Data Management Canvas
Get your data into focus.
Understand your information and agree what to improve or build.
Explore the Canvas ↗Technology leadership & delivery
Clarity first.Then buildwhat matters.
We help you make the right technology decisions—and build the data, AI and connected software to put them into practice.
From information to action
How we can help
Find your starting point.
CTO as a Service
A clearer technology direction.
Experienced guidance for your roadmap, architecture and delivery.
Explore CTO support ↗Selected work
See what we deliver.
Data + software
The Earth Museum
Data planning and an interactive globe for exploring places and stories.
Read the case study ↗Strategic advice + product development
Launch International
Helping a business test an idea, develop a product and make confident decisions.
Read the customer story ↗Let’s move your idea forward
What’s your
technology challenge?
Tell us what you want to improve or build.
Talk to KnowNowThe KnowNow service catalogue
A clear starting point.
A practical way forward.
Find the support you need—from a first technology decision to a working solution. Choose a service to see what we deliver, how we work and the available packages.
Data Management and Engineering
Data Management Canvas
Build a shared picture of your information, its users, and responsibilities—then plan and deliver the improvements that matter.
Package scopes:BronzeSilverGold
Strategic Advisory and Enablement
CTO as a Service
Get experienced technology leadership to shape your roadmap, challenge architecture, and guide delivery.
Package scopes:BronzeSilverGold
AI and Intelligent Systems
Intelligent Assistant Design and Build
Connect an assistant to approved knowledge and useful workflows, with evaluation and integration built into the scope.
Package scopes:BronzeSilverGold
Software Engineering and Integration
Software Project Design and Delivery
Move from a defined user need to a working application, API, or integration—and a clear route to production.
Package scopes:BronzeSilverGold
Edge, Connected Systems and Digital Twins
Connected Systems and Digital Twin Delivery
Connect physical environments to software. Process data where it is created when latency, resilience, or bandwidth matters.
Package scopes:BronzeSilverGold
Scope, duration and commercial terms are agreed in your proposal.
One standard of quality. Three levels of scope.
Choose how far
you need to go.
Package level describes the work delivered. The delivery model describes how we work with you.
Understand the challenge.
A focused assessment, definition, roadmap, or prototype that establishes your next step.
Make it work.
A defined pilot, implementation, or working solution, with an agreed scope and acceptance criteria.
Build for ongoing use.
Production delivery, integration, scaling, and support appropriate to the service.
Fixed engagement · Project · Retained support · Specialist resource · Tailored proposal
Not sure where to start?
Start with the problem.
Tell us what needs to change. We’ll help identify the right capability and agree a suitable engagement.
Discuss your challenge ↗Package scopes:BronzeSilverGold
Data Management and Engineering
Get your data clear.
Build on firmer foundations.
Understand what information you have, who needs it, and how it should be managed. Then turn that understanding into a roadmap and implementation.
When this helps
What KnowNow delivers
Our signature framework
The Data Management Canvas.
A structure for the conversation—not a substitute for the delivery that follows.
01 / Stakeholders
Who needs the data, and for which decisions?
Who needs the data, and for which decisions?
02 / Sources & collection
Where does it originate, and how is it captured?
Where does it originate, and how is it captured?
03 / Storage
How is it retained, protected, and made available?
How is it retained, protected, and made available?
04 / Governance
Who owns it, controls access, and takes responsibility?
Who owns it, controls access, and takes responsibility?
05 / Sustainability
How does its value, ownership, and usefulness change over time?
How does its value, ownership, and usefulness change over time?
A readable view of the Canvas structure. Your engagement develops it around your organisation’s data.
Choose the scope, not the quality
A clear route from definition
to working delivery.
Package scopes for this service. Final deliverables and commercials are confirmed in your proposal.
Each package includes an agreed customer problem, deliverables, acceptance criteria, and next steps. Typical duration and indicative commercial terms are confirmed after discovery. Client responsibilities, dependencies, and exclusions below apply to the selected scope.
Before we begin
Clear expectations.
Useful collaboration.
Engagement, duration, and commercial model
Your responsibilities
Assumptions and exclusions
Support and specialist delivery
Retained support and specialist capability can be included within the relevant service. Responsibilities, availability, and support arrangements are agreed explicitly.
Evidence and related work
Read the related case study →Strategic Advisory and Enablement
CTO as a Service
Get experienced technology leadership to shape your roadmap, challenge architecture, and guide delivery.
Fixed engagement · Retained support
When this helps
Make the important decisions with confidence.
Useful when you need senior technical leadership, are evaluating investment, or want independent challenge and support for a delivery programme.
