix, Dracula Ant
To preserve Adetomyrma Venatrix, Dracula Ant, it is better to understand preservation, to get some facts about this type of ant and to know what can be done to preserve it. In addition to that, we are going to highlight the insect themed activity we planned for this week.
• • Understanding Preservation of Adetomyrma Venatrix, Dracula Ant
Preservation of insects can be perceived in many ways. However, in the context of this note, the aim of preservation is to protect the environment from the harmful effects of human activity, in accordance to ‘education.nationalgeographic.org’ (2). In this case, it is about protecting Adetomyrma Venatrix, Dracula Ant. In order to proceed with this protection, one may need some facts about this type of ant.
• • Facts Summary about Adetomyrma Venatrix, Dracula Ant
It is stated on the website of ‘earthsendangered.com’ (3) that
“The Dracula Ant (Adetomyrma venatrix) is a species of concern belonging in the species group insects and found in the following area(s): Madagascar. Adetomyrma Venatrix, more commonly known as the Dracula ant, so named because of its grisly feeding habits of drinking the blood of its young, is an endangered species of ants endemic to Madagascar”.
According to ‘eol.org’ (4),
“Adetomyrma Venatrix (Dracula Ant) is a species of Hymenoptera in the family ants. They are listed as critically endangered by the the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species (5). They are diurnal [and found in the tropics of Africa, Asia and America”
Of particular features, these ants resemble wasps more than ants. They have only one joint between their thorax and abdomen instead of three like other species of ants. They live in large colonies underground, or inside tree trunks and rarely seen. They are also known to use the explosive motion to attack, stun and kill prey, which is then fed to their larvae.
If Adetomyrma Venatrix (Dracula Ant) is endangered, then it needs preservation.
• • Preserving Adetomyrma Venatrix (Dracula Ant)
Preserving Adetomyrma Venatrix, Dracula Ant could mean protecting its habitat, which is tropical forest-dry, montane and rainforest. It is about keeping or maintaining it in an unaltered condition. Preservation could also signify adding the following actions:
√ Volunteering for causes that aim at preserving Adetomyrma Venatrix, Dracula Ant
√ Educating people about the need to preserve the endangered Adetomyrma Venatrix, Dracula Ant
√ Reducing the effects of climate change on Adetomyrma Venatrix, Dracula Ant
√ Cutting down the spread of pathogens and parasites
√ Applying conservation measures to protect Adetomyrma Venatrix, Dracula Ant
Etc.
• • Add-on Activity of the Week’s Campaign: A Case Study on Insects as Upholders of Ecosystems
The insect themed activity of this week is to provide a case study about the gifts and benefits that useful insects bring to humans and the nature. One of these gifts and benefits is their critical and well-appreciated roles in ecosystems.
As Penn State Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences (6) put it,
“Insects are keystone species that provide invaluable ecosystem services that extend beyond pollination, by providing biological control of pests, and acting as bio-indicators of healthy streams and soils”.
It is well known and documented that invasive or pest insect species can destroy crops and upset the balance of healthy ecosystem. However, what we are mostly interested in this insect themed activity is the gifts and benefits that beneficial insects bring to humans and nature.
The case study, which is an examination on how insects are the upholders of ecosystems, could be for instance about insect pollinators (like bees or butterflies) pollinating wild flowering plants or insect removers (such as dung beetles) of waste products from the environment.
This type of case study will help increase understanding on the gifts and benefits beneficial insects provide to humans and nature.
Have a case study on insects as upholders of ecosystems, please do not hesitate to share the story about it.
To find out more about the entire “A la une” Campaign and Themed Activities, please communicate with CENFACS.
• Support the Educationally Needy Children Impacted by Crises in Africa
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (7) estimates that
“The out-of-school population in Sub-Saharan Africa increased by 12 million over 2015-21” (p. 19)
Likewise, the United Nations Children’s Fund (8) states that
“One of the first day of the new 2023-2024 academic year in Burkina Faso, 1 in 4 schools or 6,149 remain shut due to ongoing violence and insecurity in parts of the country”.
As a way of keeping education alive for these unfortunate children living in those parts of Africa in conflict crisis (like in the 3 borders area composed of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger), many types of initiatives have been taken to support these children so far.
