Getting cost and real-time performance data right

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Four types of data required for results-based financing in ECD and education

Proposal

Through nearly a decade of research, the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution has developed a vast network of relationships with RBF stakeholders and body of data to thoroughly explore the potential of impact bonds and outcomes funds to address social issues, the challenges with their design and implementation, and their effectiveness compared to traditional financing mechanisms. This has allowed CUE to identify the four critical types of data needed for results-based financing. Since 2019, CUE has examined strategies to make the collection and analysis of such crucial data more straightforward and pragmatic. This work has led to the release of public goods to cost child and youth-centered interventions and a global database of digital tools for real-time data, both of which will be introduced during this presentation.

Cost data are vital for several reasons: it can be used to plan and budget for interventions, establish priorities, as well as to make the case for additional investment. In RBF, service providers must know how much it costs to deliver promised outcomes while outcomes funders must decide how much they are willing to pay for those outcomes. Despite these compelling arguments for high-quality cost data, there remain multiple barriers to the collection and utilization of data on costs. The lack of availability and/or access to tools to collect and analyze cost data, especially without a financial expert, is a major hinderance to the use of cost data in programming, especially in ECD and education. In 2023, CUE launched the online, user-friendly Childhood Cost Calculator (C3) which allows users to enter costing data in a guided survey form and can provide a variety of calculations, estimates, and visualizations for programs across a range of child and youth-centered interventions in sectors including education, health, nutrition, water and sanitation, social protection, and governance.

During implementation, service providers’ drive to make their targets and goals necessitates reliable performance data in real-time to be able to make immediate adjustments. However, not all data is useful; organizations need to know what data to collect as well as when and how often to collect data. Once the data is collected, it must be analyzed so that action can be taken. These significant hurdles can act as constraints on the success of results-based financing if service providers are not equipped with the proper tools for data collection and analysis. Through several years of research, Brookings has identified the potential of digital tools to alleviate the difficulty of real-time data collection while making it easier to recognize trends in the data, leading to a more straightforward way to determine payments. The published research includes taxonomy, tool typology, and tool selection criteria. Additionally, a free to use tool finder allows anyone to explore and discover currently available tools already in use that may fit their needs.

This presentation will introduce participants to the context of cost data transparency and real-time data collection in RBF in ECD and education.

Authors

• Emily Gustafsson-Wright, The Brookings Institution

• Elyse Painter, The Brookings Institution