What KnowNow delivers
- CTO as a Service and technology roadmaps
- Enterprise and solution architecture reviews
- Requirements definition, executive briefings, and team enablement
What you take away
A clearer direction.
Experienced support.
A clearer technology direction, prioritised decisions, and experienced support for your team.
Your scope, timetable, and responsibilities are agreed before delivery.Meet your technology adviser
Chris Cooper
Founding member · KnowNow Information
Chris brings experience in digital twins, smart city technologies and digital transformation. His work spans the design and deployment of connected systems.
Discuss CTO support ↗Experienced guidance, applied to your challenge
From a difficult decision
to a practical way forward.
Explore three ways CTO support can help. These examples show the thinking behind the service; your deliverables are confirmed in your proposal.
01 / Review a decision
Independent challenge before you commit.
Compare your options in the context of business priorities, existing systems and delivery constraints.
- Clarify the decision and its constraints
- Challenge architecture and supplier proposals
- Record recommendations and open questions
Decision briefIllustrative example
Choose an integration approach
Question
Connect the existing platform or replace it?
Start with the outcome and constraints.Consider
Integration effort, maintainability and dependencies
Compare the options against agreed criteria.Next step
Validate the highest-risk assumption
Agree the evidence needed before committing.Illustrative process and sample deliverables. Your priorities, responsibilities and deliverables are agreed in your proposal.
Choose the scope, not the quality
A clear level of support
for the work ahead.
Package scopes for this service. Final deliverables and commercials are confirmed in your proposal.
Bronze
Review and define
Assess a defined decision and establish a technology direction.
- Defined technology or architecture review
- Options and recommendations
- Prioritised roadmap
Silver
Guide a delivery programme
Provide advisory leadership for a defined programme, with agreed milestones and deliverables.
- Programme roadmap and architecture decisions
- Milestone reviews and team enablement
- Delivery assurance within agreed scope
Gold
Retain CTO leadership
Provide retained leadership for production decisions, scaling, and ongoing delivery assurance.
- Agreed leadership remit and availability
- Production and scaling decision support
- Recurring delivery and architecture reviews
Each package includes an agreed customer problem, deliverables, acceptance criteria, and next steps. Typical duration and indicative commercial terms are confirmed after discovery. Client responsibilities, dependencies, and exclusions below apply to the selected scope.
Before we begin
Clear expectations.
Useful collaboration.
Engagement, duration, and commercial model
Delivery model: Fixed engagement · Retained support. Available as a focused engagement or retained fractional leadership. Duration, access to the team, decision authority, and review cadence are agreed in the proposal.
Your responsibilities
Share business priorities, existing plans, decision constraints, and access to the people accountable for technology and delivery.
Assumptions and exclusions
Advisory does not automatically include implementation, full-time executive availability, legal advice, or responsibility for decisions outside the agreed remit.
Support and specialist delivery
Retained support and specialist capability can be included within the relevant service. Responsibilities, availability, and support arrangements are agreed explicitly.
Evidence and related work
Launch International: a critical friend for product decisions.
In her 2018 interview, CEO Sally Thompson described idea validation, staged product testing and an evolving strategic partnership with KnowNow.
Read the customer story →
Software Engineering and Integration
Software Project Design and Delivery
Move from a defined user need to a working application, API, or integration—and a clear route to production.
Fixed engagement · Project
When this helps
Build around the work people need to do.
Useful when you need a new application, want existing systems to exchange information, or need to modernise software around a clearer architecture.
What KnowNow delivers
- Software project design and technical discovery
- Web applications, APIs, databases, and integration
- Technical testing, handover, and agreed operational support
What you take away
A solution shaped around your users.
A solution shaped around your users and systems, with a clear delivery plan and agreed acceptance criteria.
Your scope, timetable, and responsibilities are agreed before delivery.Explore the delivery approach
Make the next step visible.
Choose a stage to see the questions, decisions and example deliverables that can move a project forward. The scope is agreed around your users and systems.
01 / Discover & define
Agree what the software needs to change.
Understand the users, existing systems and constraints before deciding what to build.
- Identify the user need and desired outcome
- Map dependencies and existing systems
- Define the scope and acceptance criteria
Discovery briefIllustrative example
A focused starting point
User need
Submit and track a service request
Who needs this, and what should become easier?Scope
Capture, review and update a request
Agree the behaviour that matters for the first release.Acceptance
A requester can see the latest status
Define what will show that the need has been met.Review pointIs the problem clear, and do we agree what success looks like?
The examples illustrate the approach. Final deliverables, acceptance criteria and release responsibilities are confirmed in your proposal.
