Data Literacy & Evidence-Based Decision Making

Course Code: PSD-303

Pillar: Digital Government & Innovation

Course Overview: Data helps government teams understand performance, allocate attention, plan services, and make more accountable decisions. Its value depends on quality, context, responsible interpretation, and the ability to distinguish useful evidence from incomplete or misleading signals.

Designed for technical and non-technical roles, the learning builds confidence in reading reports, dashboards, and indicators, asking better questions, recognising limitations, and communicating evidence clearly for public-sector decisions.

Learning Outcomes:

• Explain the role of data in modern public service and government decision-making.
• Understand basic data concepts, types, sources, and quality principles.
• Interpret reports, dashboards, KPIs, trends, patterns, and service indicators.
• Recognize the difference between data, information, insight, and evidence.
• Use evidence to support decisions, planning, service improvement, and policy implementation.
• Identify risks caused by poor data quality, misinterpretation, bias, or incomplete evidence.
• Communicate data insights clearly to colleagues, managers, stakeholders, and decision-makers.
• Develop a practical data-informed decision-making improvement plan.

Target Audience: Public servants who read, produce, interpret, or use reports, indicators, dashboards, and evidence, including policy, planning, performance, service-delivery, administrative, reporting, and digital-transformation teams.

Course-specific Learning Experience: Learners engage through focused video overviews, audio deep dives, study guides, practical examples, reflection prompts, workbook activities, applied tasks, discussion activities, knowledge checks, and end-of-module quizzes. Activities build confidence in checking data quality, reading indicators and dashboards, asking evidence questions, comparing options, and communicating insight.

Course Structure: 5 modules / 20 lessons.

Special Feature: Every module concludes with a Putting It All Together audio deep dive that connects the key lessons and supports reflection and practical application.

Pathway Focus: Question data. Interpret evidence. Support better decisions.