Posts in Opinion
Data Innovations and Multi-Stakeholder Collaborations for Smart City Initiatives: Case Studies from Around the World
Data Innovations and Multi-Stakeholder Collaborations for Smart City Initiatives: Case Studies from Around the World

To implement a smart city agenda, city leadership must draw on expertise from diverse actors. Guidance and clarity are needed on a wide range of issues, including the collection and management of data, data privacy, technology procurement, collaboration with the private sector, and increasing public participation in smart city projects. Local governments can reconcile these issues and fill existing knowledge and resource gaps through multi-stakeholder collaborations with universities, national public organizations, and private companies.

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Insights, OpinionTReNDS Staffdata, artificial intelligence, climate, Earth Day
Harnessing the Power of Data for Progress on the SDGs
Harnessing the Power of Data for Progress on the SDGs

With more than two-thirds of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) off-track, high-quality, timely data to measure and monitor progress is more important than ever before. And to collect and produce this data, strong national statistical systems are needed. However, the SDGs present a complicated monitoring challenge for national governments. Traditional data sources, such as official censuses and surveys, are often outdated and/or lacking data, which creates gaps in SDG reporting. As such, non-traditional data sources, including big data, citizen science, and Earth observation (EO) are becoming increasingly important to complement official statistics. Adopting these innovative data sources will improve SDG monitoring, reporting, and progress, and will lead to better informed, data-driven decision making.

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Insights, OpinionTReNDS Staffdata, artificial intelligence, climate, Earth Day
Spotlighting Novel AI-Environmental Data Innovations and Climate Datasets on Earth Day
Spotlighting Novel AI-Environmental Data Innovations and Climate Datasets on Earth Day

With the rise of ChatGPT and a slew of other AI advancements, discussions around AI have been ubiquitous in the news, popular culture, and across the global development community. While there are a number of ethical challenges that AI brings into question, the technology offers great potential for positive societal impact in the field of sustainable development. In particular, AI combined with traditional data sources allows for significantly more granular, quality, lower-cost, less resource-intensive, and timely data than ever before to improve decision-making and planning.

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Insights, OpinionTReNDS Staffdata, artificial intelligence, climate, Earth Day
Improved Governance and Meaningful User Engagement to Expand Data Use: A Case Study of Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography
Improved Governance and Meaningful User Engagement to Expand Data Use: A Case Study of Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography

In Fall 2022, SDSN TReNDS and Open Data Watch released the report, Overcoming Data Graveyards in Official Statistics: Catalyzing Uptake and Use, which aimed to provide conceptual clarity around the challenges of improving data use and a way forward for research by sourcing best practices from countries. This blog series spotlights insights and best practices from the countries profiled.

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Insights, OpinionTReNDS Staffdata, data governance, Open Data Watch, overcoming data graveyards
Understanding User Needs to Improve Data Use: A Case Study of the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics
Understanding User Needs to Improve Data Use: A Case Study of the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics

In Fall 2022, SDSN TReNDS and Open Data Watch released the report, Overcoming Data Graveyards in Official Statistics: Catalyzing Uptake and Use, which aimed to provide conceptual clarity around the challenges of improving data use and a way forward for research by sourcing best practices from countries. This blog is the third in a blog series spotlighting insights and best practices from the countries profiled.

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Insights, OpinionTReNDS Staffdata, data governance, Open Data Watch, overcoming data graveyards
Centralizing Data Governance For Improved Data Use: A Case Study of the Philippine Statistics Authority
Centralizing Data Governance For Improved Data Use: A Case Study of the Philippine Statistics Authority

Last Fall, SDSN TReNDS and Open Data Watch released the report, Overcoming Data Graveyards in Official Statistics: Catalyzing Uptake and Use, which aimed to provide conceptual clarity around the challenges of improving data use and a way forward for research by sourcing best practices from countries. This article is the second in a blog series spotlighting insights and best practices from the countries profiled.

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Insights, OpinionTReNDS Staffdata, data governance, Open Data Watch, overcoming data graveyards
Seven Years into SDG Implementation, What Should Be Next for the Data for Development Agenda?
Seven Years into SDG Implementation, What Should Be Next for the Data for Development Agenda?

