A RESEARCH company with a social mission is showing how data can be used to make the world a better place.

Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion (OCSI) is a spin-out consultancy from the University of Oxford which launched in Brighton in 2003.

Working under the mantra ‘doing good with data’, OCSI only works on projects with a social or community mission.

Its research for the likes of Brighton and Hove City Council, Lewes District Council and the Environment Agency has aimed to reduce the risk of flooding on the south coast, and identify deprivation in places like Whitehawk.

Dr Tom Smith, managing director of OCSI, said: “We only work for public and community organisations and it’s always around improving services.”

One of the consultancy’s big recent projects has been updating the Indices of Deprivation for the Department of Communities and Local Government.

Explained how the data can be used to target resources, Dr Smith said: “In Whitehawk for instance we know people have poorer health, poorer skills, with children not doing as well in school.

“The dataset pools together data from government services, crime, tax, and pools it into one usable dataset, which anyone can use.

“It’s a very powerful tool. We reckon £5 billion has been targeted as a result, so it’s really important information.”

Housing associations are turning to data to gather crucial information about communities before building new homes.

OCSI has also worked to improve intelligence about flood risks with Dr Smith, chairman of the Environment Agency Data Advisory Group.

But with Government departments as clients is there a risk they could manipulate data to meet political agendas?

Dr Smith said: “Data is never neutral. If you were producing an analysis and tried to put out every bit of data it would never end. There’s always got to be a decision on what is the most important information.

“I think it’s important to publish why certain decisions are made, it gives you transparency “I’m a big believer that you can’t manipulate data. What can happen is misrepresentation of data “But I think if you misunderstand something you get pulled up on it very quickly.”

With trust in politics and big business suffering low public confidence in recent years, data can provide hard facts and concrete evidence in an age of uncertainty.

Dr Smith added: “Decision makers are taking data more seriously.

“But it’s important to remember data doesn’t tell you what to do, just that you need to do something.”