These initiatives have been carried out by organisations (such as the United Nations Children’s Fund) and people like you to help. Initiatives such as education by radio programme, back-to-school advocacy, delivery of school kits, etc. have been taken.
However, due to the immense educational challenge posed by the legacies of insecurity and violence, there is still a deep, intense and urgent educational need in many of these areas.
This appeal, which is worded as Every Child in Africa Deserves Education, has already started and will make CENFACS‘ fundraising campaign for Giving Tuesday on 28 November 2023.
We would like people who may be interested in our philanthropic mission to join us in this campaign.
We are asking to those who can to support these Educationally Needy Children via this campaign not to wait the Giving Tuesday on 28 November 2023.
They can donate now since the needs are urgent and pressing.
To donate, please get in touch with CENFACS.
Extra Messages
• Activity/Task 11 of the Influence (‘i’) Year and Project: Encourage People in Need to Practise or Learn Skills
• Goal of the Month: Poverty Reduction through Cottage Industry Skills
• Review of Long-term Actions/Service under the Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living
• Activity/Task 11 of the Influence (‘i’) Year and Project: Encourage People in Need to Practise or Learn Skills
The 11th Activity or Task of our ‘i’ Year and Project is about either encouraging people in need to apply and practise skills or to learn new skills.
• • Encouraging People in Need to Apply and Practise Skills
It is about giving support or hope to people in need to access real projects or experiences that allow them to apply and practise their skills so that they can navigate their way out of poverty.
• • Encouraging People in Need to Learn New Skills
It is about talking to, carrying out needs assessment and recommending the people in need to be curious and eager to learn new things and skills to enable them to navigate their way out of poverty.
The above is the Activity or Task no. 11 for the ‘i’ Year/Project for those who are interested in carrying it out.
For those who want any clarification of any aspects of the activity or task, they can contact CENFACS.
• Goal of the Month: Poverty Reduction through Cottage Industry Skills
Cottage industry played and continues to play a role in reducing poverty and in economic development. Having the skills making this industry can help those in need to navigate their way out of poverty. Using these skills to reduce and perhaps end poverty is the goal of this month within CENFACS. But, what is cottage industry?
• • Basic Understanding of Cottage Industry
There are many definitions of cottage industry. One of them comes from ‘corporatefinanceinstitute.com’ (9) which states that
“A cottage industry business is a small manufacturing business typically operated from the home or a small workshop, usually by family members or a close-knit community”.
From the perspective of our goal of the month, cottage industries are not perceived from the profit-making drive. We are instead looking at them from their capacity to reduce poverty and their contribution to local community development causes.
From this perspective, cottage industry skills are not only business skills. They are also the skills that enhance the lives and livelihoods of those living in poverty. Some of them may try to work in their cottages or run cottage industries to escape from poverty and hardships. To do that, they need the skills adapted to these industries.
• • Cottage Industry Skills
There are many types of skills in the cottage industry depending on the segment or niche of this industry. Generally and historically speaking, the following skills can be found in the cottage industry:
√ Pottery skills
√ Embroidery skills
√ Soap making skills
√ Traditional skills of all kinds
√ Local production skills
√ Wood working skills
√ Skills to produce with less waste or environmentally friendly skills
√ Cultural heritage skills
√ Weaving skills
√ Clothing making skills
√ Skills for making food at home (e.g., jams, mayonnaise, cakes and so on made at home)
√ Present wrapping skills
√ Skills for producing healthcare equipment (like coronavirus face masks)
√ Skills for manufacturing medicinal plants to cure diseases (e.g., chicken pox)
Etc.
Those skills will depend on the type of products or industries to produce or manufacture.
The above is our poverty reduction goal for this month, which we are asking to our audiences and supporters to help or promote.
• Review of Long-term Actions/Service under the Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living
The prices of some goods seem to be either slowly growing or slightly decreasing. This could suggest that there could be some changes in some economic indicators (like inflation).
According to ‘retailgazette.co.uk’ (10),
“Shop prices dropped from 6.2% in September to 5.2% for this month, putting it below the three-month average inflation rate of 6.1%…. Food inflation fell to 8.8% in October, compared to almost 10% in September, while non-food inflation dipped to 3.4%”.
