census — What's TReNDing

How Disaggregated Data Can Pave the Way for a More Equitable Recovery

Around the world, racial and ethnic disparities are rampant across all sectors of society; from inequities in healthcare, education, and employment to housing, wealth, and criminal justice. Indigenous peoples and racial minorities are also systematically undercounted in censuses. COVID-19 has exacerbated these issues, as people of color, especially Black people, have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, both in terms of cases and deaths. Yet much of the COVID-19 data, including on vaccinations, is still not being disaggregated by race or ethnicity, further hampering governments’ ability to formulate effective policies to respond to the pandemic. With over a year since the first COVID-19 case and the rise of new variants and a resurgence in cases globally, countries must do better to disaggregate their data by race and ethnicity.

Making Everyone Count: An Examination of the Global Census Undercount Issues of Indigenous Populations

2020 was supposed to be a critical year for census enumeration in many countries around the world. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in disruptions to censuses in more than 60 countries worldwide and prompted many nations, including Brazil, Ecuador, and the Seychelles to postpone their census to 2021. However, in 2021, conducting a safe and accurate census is likely to still pose a significant challenge for many countries. This issue is particularly concerning for marginalized groups, including indigenous populations, who are already systemically undercounted.

InsightsTReNDS StaffJanuary 6, 2021census, indigenous peoples, population monitoring

Putting Data to Work for Real-World SDG Progress

Timely, high-quality data is critical to reaching the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals — but harnessing it requires new ways of thinking, collaboration, and investment in national statistics systems. Learn more about what’s needed to catalyze data for real-world impact in this Nature article, featuring insights from TReNDS’ experts and partners.

Mixing the Old with the New: Integrating New Data into Traditional Data Systems for Sustainable Development

New methods of data collection have the opportunity to create a timelier, more detailed understanding of sustainable development challenges. For example, earth observation (EO) data has been identified as a tool for monitoring a wide range of issues, including agriculture, health, cities, and biodiversity at often more frequent and granular levels, and has also proven essential during the current pandemic. Additionally, last month, SDSN in collaboration with Esri launched SDGs Today, a platform of timely data sources related to the Sustainable Development Goals to provide users with a snapshot of the state of sustainable development. Although new methods can provide valuable insights, they need to be treated with caution as they are not replacements for existing methodologies.

Engaging the Scientific Community in the Use of Gridded Population Data

As the world continues to face the immense challenges posed by Covid-19, nontraditional data sources, including gridded population data, play an important role in tracking the virus’ spread and ensuring that no one is left behind. Gridded population maps distribute data using grid cells, combining census results with additional information, such as geospatial data from satellites, to provide more accurate and timely population estimates. However, as our recent report on gridded population data and joint webinar with the International Science Council revealed, while they offer great promise, many policymakers and researchers are still largely unaware of gridded population data, particularly their nuances and potential applications for sustainable development and Covid-19.

Data Sharing For the Public Good: Establishing the Right Frameworks

Covid-19 has given rise to an enormous amount of data. Everything from satellite data and mobile data to big data are providing insights on how the virus is spreading and where vulnerable communities are located. Collaboration is essential for leveraging this data, and the pandemic has prompted an increase in data partnerships. However, many of these data collaborations are raising privacy and security concerns - there are at least 27 countries currently using data from cell phone companies to track entire populations for COVID-19 purposes, and we don’t know how long this will continue. The crisis has also underscored many of the barriers to collaboration, including the lengthy negotiation process for negotiating data sharing agreements (DSAs) and the lack of trust and accountability between parties that can arise. Establishing the right legal frameworks and policies for managing the data are key to overcoming these obstacles.

