WHAT

Revisiting Assumptions About the Data Revolution: Where Have We Made Progress and Where Are We Being Held Back

WHERE

Online

WHEN

Tuesday, January 9th, 2024 from 9:00 - 10:00 AM EST

About the Event

In 2014, the UN Secretary-General’s Independent Expert Advisory Group published its flagship report, “A World That Counts: Mobilizing the Data Revolution For Sustainable Development,” helping to launch a myriad of initiatives and entities to support countries in mobilizing new technologies and data to accelerate sustainable development. The report propounded a number of key assumptions, including that the public sector would be the primary institutional sector to guide data innovations for sustainable development and that data would serve as a standardizing force for greater accountability, openness, and responsiveness within government and empower individuals to increase their civic participation.

Ten years after the release of the report and the formal adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the global environment has changed substantially. The amount of data being produced is unprecedented, governments have had to contend with a multitude of complex crises on a scale unlike ever before, the private sector has proven to be a prominent force in driving data innovations, and with the growing number of new technologies, including AI, privacy and legal concerns have become increasingly salient. It’s clear that the global data community is now at a crossroads to reflect on the progress we’ve made, what institutional shifts are needed to deliver on the promise of the data revolution, and how we should retool our thinking in the years ahead given the unanticipated challenges and new environment in which we are working.  

In light of this, SDSN TReNDS and its expert members will come together for an event that will address the assumptions that underpin A World That Counts at the midpoint of the SDGs. The session will open with an overview of TReNDS’ analysis on the issue to set the scene, followed by a discussion with our expert members, and close with a polling and Q&A session with the audience to solicit recommendations on where the data community needs to maintain focus in the years ahead. It will also formally launch the Assumptions Project, which features an interactive website, and summarizes where and how we have made progress using data as a tool and resource for progress toward the SDGs, and will constructively assess the core assumptions that underpin the World That Counts report.

Featured Speakers:

• Shaida Badiee, Open Data Watch

• Lisa Grace Bersales, Philippines’ Commission on Population and Development

• Grant Cameron, Consultant and past SDSN TReNDS Director

• Bob Chen, past CIESIN Director

• Jessica Espey, University of Bristol

• Alex Fischer, Monash Sustainable Development Institute

• Jonathan Glennie, Global Nation

• Castelline Tilus, SDSN TReNDS

WHAT

How can data be used for innovative policymaking?

WHERE

Hybrid (Mexico City and online)

WHEN

Friday, May 26th from 2:00 - 3:30 PM EST / 12:00 - 1:30 PM Mexico Time

About the Event

Side Event of the Digital Transformation Regional Forum

Overview

This session will explore and share practical examples of how non-traditional data sources can be effectively utilized in the policymaking process to generate innovative solutions and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of policy decisions, especially for vulnerable groups. The panel will bring together policymakers from international development cooperation organizations to discuss their experiences and challenges in utilizing non-traditional data, and to identify best practices and opportunities for future collaboration and capacity building in this area.

Expected Outcome(s):

- Outcome 1: Opportunities for collaboration and capacity building among policymakers to effectively utilize non-traditional data in their work are identified.

- Outcome 2: Incorporation of non-traditional data into the dialogue between international development cooperation organizations and their stakeholders.

WHAT

A Seat at the Table: Engaging With Decision-Makers to Better Understand and Address Data Needs for Evidence-based Policymaking (TA2.06)

WHERE

Hybrid (Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China and online)

WHEN

Tuesday, April 27th from 1:15 - 2:15 PM Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China / 1:15 - 2:15 AM EST

About the Event

Side Event of the 2023 United Nations World Data Forum

Overview

Data that is accurate, inclusive, and timely is not only critical for keeping the promises of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, but for developing rapid, evidence-based interventions to mitigate the impacts of ongoing complex global crises happing worldwide. Therefore, it is essential that producers and users of data, especially policymakers, work more closely together. Users should engage in the data production process from the start, and policymakers need to increase their capacity for effective use of data as well as political commitment to prioritize data as a strategic decision-making asset. On the other hand, data producers should ensure the relevance of data to users’ needs and use resources effectively to address those priorities.