To the above figures, one can add the level of energy price cap which has been lastly set at £1,834 between 1 October to 31 December 2023 by Ofgem (11).
Despite the above figures, ‘thenationalnews.com’ (12) argues that the cost-of-living crisis is far from over and the likelihood of an improvement in the financial fortunes of ordinary citizens and households still seems a long way off.
In the light of the changing economic situation and after one year of running the 2 to 10 Years’ Actions/Service under the Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living, it is normal to review these actions/service. Before highlighting this review, let recall the aim of the 2-to-10-year service or programme of work with the community.
• • The aim of the 2 to 10 Years’ Actions/Service under the Campaign to End Poverty Induced by Rising Costs of Living
The aim of the 2 to 10 Years’ Actions/Service is to avoid that the cost-of-living crisis leads to intergenerational poverty; that is the transmission of poverty linked to high cost of living to future generations. Through this level of service, CENFACS hopes to support its community members to become more financially resilient as the cost-of-living crisis lasts and beyond. In doing so, they can better manage their financial well-being and survive.
• • Reviewing the 2 to 10 Years’ Actions/Service
This review rests on the actions undertaken so far. We shall review the following:
√ The help we provided for the beneficiaries to improve their productivity and capacity to earn or generate sufficient income
√ The types of protection we recommended in terms of the economic basis of beneficiaries’ survival as humans
√ The support we gave to them to consume green and local so that they could be less exposed to the volatility of the international prices of goods and services
√ The suggestions we made in terms of finding ways of scaling down repressive or punitive market dictatorship on them
√ The encouragement we provided to them to lead long-term change not to be behind it
√ The advice we gave to them on lasting financial resilience support schemes
√ The suggestion we made in getting them to invest in long-term solutions to the cost-of-living crisis
√ The advocacy work we undertook together with them and on their behalf to those holding key to long-term solutions to their financial security problems
Etc.
Through the above-mentioned actions, it has been expected that the cost-of-living crisis would not transform itself to the crisis in the lasting cost of surviving as human beings. The 2020s decade will not be a decade of lost generation for the victims of cost-of-living crisis if this crisis lasts longer than expected. This why we have this 2-to-10-year service or programme of work with the community.
The service is available for those members of our community who need it and who would like to ask for it. The service can be accessed via what we called ‘GARSIA’ (that is Guidance, Advice, Referrals, Signposting, Information and Advocacy) options.
To request and/or access the service as well as to enquire about this review, please contact CENFACS.
Message in French (Message en français)
Examen des actions et des services à long terme dans le cadre de la campagne pour mettre fin à la pauvreté induite par la hausse du coût de la vie
Les prix de certains biens semblent croître lentement ou diminuer légèrement. Cela pourrait suggérer qu’il pourrait y avoir des changements dans certains indicateurs économiques (comme l’inflation).
D’après « retailgazette.co.uk » (10),
« Les prix des magasins sont passés de 6,2 % en septembre à 5,2 % pour ce mois-ci, ce qui les place en dessous du taux d’inflation moyen sur trois mois de 6,1 %. L’inflation alimentaire est tombée à 8,8 % en octobre, contre près de 10 % en septembre, tandis que l’inflation non alimentaire a chuté à 3,4 % ».
Aux chiffres ci-dessus, on peut ajouter le niveau du plafond des prix de l’énergie qui a été fixé pour la dernière fois à 1 834 £ entre le 1er octobre et le 31 décembre 2023 par l’Ofgem (11).
Malgré les chiffres ci-dessus, « thenationalnews.com » (12) affirme que la crise du coût de la vie est loin d’être terminée et que la probabilité d’une amélioration de la situation financière des citoyens et des ménages ordinaires semble encore lointaine.
À la lumière de l’évolution de la situation économique et après un an de mise en œuvre des actions/services de 2 à 10 ans dans le cadre de la Campagne pour mettre fin à la pauvreté induite par la hausse du coût de la vie, il est normal de revoir ces actions/services. Avant de souligner cette revue, rappelons l’objectif du service ou du programme de travail de 2 à 10 ans avec la communauté.
