Case study

How The Data Lab nurtures Scotland’s data and AI talent

Hivebrite’s Mentoring Module was a key reason The Data Lab selected Hivebrite as its community engagement platform.

Hivebrite’s Mentoring Module was one of the key reasons we selected Hivebrite as our community engagement platform. It was simple to set up our program with Hivebrite. Crucially, it is also easy for our participants to use. The day to day running of the program requires little manual intervention from the team, so scaling our program is quite straightforward!

Paul McMillan
Community Manager, The Data Lab

2,400

Number of active members in the first year

50

Mentoring pairs established in first year

80

Industries representing more than 50 countries

About The Data Lab

The Data Lab is Scotland’s innovation center for data and AI. Its purpose is to change lives and make Scotland a more productive economy and a sustainable society by transforming the way we use data. 

Mission

The organization aims to create a thriving, connected society powered by data. It is helping to create a highly skilled workforce and a closely connected business, academic and public sector community to enable Scotland’s economy and society to thrive.

Visit the community

The community challenge

In today’s digital world, every organization generates and gathers data. Consequently, every organization has the potential to innovate with data, regardless of size or sector. 

It is estimated that the value to Scotland from this data boom could be as much as £20bn.

The Data Lab’s mission is to create the world’s most impactful data community: one where cross-sector conversations, creativity and collaboration ignite and sustain the sparks of ground-breaking ideas, products, and societal advances.

It wanted to create an accessible, online space where data and AI professionals and enthusiasts could find the support, opportunities, and tools they need to thrive.

Hivebrite’s full-stack community platform enabled The Data Lab to:

Facilitate organic connections

Foster independent sub-communities to enable connections while maintaining institutional governance

Create a repository of knowledge

Build a centralized knowledge hub that leverages member expertise

Nurture career development

Support member career advancement through mentoring programs, job opportunities and networking tools

Encourage collaboration and innovation

Facilitate partnerships and networks to drive industry advancement and promote innovation

Promote advocacy efforts

Empower members to amplify their impact, collaborate, advocate, and drive engagement

Gather data and insights

Monitor user behavior, engagement metrics, and content performance to measure the impact of initiatives

The Hivebrite solution

The Data Lab partnered with Hivebrite to create its online community, uniting individuals and organizations from different sectors, industries, and levels of experience to drive positive economic and societal impact through the power of data and AI.

Following a successful pilot program with over 200 members—from a wide range of industries, sectors, and experience levels—The Data Lab officially launched its community in September 2021.

The community has been designed to enable connections, learning, support, opportunities and collaboration. 

In December 2021, The Data Lab launched its mentoring program from scratch to further support the learning and development of its members.

The program offers valuable opportunities to access 1-to-1 mentoring from experienced leaders and professionals keen to give back and share their experiences.

Sub-groups have been created within the wider community based on different topics, job roles, and level of experience. Group admins can set up mentoring programs specific to their group.

Using Hivebrite’s Mentoring Model, participants can:

  • Create a mentor or mentee profile and define objectives for the program
  • Search for mentors based on skill, role, and more
  • Engage with professionals in a dedicated, secure online space

Built for how nonprofits work.

Groups and chapters

Give programs, chapters, and working groups their own space, with forums and discussions run by group leaders.

News, content, and resources

Help members stay current with content recommended to them, from impact reports and toolkits to field updates.

Emails and notifications

Reach people through branded email, in-app, and push, with personalization built on real member data.

Events and ticketing

Host virtual and in-person events, from local chapter gatherings to webinars, with ticketing options.

Multi-language & live translation

Reach members across borders in their own language, with live translation built into the platform.

The outcome

In just one year, the online community has grown from a standing start to a thriving global network of more than 2,400 members. Today, community members represent over 80 different industries and are located in more than 50 countries, creating a diverse environment for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and professional growth. This rapid expansion has fostered meaningful connections across geographic and industry boundaries, while the community’s mentoring program has already facilitated more than 50 mentor-mentee partnerships in its first year alone. Together, these achievements demonstrate the community’s ability to bring people together, encourage engagement, and deliver tangible value to its members on a global scale.

“It’s been a very beneficial experience. I started looking for a mentor when I was a student. At first, it was very scary for me to reach out to people that I didn’t know and ask them to help me as a mentor. With The Data Lab Community mentoring program, I knew for certain that they would be people who would like to help people like myself. I felt very supported throughout my journey from a bootcamp student to now, an early career data engineer.”

Mentoring program participant
The Data Lab Community