Abstract

The increasing centrality of data, fueled by advancements in artificial intelligence technologies, provides significant opportunities for improving organizational efficiency and effectiveness. However, mission-driven nonprofit organizations in the social sector often encounter challenges in leveraging data for value creation. We are increasingly witnessing the transformation of work across roles and sectors into data-intensive practices. This is especially relevant within the social service sector, where organizations are increasingly turning to data-driven technologies to support evidence-based decision-making amid strained resources available to them (Ekmekcioglu, 2025). As a field, Information Systems has increasingly called for studying the nature, effects, and characteristics of digital data and nuanced the investigating in situ experiences of those who work with data (Xu et al., 2025, Aaltonen and Stelmaszak, 2024). Data culture refers to “an organization’s collective practices mutually shaped by artifacts, beliefs, values, and assumptions that emphasize the use of data to achieve business value” (Schnieders et al., 2024, p.8). This TREO talk seeks to uncover the role of data culture in the context of social services working toward sustainable integration of immigrants and refugees in Canada. Based on a multi-sited study, our findings reveal a set of mediating goals that shape the emerging data culture within social sector organizations in the immigrant settlement service context in Canada. These goals collectively configure the socio-technical infrastructure of data work. We examine how temporal constraints and socio-material conditions influence data practices, highlighting their implications for the production and circulation of knowledge on immigrant settlement. Our analysis reveals unique divergences in how data is understood and utilized (or not) at managerial and frontline levels. Building on these insights, we identify key elements constitutive of data culture in social sector organizations and propose a context-specific definition that reflects the complexities and nuances of data work in mission-driven environments. At the TREO research talk, we will present more detailed data and conclusions toward reimagining design, governance, and relational dynamics of data systems, offering potential avenues for intervention at the intersection of information system design, policy, and practice.

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