• • L’objectif des actions/services de 2 à 10 ans dans le cadre de la Campagne pour mettre fin à la pauvreté induite par la hausse du coût de la vie
L’objectif des Actions/Service de 2 à 10 ans est d’éviter que la crise du coût de la vie n’entraîne une pauvreté intergénérationnelle ; c’est-à-dire la transmission de la pauvreté liée à la cherté de la vie aux générations futures. Grâce à ce niveau de service, le CENFACS espère aider la communauté à devenir plus résiliente financièrement à mesure que la crise du coût de la vie durera et au-delà. Ce faisant, les membres de cette communauté peuvent mieux gérer leur bien-être financier et survivre.
• • Examen des actions/service de 2 à 10 ans
Cet examen s’appuie sur les actions entreprises jusqu’à présent. Nous passerons en revue les points suivants :
√ l’aide que nous avons apportée aux bénéficiaires pour améliorer leur productivité et leur capacité à gagner ou à générer des revenus suffisants
√ les types de protection que nous avons recommandés en termes de base économique de la survie des bénéficiaires en tant qu’êtres humains
√ le soutien que nous leur avons apporté pour consommer vert et local afin qu’ils puissent être moins exposés à la volatilité des prix internationaux des biens et services
√ les suggestions que nous avons faites pour trouver des moyens de réduire la dictature répressive ou punitive du marché à leur égard
√ l’encouragement que nous leur avons donné à mener un changement à long terme pour ne pas être derrière ce changement
√ les conseils que nous leur avons donnés sur les dispositifs de soutien à la résilience financière durable
√ la suggestion que nous leur avons faite d’investir dans des solutions à long terme à la crise du coût de la vie
√ le travail de plaidoyer que nous avons accompli avec eux et en leur nom auprès de ceux ou celles qui détiennent la clé des solutions à long terme à leurs problèmes de sécurité financière
Etc.
Grâce aux actions susmentionnées, on s’attendait à ce que la crise du coût de la vie ne se transforme pas en une crise du coût durable de la survie en tant qu’êtres humains. La décennie des années 2020 ne sera pas une décennie de génération perdue pour les victimes de la crise du coût de la vie si cette crise dure plus longtemps que prévu. C’est pourquoi nous avons ce service ou programme de travail de 2 à 10 ans avec la communauté.
Le service est disponible pour les membres de notre communauté qui en ont besoin et qui aimeraient en faire la demande. Le service est accessible via ce que nous avons appelé les options «OCRSIP» (c’est-à-dire Orientation, Conseil, Référence, Signalisation, Information et Plaidoyer).
Pour demander et/ou accéder à ce service ainsi que pour vous renseigner sur cet examen, veuillez contacter le CENFACS.
Main Development
• The Month of the Economics of Education and Skill Formation (Skills Development Month) 2023
The following items make up our Skills Development 2023:
∝ Month of November within CENFACS
∝ Poverty as a Lack of Skills and Knowledge
∝ CENFACS Community’s Skills Data Bank
∝ CENFACS and Its Work on Skills Formation and Development
∝ Data and Insight Skills to Manage Your Household (Data and Insight Advocacy and Skills Project)
∝ In Focus from Wednesday 01/11/2023: Data Collection and Descriptive Insight Skills
∝ Homework for This Weeks End: Data Collection for Your Year End Celebration.
Let us summarise these items.
• • Month of November within CENFACS
November month has two features within CENFACS, which are: Skills evaluation and training implementation.
• • • November as a month of skills evaluation
November at CENFACS is the month of education and training, which revolves around the development of skills for life, for work, for poverty relief and sustainable development. It is the month during which we look into ourselves and try to assess, explore and learn the skills we need in order to further help reduce poverty in a sustainable way amongst ourselves and re-engage with the business of sustainable development.
• • • November as a training implementation month
November is also the training implementation month during which we pay attention to the following: educationally related projects or projects that involve training, skills development and acquisition of new knowledge to help users and our Africa-based Sister Organisations (ASOs) to empower themselves with the educational tools and training resources they need to further help reduce poverty.
For example, one of the skills development projects to support ASOs is skills to hybrid work (that is, the flexibility to split time between working remotely and from the office), in particular when there is handicap for people to meet in-person and work.
