The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and The Rockefeller Foundation announced the launch of Data Science for Social Impact. This transformational model for collaborative philanthropy will accelerate the use of data science by empowering non-profit, civic and government organizations with the tools, expertise and other capabilities they need to help solve the world’s most pressing challenges.

The collaborative was launched with an initial commitment of $50 million from The Rockefeller Foundation and the Mastercard Impact Fund over five years and an invitation to other companies and philanthropies to join. The announcement came at the Goal 17 Partner Space at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

More than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are produced every day. This abundance of data, combined with rapidly advancing analytics capabilities, has the potential to improve the lives of billions of people around the world. While businesses have been building and deploying data science capabilities for many years, those on the front lines of social good often lack the resources to do the same. However, governments and non-profits are actively looking for new ways to advance their efforts through applied data to allow, for example, improved access to public transport for underserved communities or the acceleration of disease diagnoses.

Building on The Rockefeller Foundation’s leadership in social impact and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth’s leadership on data philanthropy and governance, the collaborative will identify key priorities and investment opportunities to accelerate data for good, whether that be through research, skill-building or the development of new technology platforms. By growing the data science capabilities of non-profit, civic and government organizations, the collaborative can help local leaders uncover new insights and trends from their data and build more impactful programs for the communities they serve.

“At Mastercard, we believe the digital economy needs to work for everyone. If we can close the gap by providing the non-profit, civic and government sectors with the tools, talent and investments they need to apply data science effectively, then we have a shot at solving some of the greatest challenges of our time,” said Michael Froman, vice chairman and president, strategic growth at Mastercard. “We see a world where the promise of technological innovation can deliver on our goal of inclusive growth.”

“Like the introduction of science to medicine 100 years ago transformed the delivery of health worldwide, we are poised to take the next big leap bringing data science to social impact,” said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation. “We’re excited to invite partners from the public and private sectors to join Data Science for Social Impact and help us inspire a new generation of social sector leaders to use data for good.”