New Soil Analytics
Finding fertile ground for change
New Soil Analytics provides data-driven analysis and advisory services for civil society, labour, and political organizations.
Expertise
Data Analysis
A centerpiece of NSA’s work is deep and creative analysis of all types of data using modern data science tools. We find and refine existing data sets, build new data sets, and stitch them together to extract original and actionable insights. We do this on scales ranging from a few data points obtained via web scraping to multi-terabyte commercial and regulatory data sets. We often undertake data analysis as part of larger projects, layering qualitative topical knowledge on top of quantitative analysis. We can also provide one-off analyses, regularly updated data dashboards, or data feeds that meet client needs.
Economic Analysis and Modeling
NSA and its founder have regularly provided economic analyses and modeling that analyze, explain, or predict developments at an industry level. Examples include documenting the performance of American health care providers under actual and proposed payment protocols, examining airline pricing and competition issues across the globe, and modeling the financial impact of proposed legislation.
Industry Mapping & Corporate Strategy Analysis
Many of NSA’s clients are change organizations that try to influence public policy or corporate activities. Although understanding an isolated policy proposal or individual company is important, broader context is imperative for developing achievable goals and realistic strategies. We map out the big picture of an entire industry so that we can view individual companies and other actors within that larger framework. This orientation allows us to see how these entities interact with each, how different policies affect different entities, and often provides explanations for why individual actors make the choices they do.
Corporate Financial Analysis
A bedrock of understanding businesses is understanding their financing and financial results. NSA’s founder has been gleaning insights from company financial reporting for two decades, with a history of reading between the lines to derive insights that are crucial to our clients’ needs but are not stated explicitly in company reporting. Sometimes this comes from deep re-analysis of company reporting itself, and other times this involves linking standard financial reporting with operational data obtained from other sources. Relevant insights we’ve surfaced include decoding the rationale behind the evolving warehousing and delivery strategies of e-commerce companies and identifying key differences in the cost structures of competing airlines.
Why “New Soil”?
Some in the business world say that “data is the new oil”. That statement lays bare the mindset that data is just another resource that can be exploited for profit. We seek to harness the same resources for different ends. We believe that data is like soil: it’s the ground upon which strong strategies are built.
Who Are We?
And what makes us different?
New Soil Analytics is a consulting practice led by John Burant and supplemented by outside expertise and assistance as needed. John brings a unique combination of skills and experience to this work.
First, John earned a Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry before focusing on justice and advocacy work. The heritage of analytical rigor and quantitative orientation is central to our approach. We think about the world in numbers and quantify everything we can. Our data skills allow us to access and analyze sources, and to reach conclusions, that may be out of reach for others.
Second, John has spent twenty-five years working with diverse groups–civil society, labour, environmental, and political–across the United States and Europe. This experience helps us triage quickly in new situations. We identify what’s already familiar and ask penetrating questions about what’s not, so we can get to work on the relevant issues.
Third, John has held multiple leadership posts, worked closely with organizational leaders throughout his career, and held end-of-line responsibility for the success or failure of multiple campaigns. We appreciate the pressure leadership entails, are sensitive to fault lines within organizations, and work with nuance and discretion.