• • Poverty as a Lack of Skills and Knowledge
It is known that poverty is not only material or the lack of monetary income; it is even more the lack of knowledge, skills, knowhow and technologies than anything else. Therefore, knowing and learning a skill can help to further reduce poverty, particularly but not exclusively poverty induced by the cost-of-living crisis, and can set one on the right course of the development process. In this respect, there could be relationships between economics of education and poverty reduction, between skill formation and poverty reduction.
• • • Relationship between the economics of education and poverty reduction
The economics of education is generally defined as the study of economic issues relating to education. According to ‘oxfordbibliographies.com’ (13),
“The economics of education is a rapidly growing and evolving field that applies a diverse array of economic theories, models, and quantitative methodologies to understand, analyse, and improve the performance of education systems”.
The paradigm used in the economics of education is human capital theory. This theory suggests that investment in education and training lead people to become productive.
However, education and training do not only lead to the improvement of productivity. They can also pave the way for poverty reduction. As people get more educated and trained, these further education and training can provide them with the means to overcome poverty. As a result of this, there could be relationship between the economics of education and poverty reduction.
There could disagreement about this link between the two. However, despite this disagreement we are working on the assumption that education and training can lead to poverty reduction.
• • • Link between skill formation and poverty reduction
Let us briefly try to understand skill formation by highlighting its definitions. One of its definitions comes from an online dictionary at the website igi—global.com (14), which explains the following
“Skill formation is the process by which individuals achieve and develop innate or acquired skills to cope with everyday life challenges. Besides heredity, it includes formal and informal training activities and life experience”.
From this definition, it is possible to deduct that individuals who are poor can use their innate or acquired skills to cope with the challenge of poverty by developing survival and coping strategies. If they continue to use their skills and those strategies, they can navigate their way out of poverty. When they reach the point at which their skills and strategies effectively enable them to reduce poverty, then one could argue about the link between skill formation and poverty reduction.
However, Kenneth King and Robert Palmer (15) think that
“The translation of skills development into skills utilisation, and therefore poverty reduction and/or growth, is dependant on many factors, including good quality education/training and the presence of a supportive environment” (p. 71)
The Skills Development Month provides us with the opportunity to learn these factors and find ways of turning them in favour of poverty reduction.
• • CENFACS Community’s Skills Data Bank
As part of our Skills Development Month, we would like to remind every member of our community that they can register their skills to our data bank, which is repository containing information about CENFACS and the data of the CENFACS’ Community. The register is free. Skills and information are stored on it in accordance with the latest regulations on data protection.
Knowing the skills that one possesses; it makes easy when opportunity arises to match them with registered skills. It also helps to point those in need of support to the right and relevant a skilful person and direction.
To register your skills to make up the CENFACS’ Community of skilled people, please contact CENFACS.
• • CENFACS and Its Work on Skills Formation and Development
As far as CENFACS is concerned, we strive to support those who want to learn a skill while we at CENFACS as an organisation plan our own training, learning and development programme from time to time when we can access both funding and training.
This month, Skills Formation and Development will include three types of skills: data and insight skills, cottage industry skills and self-efficacity skills.
~ Data and insight skills will be foundational statistical skills that help to understand data and insight relating to families’ or households’ life and matter. Data – which is raw, unorganised and unprocessed facts and information – require skills to be treated or managed. Insight, which is analysed information, needs as well skills to deal with. These skills will be our every Wednesday’s focus for this month.
~ Cottage industry skills will be those needed by some of our users who are craftsmen and artisans who hand craft goods within their cottages to run their families’ income-generating activities to make ends meet and reduce their own poverty as well as others’ poverty. This second order of skills will be promoted to constitute our goal of the month.
~ Self-efficacity skills will make up the theme of our Development Day (on 19/11/2023), this month. Self-efficacity skills are resilience, flexibility and agility skills.
In brief, Data and insight skills are our every Wednesday’s focus, this November 2023. Cottage industry skills are the skills for the goal of the month. Self-efficacity skills will be developed on our Development Day.
Let us kickstart the Skills Development Month 2023 with Data and Insight Skills.
• • Data and Insight Skills to Manage Your Household (or Data and Insight Advocacy and Skills Project)
Data and Insight Skills to Manage Your Household (or Data and Insight Advocacy and Skills Project) is the second project of our 2023 Starting XI Campaign. In order to understand this project, we are going to define data and insight as well as provide the types of skills this project may contain.