At the halfway mark to 2030, there remains a great deal of attention and effort to improve the data and methods underlying the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator framework. The impetus to fill data gaps for the SDG indicators draws principally from the assumption that countries are planning and developing their policies with the SDG goals and targets as their guiding framework. As we enter 2023, our Director Grant Cameron takes stock of whether the SDGs have significantly impacted global and national policymaking and where should resources be directed to improve data for the SDGs over the next seven years.

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Insights, OpinionTReNDS Staffdata, SDGs, monitoring, data revolution
Adopting an Inclusive Approach: A Data Use Case Study of Colombia's National Statistics Office
Adopting an Inclusive Approach: A Data Use Case Study of Colombia's National Statistics Office

Earlier this year, SDSN TReNDS and Open Data Watch released the report, Overcoming Data Graveyards in Official Statistics: Catalyzing Uptake and Use, which aimed to provide conceptual clarity around the challenges of improving data use and a way forward for research by sourcing best practices from countries. This is the first post in a blog series that spotlights insights and best practices from the countries profiled.

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Insights, OpinionGuest Contributordata, SDGs, gender data, data use, Colombia, Inclusive Data Charter, inclusivity, official statistics
The Potential for Data-Driven Policymaking in Africa: Success Stories Across the Continent
The Potential for Data-Driven Policymaking in Africa: Success Stories Across the Continent

“Policymaking without data is a rudderless ship.” Indeed, data and statistics are fundamental to improving evidence-based decision-making. And while statistical capacity and the use of data for decision-making have improved across the globe, Africa still lags far behind other regions. This is especially true for civil registration and vital statistics (where only eight out of 50 African countries have a system to register deaths), climate data and environmental monitoring, and health data. In addition, even in African countries that have the data available, its use is often hindered by weak data literacy and data-driven policy design cultures. Fortunately, in recent years there have been some bright spots, including the rise of big data innovations and a number of regional and multi-stakeholder partnerships to tackle COVID-19 and other complex challenges. This African Statistics Day, we’ve highlighted a few of the noteworthy cases in which data-driven decision-making is improving development outcomes and decision-making on the continent.

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Insights, OpinionGuest Contributordata, population monitoring, SDGs, GIS, sdg6, World Water Week, remote sensing, satellite
The Role of Data Partnerships in Paving the Road Ahead for Secondary Cities
The Role of Data Partnerships in Paving the Road Ahead for Secondary Cities

Local action is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. According to the UN, 3.5 billion people – nearly half of humanity - currently live in cities. And this number will only continue to increase over the next several decades. The latest UN-Habitat World Cities Report reports that the world will continue to urbanize over the next three decades - from 56 percent in 2021 to 68 percent in 2050 - an increase of 2.2 billion urban residents, living mostly in Africa and Asia. Cities are also becoming increasingly interconnected. As such, cities, particularly “Secondary Cities,” will play a critical role in advancing the sustainable development agenda in the years ahead.

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Insights, OpinionGuest Contributordata, population monitoring, SDGs, GIS, sdg6, World Water Week, remote sensing, satellite
An UNGA Data Snapshot: Data Financing, Digital Transformation, and Data Use Take Center Stage
An UNGA Data Snapshot: Data Financing, Digital Transformation, and Data Use Take Center Stage

This week marked the official end of the 77th UN General Assembly (UNGA), where leaders from across the globe convened in New York to confront the world’s biggest challenges, including the war in Ukraine, global supply chain and economic issues, rising interest rates and debt levels, climate change, and ending the COVID-19 pandemic. We provide a high-level snapshot of the data-related highlights from the week below.

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Insights, OpinionGuest Contributordata, population monitoring, SDGs, GIS, sdg6, World Water Week, remote sensing, satellite
Innovating with GIS Technologies: Emerging Insights from Countries on Expanding Access to Clean Water
Innovating with GIS Technologies: Emerging Insights from Countries on Expanding Access to Clean Water

Since the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution, government agencies have used digital tools and technologies to support decision-making. More recently, tools such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which create, manage, analyze, and map all types of data, have become increasingly popular. And the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated their use, with recent innovative GIS applications ranging from the John Hopkins’ COVID-19 dashboard to the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO)’s spatio-temporal analysis of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Amazon region to the World Health Organization’s use of GIS tools for contract tracing in Zimbabwe. One area of sustainable development where GIS is receiving significant attention is around SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation). Nearly two billion people globally still lack access to safely managed drinking water, and recent data shows that the world is not on track to meet SDG 6 by 2030.