There is growing awareness across countries on the need for data to be fully relevant and inclusive, and greater understanding of the complex intersectionalities that need to be reflected in data sources and methods to engage with different parts of society. This is supported by various global initiatives. For example, the Data For Now initiative aimed at building capacity in countries to leverage new data sources and methods, is based on the principle, among others, that “All partners are committed to first and foremost address the needs of the users of the data, adhering to national priorities and decision-making needs.” In a newly- launched project under this initiative, funded by Italy and Norway, national statistical offices are encouraged to engage with policymakers to identify priority policy areas where the project can support in filling urgent data gaps. The Data Values Project seeks to influence decisionmakers to build data systems that are more inclusive and accountable so that data will be used for policies that promote greater equity and opportunity for all. Additionally, The United Nations World Data Forum in Bern also emphasized the need for better engagement with policy and decision-makers, at international, national, and sub-national levels.

This session will provide a forum for users and producers of data to:

• Share country experiences and insights on how producers and users of data can work effectively together

• Demonstrate how engagement with producers of data has helped policymakers design effective policy interventions

• Discuss challenges and lessons learnt when communicating data needs, understanding country policy priorities and responding to associated policy data needs

Speakers

• Charles Lebon Mberi Kimpolo, African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS)

• Hugo Ruiz, Director, Directorate of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DAPSAN)

• Jenna Slotin, Senior Director of Policy, Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD)

• Nguyen Thi Huong, Director General, General Statistics Office (GSO-Viet Nam)

• Osman Sankoh, Statistician General, Statistics Sierra Leone

• Vibeke Oestreich Nielsen, UN Statistics Division/DESA

• Zuena Aziz, Principal Coordinator, SDG Affairs, Prime minister’s Office, Bangladesh

WHAT

Data Innovations and Multi-Stakeholder Collaborations for Smart Cities: Case Studies from Across the Globe (TA2.03)

WHERE

Online

WHEN

Wednesday, April 26th from 10:45 – 11:45 AM Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China / Tuesday, April 25th from 10:45 - 11:45 PM EST

About the Event

Side Event of the 2023 United Nations World Data Forum

Overview

‘Smart Cities’ have been leading on innovation to improve civic outcomes for decades, and this has especially rung true throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being especially vulnerable to the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19, thousands of cities and sub-national government leaders have leveraged new data sources, technologies, and methods to improve policies, decision-making, and service delivery for their citizens in response to COVID and a myriad of other critical global crises, including climate change, food and housing insecurity, and the economy. As part of these efforts, a number of cities and municipalities around the world have recently instituted a Chief Data Officer (CDO) position to improve their data stewardship for better service delivery and policymaking. And these individuals have proven instrumental in expanding and improving the use and stewardship of data in government. As demonstrated by recent research conducted by SDSN TReNDS and its members as part of the United Nations Statistics Commission’s Working Group on Data Stewardship, there is much that National Statistics Offices (NSOs) can learn from the experiences of sub-national and city-level data leaders on how they are leveraging data for decision-making and the partnerships they have undertaken to support and optimize a data-driven culture throughout their governments. The objective of this proposed session is to showcase innovative multi-governmental collaborations at the city and sub-national levels for advancing data stewardship and share best practices on maximizing the use of data for decision-making to inform actions at the national-level. We aim for the session to be modeled in the TED-talk format, consisting of a series of 4- 5 short lightning talks from city and municipal data leaders on a variety of global challenges, followed by a moderated audience Q & A. The issues and key takeaways from this session will be discussed further at an open working meeting organized by SDSN TReNDS and Zhejiang University on the margins of the UN World Data Forum.

Speakers

• Castelline Tillus (Speaker) Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) TReNDS, Research Manager

• Jingsong Tang (Speaker) Big Data Center, China Mobile Communication Group Zhejiang Co., LTD, Director

• Sandile Mbatha (Speaker) eThekwini Municipality, Senior Manager, Research and Policy

• Weiwen Zhang (Speaker) Zhejiang University, Professor

• Ahlam Alrousan (Speaker) Kingdom of Jordan, Department of Statistics, Director of IT

WHAT

Overcoming Data Graveyards: Country Insights on Advancing Data Use, Uptake, and Impact (TA2.12)

WHERE

Hybrid (Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China and online)

WHEN

Tuesday, April 25th from 1:30 - 2:30 PM Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China / 1:30 - 2:30 AM EST