• • • What is data, what is information, what is insight?
Data, information and insight can be explained in many ways. Amongst these explanations is what Carolyn Sansom (16) argues about them, which is
“Data, which can be quantitative and qualitative, is raw, unorganised and unprocessed facts… Information – which can be in the form of graphs, reports and visualisations – is processed and organised data… Insight is analysed information”.
Like businesses, households use data, information and insight to run their lives. Households making the CENFACS Community do the same.
Knowing what is data, what is information and what is insight; it is possible to explain Data and Insight Skills to Manage Your Household (or Data and Insight Advocacy and Skills Project).
• • • What are Data and Insight Skills to Manage Your Household (or Data and Insight Advocacy and Skills Project)?
Data and Insight Skills to Manage Your Household are the naturally acquired or developed talents and accomplishments that will allow our project beneficiaries to better manage their households through the intelligent use of data and the analysis of information relating to their households.
The project, which is also an advocacy one, will help families/households that lack skills in terms of handling data and insight…
∝ to gain sufficient skills and knowledge to cleverly use data making their lives
∝ to attach value to data and insight
∝ to turn data into insight
∝ to capture household data and turn them into values and numbers
∝ to create trust in data systems they use to manage their lives
∝ to support both technical skills building and efforts to enhance a culture of data use and insight within household systems
∝ to improve family/household limited data literacy and numeracy skills
∝ to keep learning numeracy and statistical literacy skills at family/household level
∝ to empower and inform household data users, collectors, organisers and controllers as well as insight handlers
∝ to build the skills of household decision-makers in relation to handling information about their households
etc.
From these various ways of handling data, it is possible to have different types of data skills.
• • • Types of data skills
Investing in building the data skills for the good running or management of your household and decision-making process can help not only to tackle poverty linked to the lack of ability to handle data, but also other forms of poverty that a household may face. There are various data skills that a typical data unskilled household may need or require.
These types of data skills can include the following:
∝ Skills needed to collect, process and disseminate data
∝ Skills to extract the relevant information from data
∝ Skills for data engineering to manage and process data
∝ Foundational statistical skills to understand data relating to family life
∝ Data sharing skills within and outside household
Etc.
From these types of skills, we can select four of them and create skills-focused area to work on each Wednesday of November 2023. To make it easy, our creation is built around the management of data and insights management.
• • • What is management of data, what is insights management?
• • • • What is management of data?
Management of data can be defined in many ways. In the context of these notes, we have selected the definition provided by ‘ibm.com’ (17) which states that
“Data management is the practice of ingesting, processing, securing and storing an organisation’s data, where it is then utilised for strategic decision-making to improve business outcomes”.
The website ‘ibm.com’ also provides the five phases of data lifecycle management, which are: data creation, data storage, data sharing and usage, data archival, and data deletion.
From the above-mentioned definition and phases of data, one can pull out the different skills that households, particularly but not exclusively those making the CENFACS Community, need to plan and make these above-named processes to happen.
• • • • What is insights management?
The process of insights management involves collecting, analysing, sharing and disseminating information to make a decision or change behaviour. As the website ‘insight-management.org’ (18) puts it,
“Insight relates to the process of collating evidence and findings from multiple projects and sources, reflecting on the connections, and investigating the contradictions”.
Additionally, the website ‘thrivethinking.com’ (19) argues that the insight generation process includes setting the context, communicating the dilemma, articulating the why, capturing the motivation and envisioning the ideal.
To handle this process, it requires to have some skills.
• • • Types of data insight skills
Before identifying the skills involved data insights, one may need to understand data insights. Data insights refer to the deep understanding an individual or organisation gains from analysing information on a particular issue. To add value on what we are saying, the website ‘datarobot.com’ (20) argues that
“Data insights are the knowledge gained through analysing data, generating conclusions from data that can benefit your business. Data are the input. Insights are the output”.
Many households do this sort of exercises to understand their lives without sometimes knowing they are carrying out data insights. To better undertake data insights, it may require some skills.
