The digital transformation made the power of data visible to all. While it is pushing the boundaries on what data means, what data can be collected, and what their processing can do, it has also made the idea of a data-driven education a more tangible reality. While standard data collections and administrative data should support policy and practice, new kinds of data collection and data use can support all education stakeholders to make data actionable.

This publication proposes public tools and new methodologies that statisticians, policy makers and institution leaders could use to better understand the nature, quantity and conditions for educational innovation in their system or institution. While the measure of innovation and research is commonplace in most sectors within OECD countries, this is not the case in the education sector yet. This leaves education policy makers with little information or evidence to design, implement and improve an innovation policy in education. While some statistics are more useful at the system level to inform system-level policies, institutional leaders or local policy makers who will typically be at the forefront of driving change can also collect and use data to drive change towards specific educational goals or just to create the conditions for improvement.