Choose the scope, not the quality
A clear route from definition
to working delivery.
Package scopes for this service. Final deliverables and commercials are confirmed in your proposal.
Bronze
Define the solution
Explore requirements, architecture, and implementation choices.
- Discovery and requirements
- Technical design
- Prototype where scoped
Silver
Deliver an MVP or pilot
Deliver a defined working solution for evaluation.
- Prioritised functionality
- Working application or integration
- Pilot evaluation
Gold
Build for production
Implement agreed production functionality and integration.
- Production delivery
- Testing and system integration
- Handover and support
Each package includes an agreed customer problem, deliverables, acceptance criteria, and next steps. Typical duration and indicative commercial terms are confirmed after discovery. Client responsibilities, dependencies, and exclusions below apply to the selected scope.
Before we begin
Clear expectations.
Useful collaboration.
Engagement, duration, and commercial model
Delivery model: Fixed engagement · Project. Discovery, a defined build, or retained improvement. Timetables reflect agreed functionality, dependencies, review cycles, and access to existing systems.
Your responsibilities
Provide an accountable product owner, requirements and constraints, representative users, and access to systems within the agreed scope.
Assumptions and exclusions
Third-party licences, hosting costs, unscoped integrations, and ongoing support are included only when stated in the proposal.
Support and specialist delivery
Retained support and specialist capability can be included within the relevant service. Responsibilities, availability, and support arrangements are agreed explicitly.
Evidence and related work
The Earth Museum: information made interactive.
KnowNow’s technical contribution included the Cesium-based globe experience, connecting content and places within a working learning platform.
Read the related case study →Edge, Connected Systems and Digital Twins
Connected Systems and Digital Twin Delivery
Connect physical environments to software. Process data where it is created when latency, resilience, or bandwidth matters.
Project · Tailored proposal
EntelligentlyProduct screenshot
When this helps
Make connected information useful in context.
Useful when local processing, limited connectivity, response time, or large sensor and video feeds affect how your solution must operate.
What KnowNow delivers
- Data sources, site requirements, and processing architecture
- Sensor or device integration and edge-to-cloud pipelines
- A scoped digital twin or connected application, with evaluation
What you take away
A practical architecture. A useful operational view.
A practical architecture for connected data, with a path to local processing and useful operational applications.
Your scope, timetable, and responsibilities are agreed before delivery.Explore the connected system
From the physical environment
to an informed next step.
Choose a layer to explore the questions that shape a connected solution. This workplace example illustrates the architecture; your sources, processing and applications are scoped to your environment.
01 / Sources & context
Start with the environment and the question.
Understand the devices, feeds and physical context that matter to the operational outcome.
- Identify data sources, formats and ownership
- Review site access, connectivity and data rates
- Define the operational question and acceptance needs
A useful question
Discuss your environment ↗What do people need to understand, and which information can support that decision?
Example: a connected workplaceIllustrative architecture
Physical environment
Rooms, devices and environmental feeds
Local processing
Filtering, buffering or analysis where needed
Connected data
Defined interfaces, shared meaning and access
Operational context
A scoped application or digital-twin view
No live feeds or device control are connected to this example. A digital twin is scoped where an asset, location or spatial model helps people interpret the information.
Choose the scope, not the quality
Start with the environment.
Scale with an agreed scope.
Package scopes for this service. Final deliverables and commercials are confirmed in your proposal.
Bronze
Assess the environment
Define data sources, connectivity, and processing needs.
- Data and device assessment
- Processing and connectivity requirements
- Architecture recommendations
Silver
Pilot a connected solution
Implement a limited sensor, feed, or site pilot.
- Limited deployment scope
- Data pipeline or twin pilot
- Technical evaluation
Gold
Integrate and scale
Deliver a scoped integrated edge-to-cloud system.
- Scaled integration
- Operational testing
- Agreed handover and support
Each package includes an agreed customer problem, deliverables, acceptance criteria, and next steps. Typical duration and indicative commercial terms are confirmed after discovery. Client responsibilities, dependencies, and exclusions below apply to the selected scope.
Before we begin
Clear expectations.
Useful collaboration.
Engagement, duration, and commercial model
Delivery model: Project · Tailored proposal. A technical assessment, limited pilot, or delivery project. Duration depends on devices, site access, data rates, connectivity, and integration requirements.
Your responsibilities
Provide device specifications, representative feeds, access to sites and systems, and operational acceptance requirements.
Assumptions and exclusions
Hardware supply, installation, specialist certification, and guarantees about detection or performance are excluded unless explicitly scoped and validated.