About the Event

Side Event of the 2023 United Nations World Data Forum

Overview

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic, have underscored the importance of accurate, inclusive, and timely data to inform decision-making. Such data is critical to addressing key sustainable development challenges and policy issues across a range of economic, social, and environmental dimensions, including how to reach the most vulnerable groups and hard-to-count populations. The pandemic has further highlighted the need for reliable, timely, and disaggregated data to supplement traditional data sources for effective policies to address and mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of alternative data collection tools and methods. This calls for innovative approaches to respond to the urgent data needs for local and national policy and decision-making for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and to address other key national development priorities. For this purpose, building agile and resilient data systems, and well-functioning national statistical systems is key. Global and local partners, including the civil society, academia, and the private sector, under the Data For Now initiative, are working with national statistical offices, to develop countries’ capacities to use different sources of data, traditional and non-traditional, with application of advanced methodologies to transform and produce data to inform decision-making. See policy brief for examples on the use of innovative methods, tools, and sources: shorturl.at/nIPWZ This session will bring together speakers working through the Data For Now initiative, including representatives from national statistical offices (NSOs), the private sector, and civil society to: - Demonstrate practical examples on the use of innovative approaches that provide new insights and improve decision making at the national level - Share practical experience in implementing innovative methods and technologies to fill data gaps - Discuss challenges and lessons learned in implementing such approaches and offer recommendations/insights for other NSOs who are interested in using these methods to address their own challenges

Speakers

• Caroline Mutwiri (Speaker) Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Statistician

• Ian Diamond (Speaker) Office for National Statistics (ONS-UK), National Statistician and Permanent Secretary

• Lisa Bersales (Speaker) University of the Philippines, Professor

• Samantha Custer (Speaker) AidData, College of William and Mary, Director of Policy Analysis

• To be confirmed (Speaker) United Nations Global Pulse (UNGP), Executive Director

WHAT

Achievements of the Data for Now and future directions

WHERE

In-person, Ford Foundation, 320 E 43rd Street, New York

WHEN

Wednesday, March 1 from 6:30 - 8:00 PM EST

About the Event

Side Event of the 54th session of the UN Statistical Commission

Overview

The 2030 Agenda has significantly increased the demand for high-quality and timely data needed to address the complex, interconnected policy challenges in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals across the economic, social, and environmental dimensions, which aim to include the most vulnerable groups and those that are more difficult to reach and count. This has increased the importance of transformation of national statistical systems so that they are more agile in responding to the increased and rapidly changing data demands.

To respond to these needs, the Data for Now initiative was launched in 2019, co-led by four core partners 1, with the aim to help develop countries' capacities to respond to the urgent data needs for local and national policy and decision-making to achieve the 2030 Agenda. It supports members of the national statistical systems in participating countries to collaborate more effectively with local, national, and global partners from intergovernmental organizations, academia, civil society, and the private sector in the use of new data solutions.

Since its launch, the four core partners have carried out activities in more than 24 countries under the initiative. Activities are focused on leveraging innovative sources, technologies, and methods, ranging from the use of mobile positioning data to the use of natural language processing techniques, for the streamlined production and dissemination of better, more timely, and disaggregated data for sustainable development.

Objectives

This side event, jointly organized by GPSDD, SDSN TReNDS, WB and UNSD, aims to bring together representatives from countries, international agencies, donors, civil society and private sector to:

• Take stock of the work done so far on innovative partnerships and solutions as part of the initiative.

• Hear from countries on the challenges faced and their plans for sustainability in implementing innovative approaches.

• Discuss upcoming plans, including expansion to involve more countries and partners.

WHAT

Data stewardship: from buzz word to a viable governance framework for data and statistics

WHERE

In-person, UNHQ, CR-4

WHEN

Monday, February 27 from 10:00 - 11:30 AM EDT

About the Event

Side Event of the 54th session of the UN Statistical Commission

The idea of data stewardship was first given attention at the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) during a high-level event in 2020 and following exploratory work a working group was established a year later. Since then, the working group has focused on five workstreams: data governance; equity and inclusion; sharing and collaboration; links with the city data agenda; and development of an overall conceptual framework. The group maintains close links with similar work taking place in other groups (regional, national and with the wider data community) and has seen the growing interest and expectation of the benefits from following a data stewardship approach but at the same time found a divergent set of views on what it is and how to approach it. To begin to achieve a level of consensus, the working group presents a draft questionnaire in its report to this year’s Statistical Commission to collect further views from the population of National Statistical Offices, especially those with circumstances and environments not represented in the group.

