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The Data for Change initiative, launched in November 2022, is transforming the global data landscape on online child safety. By uniting experts across government, industry, civil society, and academia, we tackle data gaps and barriers to sharing, driving actionable solutions to protect children online. Our mission: build a stronger, more coherent global online CSEA data ecosystem to inform policies, advocacy, and interventions to foster safer digital futures for children and youth worldwide.
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The Data for Change initiative was born out of a growing recognition that the global data landscape on online CSEA remains fragmented and incomplete. This lack of comprehensive, reliable data hinders efforts to understand the scale of online harms facing children and to implement effective solutions. Without a coherent data ecosystem, it is difficult for governments, civil society, academia and industry leaders to collaborate on policies and practices that protect children online.Â
Data for Change exists to fill these critical gaps, ensuring that data can be harnessed to inform meaningful action on child online safety. The initiative addresses the challenges of inadequate and inconsistent data by building a global, multi-sectoral community committed to advancing child online safety.
The Data for Change initiative was officially launched in November 2022 with a workshop hosted at the European Parliament in Brussels. This gathering of over 40 experts from across sectors primarily focused on generating a baseline of the current state of the online CSEA data ecosystem and key actors, as well as the identification of key priority areas: evidence, language, advocacy, systems, network.Â
A landscape analysis began as an initial effort to better map the ecosystem throughout the data lifecycle—from Data Generation and Collection, Storage and Processing, to Use. These efforts resulted in identifying key areas of focus: Evidence, Language, Systems, Advocacy, and Network, as well as cross-cutting themes of governance, tech infrastructure, legal and policy, collaboration and coordination. This analysis produced emerging findings on gaps and needs across the data lifecycle that were more unique to the online CSEA ecosystem.
The second workshop, held in Paris in 2023, discussed emerging findings of a landscape analysis that was conducted to support effective advocacy, practice and solutions at global, regional and national levels. The workshop emphasised creative data sharing and interdisciplinary collaboration. Acknowledging the challenge of rapid technological developments, the community prioritised filling data gaps, refining definitions, and aligning funding priorities. The emphasis was on harmonising data taxonomies, capturing children’s experiences more robustly and building interoperable data systems.
Reflections on the workshop hereÂ
A significant outcome of the initiative’s early efforts was the Ecosystem Mapping process, which laid out the key actors, barriers, and gaps in the online CSEA data ecosystem. In addition to a visual mapping, tools generated from this effort include a Data Challenges and Barriers report and Data Good Practice Bank. Together, these documents provide a broad and simple overview of the state of the online CSEA data ecosystem, offering clear insights on how to overcome challenges and improve data usage for better outcomes for children, survivors, and society. This mapping serves as a vital tool for understanding the complex interactions within the data landscape and is refined through feedback from workshops and community input.
Based on the results of the Ecosystem Mapping, the most recent Data for Change technical workshop explored how data is collected, used, shared, and translated into action within the online CSEA ecosystem, identifying critical gaps, barriers, and opportunities to improve data flows and infrastructure. We also shared and discussed best practices from the online CSEA data ecosystem and other related fields. Together, we identified clear outputs and strategies to strengthen the data ecosystem, focusing on practical, high-impact actions.
Over 50 researchers, advocates, practitioners, and stakeholders from 49 countries came together for the Data for Change Virtual Convening on Tuesday, 26 November. Building on key insights from the London workshop, the community refined the online CSEA ecosystem map, shared critical findings, and began advancing the pilot project solutions. The work continues as the community collaborates to implement these innovations, driving progress toward a safer digital world for children.
A visualisation of the ideal state of the online CSEA data ecosystem, encompassing the data lifecycle.
An overview of systemic obstacles that impede efforts for a strong online CSEA data ecosystem, analysed through the PESTLE (Political, Economic, Societal, Technical, Legal and Environmental) framework.
A standardized glossary of data-related terms to ensure clarity and consistency across sectors addressing online CSEA
A collection of successful approaches, good practices and insights for strengthening the online CSEA data ecosystem, drawn from other fields such as cybersecurity, the financial sector, global health and others. Â
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