Insights · Measurement

The 14 drivers of digital hygiene

What the Digital Hygiene Score measures, and why the weights are set the way they are.

The Digital Hygiene Score gives a company one number from 0 to 100. It is built from 14 drivers, grouped into four pillars.

Waste reduction

Waste cleaned or resolved carries the most weight of any driver, because finding waste without acting on it changes nothing. Waste identified, redundancy rate and storage efficiency complete the pillar.

Security and compliance

Data security hygiene and compliance adherence are the next two largest drivers. Licensed use of external AI software sits here too: tools only count when their licence is on file. Recovery readiness checks that backups are sound, not just plentiful.

Data quality

Data organisation, legacy system usage and digital carbon footprint reduction measure whether the estate is getting easier to use and lighter to run.

Operational discipline

Platform usage, speed of acting on recommendations and employee digital behaviour measure whether the habits are changing, not just the numbers.

Why it matters

Scores come from live platform data, not self-reporting. That is what makes them meaningful inside the company and, through Clean Standard certification, outside it.