• • • Skills to generate data insight
There are many data insight skills that a typical household running its life can consider, which are:
√ Digital skills
√ Comprehension skills on how the household operates
√ Collaborative skills
√ Skills to understand household ethics and value
√ Creative skills
√ Skills to interpret data
√ Home economics skills
Etc.
The households making CENFACS Community would need some of these skills in order to successfully run their data insights.
Like for data management skills, one can select the process or model of insights management which is relevant for the reality of their households in order to get the outputs from their data. They can even combine both data skills and insight skills to develop a plan of action.
• • • Wednesdays’ Skills Focus
The following table (table no. 1) summarises our plan (Wednesdays’ Skills Focus) for approaching these pulled-out skills this month. It highlights a set of skills to focus on from every Wednesday of each week of November 2023 starting from 01/11/2023.
Besides that, there will a weekend homework for those households wanting to indulge in the study of their data, information and insights.
As the table no. 1 shows, the last two days (29 & 30) of November 2023 will deal with the impact monitoring and evaluation of Data and Insight Skills to Manage Your Household (or Data and Insight Advocacy and Skills Project).
Let us start with the first area of our Wednesdays’ Skills Focus, which is Data Collection Skills and Descriptive Insights.
• • In Focus from Wednesday 01/11/2023: Data Collection Skills and Descriptive Insights to Manage Your Household
To undertake Data Collection Skills and Descriptive Insights, we are going to briefly explain data collection and descriptive insights in the context of households or families as well as the types of skills that can involve when households or families are trying to collect their data and get descriptive insights into it.
• • • Data Collection and Descriptive Insights in the context of households/families
In order to understand data collection and descriptive insights, one may need to know what they mean.
Our meaning of data collection comes from ‘simplilearn.com’ (21) which states that
“Data collection is the process of gathering and analysing accurate data from various sources to find answers to research problems, trends and probabilities, etc., to evaluate possible outcomes”.
In real life, many households try to gather and analyse data to find answers to their problems without sometimes realising that they are conducting data collection.
Our understanding of descriptive insights is being provided by ‘trailhead.salesforce.com’ (22) which explains that
“Descriptive insights derived from historical data using descriptive analytics involving statistical analysis… Descriptive insights show what happened in your data”.
Sensible households would like to describe the findings from their data. The households making the CENFACS Community too want to describe the findings from their data. To do that, they may need some skills.
• • • Data Collection Skills and Descriptive Insight Skills in the context of households/families
Data Collection Skills include a variety of abilities such as communication, organisation, data sorting, data cleaning, time management, data entry, use of software applications (such as Microsoft Office), writing, analysis, attention to detail, critical thinking, etc.
Like any organisations, households or families can have those skills to collect data. It all depends on who is the data collector for any household or family as they may decide on the kinds of data to collect as well as the methods and procedures of gathering them. Households or families without Data Collection Skills can be educated and/or trained to become data collectors and acquire the relevant skills to this capacity.
Descriptive Insight Skills are those helping to describe what is happening in households’ or families’ data. Carolyn Sansom (op. cit.), who provided six key skills for turning data into insight, argues that
“[There are] non-technical competences required to explain the results where the data alone might not, and also support scenario planning where the data might not exist”.
According to her, these six insight skills include commercial acumen, domain knowledge, business partnering skills, ethical principles, creativity and methodical approaches to generating insight. Although these skills are related to businesses, they can be applied in the context of households and families in search of describing their data and getting insights into the same data.
• • • CENFACS Working with the Community Members through Data Collection and Descriptive Insights in the context of households/families
We would like to emphasise that the purpose of working with the community members on data and insight skills, here Data Collection and Descriptive Insights, is to help them as follows:
√ To create trust in data systems
√ To learn and build technical skills like statistical literacy skills
√ To enhance a culture of data use and insight generation within household
√ To improve household/family the overall data and insight skills
√ To attach value to data and insight
√ To empower and inform household data users and insight analysts
√ To encourage the community members to register their skills on CENFACS Skills Data Bank
√ Above all, to reduce poverty linked to poor data and insight skills; yet data and insight skills are necessary to deal with life-saving household/family matters.
As ‘cambridgehealth.edu’ (23) puts it,
“Data is one of the most important assets for any organisation”.
For households and families, data is an asset like other assets.