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Insights, OpinionGuest Contributordata, population monitoring, SDGs, GIS, sdg6, World Water Week, remote sensing, satellite
Getting Back on Track: Calls for More Localized Approaches and SDG Financing
Getting Back on Track: Calls for More Localized Approaches and SDG Financing

This year’s session of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) culminated earlier this week, with 44 countries presenting their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) and hundreds of country delegates, leaders, and key stakeholders convening to discuss progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We review some of the key highlights discussed, including the importance of data infrastructure and timely, disaggregated data, the need for greater investments and financing for countries, and the value of localized and customized approaches to achieve the SDGs.

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Insights, OpinionAlyson Marksdata, HLPF, population monitoring, SDGs, data financing
A Tipping Point for Digital Transformation: Lessons for the Data Sector
A Tipping Point for Digital Transformation: Lessons for the Data Sector

Digital transformation – particularly the role of and the expansion of digital public goods – has become an increasingly central part of the discussion on how we tackle the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and what experts are calling the “most consequential geopolitical and geo-economic moment of the past three decades.” And these conversations are ripe throughout the global development space, particularly at the supra-national level. In this blog, TReNDS’ Alyson Marks highlights recent advancements to the digital transformation agenda and lessons the data community should consider to expand its influence.

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Insights, OpinionAlyson Marksdata, Global South, Data Lab
Catalyzing Earth Observations for Sustainable Development in Africa
Catalyzing Earth Observations for Sustainable Development in Africa

The growth of Earth Observation data (EO) has skyrocketed over the past few years with technological advancements and a surge in new technologies. With these technologies, users can add more granularity, temporal, and localized information to their data. And the rise in EO shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. According to a recent analysis by Morgan Stanley, space-borne EO’s value is expected to exceed $25 billion USD by 2040. Additionally, a recent assessment highlights that existing EO systems could generate data for 33 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicators across 14 goals. Consequently, governments are increasingly using this data for evidence-based decision-making on sustainable development challenges. Yet, countries in the Global South, particularly in Africa, continue to face challenges with harnessing the breadth and complexity of EO data for decision-making on sustainable development issues. TReNDS’ latest research paper explores the bottlenecks to use and the types of partnerships that may prove beneficial to overcoming these challenges.

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Insights, OpinionAlyson MarksEarth observation, west africa, geospatial data, satellite
Learning from City-Level Chief Data Officers
Learning from City-Level Chief Data Officers

Cities have been leading on innovation to improve civic outcomes for decades – with the origins of the “smart cities” revolution first taking shape in 1970s Los Angeles. Yet, the growth of “smart cities” along with the surge in new technologies and a global pandemic have contributed to the unprecedented data collection, production, and analysis demands facing national and local governments today. In response, a number of cities around the world have recently instituted a Chief Data Officer (CDO) position to improve their data stewardship for better service delivery and policymaking. To better understand how the experiences of CDOs at the city and sub-national levels can help to inform their national counterparts, SDSN TReNDS conducted initial research on this issue, and this blog highlights a number of emerging findings for National Statistics Offices.

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Insights, OpinionAlyson Markssmart city, Smart City Initiatives, data stewardship, chief data officers, COVID-19, UN Statistical Commission
Harnessing Citizen Science at the National-Level
Harnessing Citizen Science at the National-Level

While it may serve as a surprise to some, citizen science has been around for thousands of years. With the influx of new technologies in recent years, such as mobile applications and remote sensing, citizen science has grown in popularity as researchers, governments, and citizens are now able to more seamlessly collaborate. In particular, citizen science has become a critical tool for helping to measure progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as fill data gaps. TReNDS’ expert members’ research, work at the country-level, as well as recent discussions on citizen science have helped to highlight the use of citizen science to fill important data gaps, the value of multistakeholder partnerships to mobilize citizen science initiatives at the local level, as well as the importance of garnering national buy-in.

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Insights, OpinionSDSN StaffCitizen Science, citizen-generated data, SDGs