Conclusions and future work

A set of core assumptions shaped the SDG-driven data revolution and drove advocacy for it. While they held true for a time, serving as a tool to assess whether recommended actions would be appropriate to influence change, the present report provides a reflexive check on these assumptions and an opportunity to update them in a changing world. Since the release of A World that Counts in 2014, many factors have shifted the conditions under which it linked actions to harness the data revolution towards improved SDG outcomes. 

In this concluding section, we summarize the main findings of the previous six sections of this report, which examined the key assumptions underlying A World that Counts. This summary also provides the basis to review its implicit theory of change. 

The actionable insights uncovered in this report

In identifying and evaluating the underlying assumptions of A World that Counts, we uncovered a number of key opportunities to further advance the core objective over the next six years, of achieving better SDG outcomes. We view these actionable insights as “eureka moments.” Our Eureka moments are summarized as follows:

Part 1 (Technical progress would enable greater data availability): A World that Counts correctly assumed that new technologies would continue the exponential growth in the volume of data available for decision-making. However, data from the greatest applications of these technologies remain siloed in large private-sector companies and industries traditionally outside the sustainable development sector. Creating incentives for open data partnerships between public- and private-sector institutions could allow for greater use of private data for the public good while also addressing existing SDG data gaps. 

Part 2 (The SDGs would be the driving force for data innovations for the public good): Our findings confirm that the extent to which the SDGs have driven data innovations for the public good in relation to SDG policy formulation remains obscure. The COVID-19 pandemic provided concrete examples of what is possible when a sense of shared urgency drives political will to match technical capacity. However, the interest and ability of governments to invest in data for policy formulation outside of their national statistical bodies remains unknown. While investment continues to be driven by the SDG indicator measurements, we now have an opportunity to assess the marginal return on data investments so far. 

Part 3 (Information gaps would be the major reason for policy failure): More data does not immediately result in better policy formulation or improved outcomes. Many institutional decision-making processes are not ready for more data, lacking either the analytic capacity or the appropriate processes to integrate them into their policymaking cycles. Moreover, combining the requisite political acumen with analytic capabilities is essential if policymaking is to have a development impact—a dynamic that received proportionately less attention in the assumptions underpinning the data revolution.

Part 4 (The SDGs would enable resource mobilization for the data revolution, accelerating progress toward outcomes): Funding gaps have persisted since 2015, suggesting that the issue extends not only to planning and accountability barriers, but to wider geopolitical and economic factors and national politics of donor countries. Despite COVID-19 pandemic-related investments, funding directed at statistical systems has plateaued without reaching target levels. The pandemic resulted in numerous innovations in data systems, with many countries moving beyond traditional surveys as funding shifted from traditional grants to in-kind technical support and assistance. There is an opportunity to rigorously target financing in national plans to specific elements of the pathways outlined in A World that Counts, where data has the greatest impact on shaping development outcomes across government and civil society, or to target financing at improving the efficacy of SDG implementation initiatives. 

Part 5 (The public sector would guide and drive data innovations to target sustainable development): The private sector and civil society are playing a much greater role in generating data innovations than the authors of A World that Counts had envisioned. As the private sector has the potential to continue to generate data consistent with responsible and sustainable economic opportunities, targeted synergies between the private and public sectors should be created to establish processes for mutual data improvements. A clear focus area could be environmental and biodiversity accounting.

Part 6 (Data would be a standardizing force and a mechanism for greater participation and accountability): A World that Counts motivated actions to safeguard data to ensure its ethical use, and to open data to improve accountability. More research is needed, however, to resolve existing disputes regarding the links between transparency and accountability. 

Recommendations and next steps

A World that Counts undoubtedly had an impact on mobilizing attention and efforts to harness the data revolution for the SDG agenda. Ten years after its release, the pathways of change it identified and its four enabling pillars remain relevant, and unlike other thematic global initiatives, data remains central to the political discourse. As attention to data has not receded, funders, implementers, standard-setters, and researchers can all still benefit from its core premise—a data revolution for sustainable development—to support their missions. The knowledge gaps identified through this work will serve as the foundational framework upon which the next phase of the SDSN TReNDS research program will be constructed, guiding our exploration of emerging data-driven paradigms and their implications for the SDGs. By analyzing these assumptions, we hope to reflect on how SDSN TReNDs and other development actors might adapt their activities to the new set of circumstances in the final six years of the SDG commitments.