Reframing Data Governance in the Third Sector: Digital Infrastructures, Epistemic Visibility, and Policy Futures in Welfare Systems

The Third Sector remains structurally underrepresented in data infrastructures and public policy knowledge frameworks. This chapter develops a theoretical reflection on the epistemic and governance challenges generated by fragmented, obsolete, and non-interoperable data concerning third-sector organizations. Drawing on sociological theory, digital governance scholarship, and debates on open data and algorithmic infrastructures, the chapter argues that data invisibility constitutes a structural form of policy marginalization. It proposes a conceptual framework for understanding third-sector data ecosystems. Building on theories of symbolic power, digital participation, and data governance, the chapter advances policy-oriented propositions aimed at enhancing transparency, accountability, and evidence-based decision-making in welfare systems. The argument ultimately redefines digital transformation in the Third Sector as an epistemic and institutional reform necessary for future social resilience.