Support and specialist delivery
Retained support and specialist capability can be included within the relevant service. Responsibilities, availability, and support arrangements are agreed explicitly.
Evidence and related work
Entelligently: building data in spatial context.
The product’s published digital-twin interface connects floorplan context and environmental conditions, demonstrating connected data and software in practice.
Read the Entelligently case study →Spatial context
Connect rooms and devices.
People and place
Bring occupant feedback into view.
Data Management and Engineering
Get your data clear.
Build on firmer foundations.
Understand what information you have, who needs it, and how it should be managed. Then turn that understanding into a roadmap and implementation.
When this helps
What KnowNow delivers
Our signature framework
The Data Management Canvas.
A structure for the conversation—not a substitute for the delivery that follows.
01 / Stakeholders
Who needs the data, and for which decisions?
Who needs the data, and for which decisions?
02 / Sources & collection
Where does it originate, and how is it captured?
Where does it originate, and how is it captured?
03 / Storage
How is it retained, protected, and made available?
How is it retained, protected, and made available?
04 / Governance
Who owns it, controls access, and takes responsibility?
Who owns it, controls access, and takes responsibility?
05 / Sustainability
How does its value, ownership, and usefulness change over time?
How does its value, ownership, and usefulness change over time?
A readable view of the Canvas structure. Your engagement develops it around your organisation’s data.
Choose the scope, not the quality
A clear route from definition
to working delivery.
Package scopes for this service. Final deliverables and commercials are confirmed in your proposal.
Each package includes an agreed customer problem, deliverables, acceptance criteria, and next steps. Typical duration and indicative commercial terms are confirmed after discovery. Client responsibilities, dependencies, and exclusions below apply to the selected scope.
Before we begin
Clear expectations.
Useful collaboration.
Engagement, duration, and commercial model
Your responsibilities
Assumptions and exclusions
Support and specialist delivery
Retained support and specialist capability can be included within the relevant service. Responsibilities, availability, and support arrangements are agreed explicitly.
Evidence and related work
Read the related case study →Data Management Canvas
Data Management Canvas
Build a shared picture of your information, its users, and responsibilities—then plan and deliver the improvements that matter.
Fixed engagement · Project · Tailored proposal
Sharp vector artwork from the supplied PDF. Open the board to zoom into the original notes.
When this helps
Make your next data decision clearer.
Useful when information is fragmented, ownership is unclear, or a software or AI initiative needs stronger data foundations.
What KnowNow delivers
- Data Management Canvas and stakeholder definition
- Data architecture, quality, governance, and metadata planning
- Data pipelines, integration, and platform implementation where scoped
What you take away
A shared picture and a practical direction.
A shared view of your information, clearer responsibilities, and a practical basis for deciding what to improve or build.
Your scope, timetable, and responsibilities are agreed before delivery.Our signature framework
Five stages. One shared picture.
A structure for the conversation—not a substitute for the delivery that follows. Choose a stage to explore the supplied demo.
01 / Stakeholders
Start with the people who need your data.
Connect stakeholders, the decisions they make, and the information they need.
- Identify key stakeholders
- Understand their information needs
- Agree shared priorities
A useful question
Who needs this information, and what will it help them decide?
Stage 1 of 5
Clearer responsibilities
Identified gaps
Prioritised next steps
This is a demo Canvas. The explanatory text is a website summary; your engagement develops the Canvas around your organisation’s data, people and decisions.
Choose the scope, not the quality
A clear route from definition
to working delivery.
Package scopes for this service. Final deliverables and commercials are confirmed in your proposal.
Bronze
Define with the Canvas
Assess stakeholders, data needs, and responsibilities to establish priorities.
- Facilitated Canvas and stakeholder definition
- Prioritised data needs and responsibilities
- Recommendations and delivery direction
Silver
Pilot a data improvement
Deliver a defined data improvement or working pilot based on the agreed priorities.
- Scoped architecture and management plan
- A defined pipeline, quality, or governance pilot
- Evaluation against agreed criteria
Gold
Implement and sustain
Integrate and scale agreed data improvements, with operational ownership and support.
- Scoped production data engineering
- Integration, validation, and handover
- Agreed operational support
Each package includes an agreed customer problem, deliverables, acceptance criteria, and next steps. Typical duration and indicative commercial terms are confirmed after discovery. Client responsibilities, dependencies, and exclusions below apply to the selected scope.
Before we begin
Clear expectations.
Useful collaboration.
Engagement, duration, and commercial model
Delivery model: Fixed engagement · Project · Tailored proposal. The initial assessment is a defined engagement. Duration depends on stakeholder availability and the scope of information to review. Implementation and retained support are scoped separately; pricing is confirmed in a proposal.
