Five years ago, we launched the Data Literacy Score™ with a mission to help organizations measure, understand, and improve their data capabilities. Since then, many thousands of professionals have responded worldwide, providing their organizations with actionable insights to develop targeted data literacy strategies, create customized training programs, and build more data-informed cultures.

Today, we’re excited to announce a major enhancement to this assessment, reflecting both this wealth of real-world experience and the rapidly evolving technology landscape.

What’s the Data Literacy Score?

The Data Literacy Score™ is an assessment that has helped organizations evaluate their data maturity level from the perspective of those who know the organization the best – the employees themselves. Historically, each team member takes our comprehensive survey, which has always consisted of 50 Likert-style questions across seven categories. We aggregate the responses to calculate an overall organizational score out of 500, with options to segment by role or team. The survey also includes open-ended feedback and multi-select questions about top strengths and barriers. The final output is a thorough report and set of actionable recommendations on improving data literacy.

What’s New?

The refreshed Data Literacy Score™ maintains its foundation in real-world experience while introducing several significant improvements:

1. Streamlined Assessment

The new version of the assessment features the same seven critical categories: Purpose, Ethics, Data, Technology, People, Process, and Culture. But we’ve refined our assessment statements to be clearer and more relevant to everyone on your team. What this means is that technical experts and business professionals alike will find the questions easier to understand and apply to their own situations. This means more accurate insights into where your organization truly stands.

2. New AI Literacy Component (Optional Add-On)

In response to the transformative impact of artificial intelligence, we’ve introduced an optional AI Literacy Score™ segment. This new component helps organizations evaluate their readiness for AI adoption and implementation, covering crucial areas like ethical AI practices, team capabilities, and integration with existing systems. It leverages the same seven categories as the Data Literacy Score, providing a consistent framework to evaluate and improve.

3. Customizable Objective Assessments

Perhaps most exciting is our new objective assessment component. This addition complements our proven subjective evaluation with concrete, knowledge-based questions across critical areas including:

• Foundational Data Concepts
• Data Ethics and Governance
• Data Quality & Preparation
• Data Analysis
• AI Capabilities and Limitations
• Data Visualization and Storytelling

Clients can build their own custom objective assessment by selecting which topics to consider, and by modifying the wording in each question to match organizational terminologies.

Why These Changes Matter

Organizations today face unprecedented opportunities and challenges in leveraging data and AI. The enhanced Data Literacy Score™ Organizational Assessment provides a more comprehensive view of your organization’s capabilities while giving you the flexibility and control over which elements of the assessment you deploy, and when.

This holistic approach helps you:

• Establish clear baselines for measuring progress
• Identify specific areas for improvement
• Track the effectiveness of your data literacy programs
• Prepare your teams for AI integration
• Build a stronger data-informed culture

Get Started with the New Assessment

The enhanced Data Literacy Score™ provides the insights you need to measure progress and drive improvement regardless of your organization’s current maturity stage, from Data Novice up to Data Wise. Contact our team today to learn more about how this improved assessment can benefit your organization.

Ready to measure your organization’s data and AI literacy? Schedule a free consultation with our team today.