Key questions covered in this side event will include:

1. What functions (and data) are covered by a data steward?

2. What does a successful implementation of data stewardship look like?

3. How does data stewardship at the national level relate to the city and local level?

Moderator:

• Jenna Slotin, Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD)

Panelist(s):

• Beatriz Piedad Urdinola Contreras, Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (DANE-Colombia)

• Dominik Rozkrut, Statistics Poland

• Pam Dixon, World Privacy Forum

• Shaida Badiee, Open Data Watch (ODW)

• Grant Cameron, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) TReNDS

• To Be Confirmed

• To Be Confirmed

WHAT

Mobilizing Data-Driven Partnerships: The Potential for Evidence-Informed Policymaking Across Africa

WHERE

Online

WHEN

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM EDT

About the Event

Side Event for the Ninth Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development

The past several years have brought forth a series of unprecedented crises from the COVID-19 pandemic to ongoing climate change challenges. These crises have been especially acute across the African region, resulting in the compounded impacts of increased floods, droughts, economic slowdowns, and decreasing food security among populations across the continent. As such, fostering greater evidence and data-informed decision-making to respond to these crises is more critical than ever before. Effective use of data can help governments create legitimacy, build trust, and improve efficiency, effectiveness and transparency, overall enabling better policies for citizens. 

Against this backdrop, during this year’s ninth session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (SDSN TReNDS),  Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) will host a side event that showcases innovative multi-stakeholder data partnerships across countries in Africa, including Rwanda and Ghana, that have used new data sources and approaches to advance evidence-informed policymaking for sustainable development within local communities as well as led to more responsive government institutions and citizen awareness. Panelists will discuss their successes and challenges in developing multi-stakeholder data partnerships, as well as best practices and pathways forward for accelerating data-driven decision-making in Africa and ultimately contributing to the achievement of Agendas 2030 and 2063. Insights from the session will also inform a “data for policy playbook” that is being developed by the UNDP and GIZ to highlight use cases, methodologies and best practices for evidence-informed policymaking worldwide. 

Speakers:

• Alyson Marks, Head of Communications and Partnerships, SDSN TReNDS (Moderator)

• Gayan Peiris, Head of Data and Technology, UN Development Programme 

• Sarah Weller, Senior Outreach Manager, International Coastal Cleanup

• Angelique Kabeza, Executive Secretary, Rwanda Civil Society Platform

• Geeti Patwal, Junior Advisor, GIZ (Discussant)

• Charles Ogolla, Statistician, Intergovernmental Authority on Development

WHAT

The State of Open Data Roundtables Session 4: The State of Open Data: National Statistics

WHERE

Online

WHEN

9:00 - 10:30 AM EDT

About the Event

A series of roundtables taking place between June 22-24 to gather perspectives regarding the use and impact of open data

It has also been almost five years since we finished work on the first edition of The State of Open Data. D4D.net is launching a new process to update the State of Open Data to reflect how the open data agenda has shifted to reflect the pandemic and global developments since the first edition. To kick off the process, we are hosting a series of roundtables to gather perspectives on the recent use and impact of open data around the world - from data governance, artificial intelligence, and data protection, to climate action, statistics, gender, and health.

The original State of Open Data Report framed the future of open data based on information and evidence gathered from the community, including insights from more than 65 authors across sectors and regions from around the world. Some of the main recommendations revolved around opportunities for greater collaboration on key issues: For practitioners to think politically and increase inclusion. For policy-makers to pick a specific problem to solve. For researchers to reboot the research agenda. For funders to move open data into the mainstream and ensure data literacy. These new roundtable discussions will provide an opportunity to review how these challenges and opportunities are playing out in the field and to identify more lessons learned that we can build upon.

Our first series of roundtable discussions will take place between June 22 to 24, 2022 when we will convene experts to discuss recent developments around AI, Anti-corruption, Climate Action, Gender, and Statistics. Join us on this journey. Registration will be open on June 1st, 2022.

