Intended audience: DataKind Volunteers
Once you have finished your discovery calls and research, you will create a concept note with high level information on the potential project to share with the partner organization to guide them in deciding if they would like to move forward into the Design Stage. It should include the project statement ideas, impact maps, a summary of the data science project ideas, and a summary of the project ethical considerations. Refer to the concept note template and this sample completed concept note.
Once the concept note is agreed upon, the partner organization will be asked to sign a mutual nondisclosure agreement (mutual NDA) and data sharing agreement at the start of the next stage. With that in mind, it’s important to communicate the expectation of upcoming contracts while you are aligning on the concept note. Additionally, the concept note is useful as key sections can be used as annex A in the mutual NDA for description of services.
Make sure to document your additional discovery work by putting notes from discovery calls and the results of your work in the relevant shared folder. Be sure that your notes document key decisions made, the rationale for moving forward or not, and/or links to any relevant resources. Additionally, keeping running meeting notes shared between the DataKind team and partner organization team are very helpful in this stage and throughout DataKind’s project process.
Contributer(s): Benjamin Kinsella, Mallory Sheff, Rachel Wells
Contact us
If you would like to learn more about us, partner with us, or get in touch, visit our website or email community@datakind.org.
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