A Vaccine Is Not the Only Answer to COVID-19: Why Strengthening Statistical and Data Systems Must Be Part of the Solution

The world’s inability to detect and contain the spread of COVID-19 has been financially devastating. The International Monetary Fund says that the global economy will shrink by 3% this year. Many analysts have described the decline as the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s, with 42.6 million people applying for unemployment benefits in America alone. With these losses, budgets are tightening around the world. Prioritization of essential spending is more critical than ever, and many governments and organizations are understandably placing their hopes in the development of an effective vaccine. But as much as a vaccine is needed to address the pandemic, accurate and real-time data is needed to enable the detection and containment of its spread. And governments and development organizations can do more to better strengthen statistical systems by providing adequate financing.

Insights, OpinionShaida BadieeJuly 1, 2020COVID-19, data financing, CRVS, census

Leveraging Population Data in a Time of Crisis

During the current health crisis, knowing where people are located, what conditions they are facing, and their access to basic services and infrastructure is essential. Helping to answer these key needs, gridded population data have emerged and can play an important role in mapping individuals’ vulnerability and ensuring that no one is left behind. Gridded (or raster) population maps represent the distribution of population in rows and columns of grid cells, typically defined by their latitude-longitude coordinates. Population data is redistributed across these grid cells and combined with satellite imagery and other sources to provide more accurate and timely population estimates. Yet, as TReNDS’ recent report, Leaving No One Off The Map: A Guide To Gridded Population Data For Sustainable Development, demonstrates, many policymakers and other users remain largely unaware of these tools, including their nuances and strengths and weakness for potential application. There is a critical need for more validation work and capacity-building in countries. These issues were highlighted during a recent virtual debate, “How Can We Leverage Population Data In A Time Of Crisis,” hosted by TReNDS in partnership with SciDev.net.

Gridded Population Datasets: Which One Is Fit For Purpose?

Access to timely and reliable data on population is critical to delivering global development programs and humanitarian assistance. It helps governments, donors, and implementing partners understand what services people have access to and the challenges they face both geographically and socially. Gridded population datasets — spatial databases on global populations that can be analyzed within mapping software — enable this to be achieved. But awareness of them is low.

Data Experts Say New Sources Must Not Replace Traditional Data

TReNDS hosted an expert discussion on data for development on the sidelines of the 51st session of the UN Statistical Commission. The breakfast event took place on 3 March 2020, and featured remarks by several experts from the TReNDS network. The discussion highlighted as a key issue the lack of data currently available on SDG indicators, saying significant gaps exist in data timeliness, represented geographies, and other factors.

Gridded Population Data is Key to Leaving No One off the Map

The 2030 SDG Agenda promises to leave no one behind, but to fulfill this promise we need quality, timely, and accurate population data to account for everyone everywhere. Recent innovations in geospatial technology and remote sensing have paved the way for gridded population datasets to help fill these important gaps, but information is still lacking on their unique characteristics, potential, and limitations. These issues were highlighted during this week’s webinar, “Leaving No One off the Map: Gridded Population Data for Decision-Making,” hosted by TReNDS in partnership with Geospatial World Media featuring TReNDS Co-Chair and Director of CIESIN, Bob Chen, and TReNDS Manager, Maryam Rabiee.

When it Comes to Data for the SDGs, Money and Agreement are Still Lacking

Insights from a roundtable discussion hosted by SDSN TReNDS, identify how governments need to change to support the creation and maintenance of the data required to achieve the SDGs. The role of traditional versus new data collection methods, policy and regulatory needs for data governance, and what a national data ecosystem should look like were among the topics debated. The learnings from the roundtable, along with the report “Counting on the World to Act,” will provide analysis and evidence-based solutions for government actors to take the much-needed steps toward achieving the data revolution.

TReNDS Experts Debate if the Data “Revolution” is a Misnomer

Last month, TReNDS members from around the world convened in Los Angeles on October 28 – 30 for the group’s bi-annual meeting. As part of the meeting, members honed their debate skills in a series of two Hollywood Reporter-style filmed roundtable debates on the relevance of the data revolution for sustainable development.

What is the true value of data? New series on the return on investment of data interventions

TReNDS and GPSDD launch a series of case studies on the return on data investments.

Insights on the data sector, opportunities for solutions’ providers and researchers, and the latest on TReNDS’ activities.

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