• • Homework for This Weeks End: Data Collection for Your Year End Celebration
As a family or household, you want to plan your Christmas’ or New Year’s Celebration. But, you do not have data to plan either of these celebrations. As part of this homework, you can hold conversation or interview between the different members of your household to get primary or secondary data on what you spent in the last Year End Celebrations (both Christmas and New Year’s Eve).
You can as well have some descriptive insights on what happened or is happening in your data. These two exercises (data collection and descriptive insights) will help you to better plan or budget your Year End Celebrations (Christmas 2023 and New Year’s Eve).
Those who have any queries about this homework, they can submit their queries to CENFACS.
For those community members of our community who will be interested in Data Collection and Descriptive Insight Skills to Manage Your Household, they can contact CENFACS. CENFACS can work with them to enhance their Data Collection and Descriptive Insight Skills to Manage their Household.
Additionally, for those who would like to register their skills on CENFACS Skills Data Bank, they are welcome to do so. This registration will help in matching the support in terms of skills and the needs in the community.
To get further insight into Skills Development Month at CENFACS, please continue to read our weekly posts.
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• References
(1) World Economic Forum (2023), Future of Jobs Report 2023: Insight Report May 2023 at https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023/ (accessed in September 2023)
(2) https://www.education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/preservation (accessed in October 2023)
(3) www.earthsendangered.com/profile.asp?gr=I&view=&ID=&sp=1676 (accessed in October 2023)
(4) https://eol.org/pages/491832 (accessed in October 2023)
(5) https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/84379630/176166094 (accessed in October 2023)
(6) https://www.huck.psu.edu/institutes-and-centres/insect-biodiversity-center/why-we-need-insects (accessed in October 2023)
(7) UNESCO (2023), Global Education Monitoring Report Summary 2023: Technology in Education: A tool on whose terms? Paris, UNESCO
(8) https://www.unicef.org/burkinafaso/en/press-releases/burkina-faso-new-academic-year-starts-one-million-children-out-school-due-ongoing# (accessed in October 2023)
(9) https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/economics/cottage-industry/ (accessed in October 2023)
(10) https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2023/10/inflation-plummets-october/ (accessed in October 2023)
(11) https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-price-cap# (accessed in October 2023)
(12) https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2023/09/19/is-britains-a-cost-of-living-crisis-getting-better-or-worse/ (accessed in October 2023)
(13) https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199756810/obo-9780195756810-0055 (accessed in October 2023)
(14) https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/is-entrepreneurship-a-bio–social-phenomenon/92105 (accessed in November 2021)
(15) King, K. & Palmer, R. (2006), Skills Development and Poverty Reduction: The State of the Art, Post-basic Education and Training Work Paper Series – No. 9, Centre of African Studies< University of Edinburgh at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/ (accessed in October 2023)
(16) Carolyn Sansom at https://www.grantthornton.co.uk/insights/six-key-skills-for-turning-data-into-insight/ (accessed in November 2022)
(17) https://www.ibm.com/topics/data-management (accessed in October 2023)
(18) https://www.insight-management.org/5-min-insight/what-insight (accessed in October 2023)
(19) https://thrivethinking.com/2023/01/06/what-is-insight-the-5-principles-of-insight-definition/ (accessed in October 2023)
(20) https://www.datarobot.com/blog/what-are-data-insights/ (accessed in November 2022)
(21) https://www.simplilearn.com/what-is-data-collection-article (accessed in October 2023)
(22) https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/einstein-discovery-basics/explore-insights-into-your-data (accessed in October 2023)
(23) https://www.cambridgehealth.edu/data-management/become-a-data-manager/what-are-data-management-skills/ (accessed in October 2023)
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• Help CENFACS Keep the Poverty Relief Work Going this Year
We do our work on a very small budget and on a voluntary basis. Making a donation will show us you value our work and support CENFACS’ work, which is currently offered as a free service.
One could also consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.
Additionally, we would like to inform you that planned gifting is always an option for giving at CENFACS. Likewise, CENFACS accepts matching gifts from companies running a gift-matching programme.
Donate to support CENFACS!
FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ NOBLE CAUSES OF POVERTY REDUCTION.
JUST GO TO: Support Causes – (cenfacs.org.uk)
Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.
Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2023 and beyond.
With many thanks.