Your responsibilities
Provide relevant stakeholders, explain existing systems and constraints, and review the resulting priorities and responsibilities.
Assumptions and exclusions
The Canvas assessment does not itself include software implementation, a complete organisation-wide data inventory, or certification of legal compliance. Any additional delivery is explicitly scoped.
Support and specialist delivery
Retained support and specialist capability can be included within the relevant service. Responsibilities, availability, and support arrangements are agreed explicitly.
Evidence and related work
The Earth Museum:
a Canvas-led starting point.
KnowNow helped define users, information structures, and governance before the platform’s interactive globe implementation.
Read the related case study →DATA → STRUCTURE → SOFTWAREStart with people.
Start with people.
Shape the information.
Then build.
The Canvas connects the early questions to the delivery that follows.
AI and Intelligent Systems
Intelligent Assistant Design and Build
Connect an assistant to approved knowledge and useful workflows, with evaluation and integration built into the scope.
Project · Tailored proposal
When this helps
Start with a useful task.
Useful when you have a practical task for AI, want an assistant connected to organisational information, or need a pilot evaluated before deployment.
What KnowNow delivers
- Use-case definition and approved knowledge-source planning
- Assistant pilot with scoped database and workflow integration
- Evaluation, governance, and production handover where agreed
What you take away
A defined use case. An evaluated approach.
A defined use case, an evaluated approach, and an AI capability connected to the systems it needs.
Your scope, timetable, and responsibilities are agreed before delivery.Designing the conversation
The useful work starts
before the chatbot.
Map the questions people ask, the decisions behind each answer and the points where someone needs help from a person.
- Explore possible answers and follow-up questions.
- Define checks, missing information and uncertain responses.
- Plan where the conversation should hand over.
Conversation planning example from the supplied image.
Explore an assistant experience
Useful answers.
A clear next step.
Choose a scenario to see how an assistant could support everyday work. This is a scripted design demo using fictional sample content.
01 / Find an answer
Answers connected to the information you trust.
Design an assistant around a defined set of approved sources, with references that help people check the response.
- Agree which sources the assistant can use
- Show the information behind an answer
- Test relevance and accuracy with representative questions
Workplace assistant
Example question
How do I request access to a project workspace?
Example response
The sample IT access guide says to start with the workspace owner. Here is the example process:
- Identify the workspace and the access you need.
- Ask the workspace owner to approve the request.
- Send the approved request to the service desk.
View sample source
Example IT Access Guide · Workspace requests
Workspace owners approve access. The service desk provisions access after receiving the owner’s approval.
Fictional content created for this example.In a real deployment, knowledge sources, permissions, permitted actions, review steps and evaluation criteria are agreed for your use case.
Choose the scope, not the quality
From a defined opportunity
to an evaluated assistant.
Package scopes for this service. Final deliverables and commercials are confirmed in your proposal.
Bronze
Assess the opportunity
Define the use case, available data, and evaluation criteria.
- Use-case assessment
- Data and integration needs
- Evaluation plan
Silver
Build a working pilot
Build an assistant or application for a controlled pilot.
- Pilot implementation
- Approved knowledge sources
- User testing and evaluation
Gold
Deploy and evaluate
Integrate a scoped production capability and operational support.
- Production integration
- Operational evaluation
- Agreed governance and support
Each package includes an agreed customer problem, deliverables, acceptance criteria, and next steps. Typical duration and indicative commercial terms are confirmed after discovery. Client responsibilities, dependencies, and exclusions below apply to the selected scope.
Before we begin
Clear expectations.
Useful collaboration.
Engagement, duration, and commercial model
Delivery model: Project · Tailored proposal. An assessment, pilot, or production project. The timetable depends on source quality, integration requirements, evaluation needs, and user access.
Your responsibilities
Provide approved content, system access where needed, representative users, and a named owner for acceptance and operational decisions.
Assumptions and exclusions
Scope does not include unrestricted access to private systems, guaranteed model accuracy, or unlimited autonomous actions. Acceptance criteria and permitted behaviour are defined together.
Support and specialist delivery
Retained support and specialist capability can be included within the relevant service. Responsibilities, availability, and support arrangements are agreed explicitly.
Evidence and related work
Related systems work: Entelligently.
The published building interface illustrates how connected information can be presented in operational context. This is a related systems example, not an AI assistant case study.
Read the related case study →
The starting challenge
KnowNow’s role
What we delivered
What changed
Start with the outcome you need
Tell us what you’re
trying to make possible.
We’ll help you identify a useful next step, whether that’s a focused assessment, technology leadership, or a delivery project.
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