WHAT
Official Side Event: 53rd United Nations Statistical Commission
“Moving From Data Production to Impact: A Discussion on the Role of the NSO in Facilitating Greater Data Use”
WHERE
Online
WHEN
9:00 - 10:15 AM EST
About the Event
If there has been a silver lining from the COVID-19 pandemic, it has highlighted the importance of National Statistics Offices (NSOs) and the effective use of official statistics, as well as demonstrated that all decision-makers across government and society require data that are useful for decision-making. Yet, despite the nearly 1.1. billion gigabytes of data being generated globally each day and the volumes of potentially useful information increasing exponentially over recent years, much of these data continue to go unused, passing into “data graveyards.” For resource-constrained data producers of official statistics, this often results in not enough data being produced to track development outcomes, as data producers do not see the necessary returns on investing in data. Fortunately, recent conversations have led the global statistical community to reframe their thinking around data production to emphasize the importance of using data more effectively, recognizing the centrality of tools including Open Data Watch and Data2X’s Data Value Chain that adds uptake (where data are connected to users) and impact (where data are used to understand a problem or make a decision) as “higher-value” stages along with the long-standing production components of collection and publication.
This event, co-hosted by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (SDSN TReNDS), Open Data Watch (ODW), and the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) will introduce and source audience feedback on a new ‘Avoiding Data Graveyards’ project that proposes a transformation process for effective data use to help producers of official statistics maximize data uptake and impact. The process focuses on three key areas affecting data use: (1) capacity to govern data (organizational strategies, laws, and regulations); (2) capacity to meet user needs (responding to data demands); and (3) capacity to use data (data literacy). The session will also highlight data use challenges from NSO leadership, showcase successful examples of how countries have improved the impact and uptake of their data during the pandemic, and share lessons learned.
Objectives of the Event Include:
Spotlight data use challenges and solutions from the perspective of NSOs and how the international community can better support countries on data use efforts to improve uptake and impact of their data, particularly in light of the current pandemic.
Introduce and generate interest in the ‘Avoiding Data Graveyards’ project and a framework for improving data use of official statistics among the wider statistical community.
Garner feedback from the statistical community on TReNDS’ and ODW’s proposed transformation process for data use.