The Data Countries Need Now: Outcomes from Data For Now’s Inception Workshop

This week, representatives from eight very diverse countries (Bangladesh, Columbia, Ghana, Mongolia, Nepal, Paraguay, Rwanda, and Senegal) convened in Kigali, Rwanda to discuss priority data needs; specifically, the kinds of timely (even real-time) data they need to effectively track sustainable development. In spite of varied data priorities across the countries (from poverty, to agriculture, to education) commonalities emerged that can expedite the accessibility, timeliness, and quality of data, such as focusing on the better use of satellite imagery and co-investing in administrative data.

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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.

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Highlights from the Space Generation Congress

The Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) is a global non-governmental, non-profit organization that engages a network of students and young professionals in support of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications. Over October 17-19, 2019, SGAC held its annual Space Generation Congress in the Washington DC area, and SDSN TReNDS participated in a special workshop on the SDGs that examined how space technology can inform our understanding of sustainable development.

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Addressing the Challenges of Drafting Contracts for Data Collaboration

On September 23, 2019 at One World Trade Center, in the context of the United Nations General Assembly, TReNDS co-hosted a workshop with partners to further advance its Contracts for Data Collaboration project, expanding the field’s understanding of the needs, opportunities, challenges, and risks related to establishing the basis for data collaboration. More than fifty participants from across the data ecosystem explored how greater transparency, access, and understanding of data-sharing agreements can advance data collaboratives and improve people’s lives.

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TReNDS in Conversation on the Role of Earth Observation and Gridded Population Data Monitoring for Sustainable Development

Earlier this month, TReNDS joined partners at the second annual Human Planet Forum, hosted by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), the European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), and the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), to explore issues related to earth observation and population data for sustainable development. During the Forum, TReNDS presented on the POPGRID initiative and co-hosted a discussion with the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD) on how to best communicate the value of gridded population data products to policymakers.

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Real time data on the world’s biggest challenges, launching now

On Wednesday 25 September 2019, SDSN TReNDS, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD), the World Bank and UN Statistics Division launch their new initiative, Data for Now, on the margins of the UN General Assembly. The initiative aims to increase the frequency and timeliness of key sustainable development measures to enable governments to make evidence-based decision and drive progress on the world's biggest challenges. 

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TReNDS Helps Share the Vision of a Digital Ecosystem for the Planet

SDSN TReNDS participated in the 2019 Data for Good Exchange conference on September 15 at the Bloomberg World Headquarters in New York. In collaboration with UN Environment, TReNDS helped to facilitate a workshop on “Building a Digital Ecosystem for the Planet.” UN Environment’s digital ecosystem proposal is described and endorsed in the forthcoming TReNDS report, Counting on the World to Act.

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Meet a TReNDS Expert: Steven Ramage

Since 2016, TReNDS expert Steven Ramage has been leading global stakeholder engagement and external relations for the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), an intergovernmental partnership promoting the value and usefulness of Earth observations (EO) for research, policy, decisions and action.

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Groundbreaking progress and political challenges for SDG localization after LDA-SI grant program

In 2018 and early 2019, SDSN’s Local Data Action Solutions Initiative (LDA-SI) supported organizations around the world in localizing SDG monitoring. Since the conclusion of the grants, some participants have seen their work take on new heights and dovetail with other efforts to localize the SDGs, while other participants have been challenged by difficult political climates and other factors.

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Communication, integration key for engaging the world on geospatial information

Geospatial data and technologies can support the Sustainable Development Goals – but only if the community helps make the case for them by improving communication and integration across stakeholders and processes. TReNDS Manager Maryam Rabiee reflects on this and more from the Ninth Session of the UN Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM).

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Meet a TReNDS Expert: Molly Jahn

TReNDS member Molly Jahn is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she holds appointments in the Department of Agronomy, the Global Health Institute and the Nelson Institute, having served as the 12th Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and Director of the Wisconsin Experiment Station.

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