The Impact-First ABW Flagship Program Begins

Some of the most important work directly impacting underserved communities is being done by non-profit organisations that have rich on-the-ground knowledge, but who are also in the early stages of their data maturity journeys. In 2026, Analytics for a Better World took a step toward accelerating the impact non-profit organisations can have. Five non-profit organisations joined the inaugural cohort of the Impact Accelerator Program, each bringing a purposeful, complex challenge, and each beginning a co-creation journey with world-leading data and AI experts to build sustainable and scalable solutions that enhance the impact achieved through their already existing robust, on-the-ground, localised knowledge.

This is not a program about technology as an end goal, but a program that focuses on how to better serve marginalised communities in low- and middle-income contexts by unlocking the power of ethical data science and AI. ORTEC's EVP, Frans van Helden, couldn't have said it better during the launch: focus on the goals first, and the right technological solution can surely be co-created. This human-centric technology principle sits at the heart of what makes our Impact Accelerator Program valuable.

Frans van Helden, the EVP Supply Chain Planning, opened the launch of the Impact Accelerator Program with a big shout-out to the five selected non-profit organisations. Having been at ORTEC — ABW's co-founding partner — for over 15 years, van Helden wanted to highlight that well-managed, financially successful companies that have achieved great results through data analytics and AI have had to endure the tedious work involved in dealing with data. "Data can always be better," he said.

Many significant actors in the private sector still use Excel worksheets, even though more advanced software applications are available. Sometimes the advanced software is there, but the human capacity is not. However, success is not determined solely by the best technology solutions, but by a well-managed innovation process focused on the purpose of the innovation rather than on the technological means alone. And this is what the Impact Accelerator Program offers: a well-managed co-creation process that clearly sharpens focus, enabling strong commitment to achieving the purposes of the submitted challenges.

van Helden's advice for success?

"Focus on the goals of your projects first, and you will be able to realise a successful technological solution. The cohort should rest assured that they are on a path to success, as it is clearly driven by purpose first."

The Dean of the University of Amsterdam Economics and Business Faculty, Roel Beetsma, also joined in celebrating the five participating teams and expressed confidence in their fast progress through the program regarding their data maturity journeys. As a co-founder of ABW, he expressed that this flagship program represents a significant milestone for the University of Amsterdam in bridging academia, private organisations, and the NGO sector to advance the SDGs. In challenging global times — particularly in low- and middle-income countries — complex societal problems require powerful partnerships. While NGOs possess invaluable expertise and community connections, combining these with academic research, AI capabilities, and private-sector resources creates a formidable coalition for change.

The current accelerator cohort's diversity — humanitarian fleets' sustainability, education, water access, healthcare, and preservation of historical information heritage — highlights the broad applicability of analytics. Beyond building NGO capacity, the program facilitates cross-organisational learning that benefits all partners. The dean closed with gratitude to all supporters, especially co- founding partner ORTEC, whose involvement has been indispensable to the program's existence.

The program launch key speakers also reflected the spirit of the program, namely, to bring non-profit organisations, industry, and academia together for co-creating solutions that can bring and sustain systemic change.

War Child Alliance — with which ABW partnered for a project in 2025 — also shared their story on how impactful data can be in accelerating impact. Operating across 15 countries, they have a distinctive approach that centres on evidence-based methods developed by an in-house research and development unit, focusing on child protection, mental health and psychosocial support, and education. Their challenge was translating rigorous research findings into real-world implementation at scale across diverse contexts. They needed to ensure that evidence-based methods that achieve positive outcomes in research settings would deliver the same impact when implemented by various partners globally, without the same controlled conditions or data-collection capabilities.

War Child identified three critical indicators to track quality: attendance, facilitator competency, and fidelity of implementation. By measuring these indicators, they could verify both the quality of implementation and the achievement of outcomes. The problem was tracking these indicators across multiple partners in different locations while providing real-time data access for quick decision-making. Their partnership with Analytics for a Better World, beginning in 2023, involved scoping workshops to understand the problem, define use cases, and assess IT capabilities. Through weekly sprint meetings in early 2024, the team developed a proof-of-concept dashboard visualising attendance, fidelity, and competency data, along with a report outlining development pathways. War Child has since continued iterating with their internal data team and incorporated data quality as a key focus.

The key lessons shared? Starting with the real problem, managing expectations around time and resources, planning for long-term staffing and maintenance costs, ensuring partner ownership and engagement, and securing senior management buy-in — all components included in the design of the Impact Accelerator Program.

It is this first-hand knowledge of what works, what takes time, and what must never be overlooked that now shapes the experience of the five organisations in the inaugural cohort. Here is what brought each of them here.