WHAT

How to build a data-driven public service: A virtual conference

WHERE

Online

WHEN

6:00 AM - 1:00 PM EDT

About the Event

In an increasingly interconnected and data-driven world, data skills are becoming absolutely essential for all public servants, across all countries, departments, and roles.

Join Apolitical’s second annual virtual conference to supercharge your data skills in the public service, and help build more data-driven governments around the world.

Whether you’re new to data, or are a seasoned data whiz, you’ll learn about the full spectrum of data skills and hot topics, from creating compelling and accessible visualizations to ensuring that data is ethical and inclusive.

What you'll get

Each 45-minute session will include speaker presentations and an open Q&A section. You’ll also be invited to an optional interactive discussion session at the end of the day, where you can connect with the global Apolitical community and talk about what you’ve learned.

When you register for the conference, you'll receive confirmation of your registration, and we’ll be in touch closer to the event with a full programme of events, speaker bios and dial-in links to each session. You can join any of the sessions throughout the day — feel free to dip into one, or stay for all five.

You’ll receive recordings of all sessions as well as a resource pack after the conference, which will contain helpful resources to take your learning further.

WHAT

Enabling a data-driven culture between the national and city level: How can National Statistical Offices and City Data Officers work together

WHERE

Online

WHEN

9:00 - 10:15 AM EST

About the Event

National and local governments increasingly recognize the benefits of leveraging the power of new data sources and technologies to increase the availability of data for improved policies, decision-making and service delivery for its citizens. In response, both National Statistical Offices (NSOs) and City Data Officers (CDOs) have concentrated on adopting new methods and tools to harness the unprecedented amount of data transmitted by social, economic, and environmental systems. These sources of data, whether from citizens, devices, buildings, and assets are a powerful resource for the management and monitoring of public services such as traffic and transportation systems, power plants, utilities, water supply networks, waste, and crime detection.

There is much that NSOs and CDOs can learn from each other on how they are bringing about a data-driven culture in their respective work. Preliminary results from the Working Group on Data Stewardship’s workstream on Data stewardship and the city data agenda highlight certain enablers to promote a data-driven culture among policy and decision-makers. For instance, putting a focus on creating value from data first and expanding to an enabler of data quality second, understanding whole-of-Government use of data to improve data products, services, and the user experience, and strengthening technical, interpersonal and networking skills to enhance data literacy within Government and leverage the data as a strategic asset.

This webinar, part of the UN World Data Forum webinar series, will bring together experts to:

• Showcase examples of data-driven smart cities for improved service delivery for citizens;

• Highlight challenges and opportunities of enabling a data-driven culture within Government;

• Put forward ideas on how to pull the National Statistical Office and city Chief Data Officer communities together to focus on capacity development and experience-sharing.

Speakers

• Moderator: Alyson Marks, Communications Manager, Sustainable Development Solutions Network Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (SDSN TReNDS)

• Panelist: Eduardo Sojo, Director, National Laboratory of Public Policy (LNPP) at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE), Mexico

• Panelist: Dennis Mapa, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)

• Panelist: Jeanne Holm, Deputy Mayor, City of Los Angeles

• Panelist: Juan Kanggrawan, Head of Data Analytics & Digital Products, Jakarta Smart City

WHAT

Official Side Event: 53rd United Nations Statistical Commission

“Mobilizing Innovation Through Partnerships and Collaboration: Insights From the Data for Now Initiative”

WHERE

Online

WHEN

7:00 - 8:15 AM EST

About the Event

Timely, quality, disaggregated data is vital to the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, through supporting effective monitoring and decision-making. However, while some progress has been made in recent years to increase the availability of internationally comparable data for SDG monitoring, significant challenges remain. For four of the seventeen Goals, less than half of the countries have internationally comparable data. What's more, even countries with available data may often only be able to produce estimates very infrequently and with substantial time lags, preventing policymakers from accurately monitoring progress and identifying trends. To help address these problems, the Data For Now (D4N) initiative was launched by UN Deputy-Secretary General Amina Mohammed on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, in September 2019, with a set of eight trailblazer countries worldwide.

Despite continuing challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, implementation efforts have begun in the eight pilot countries, and progress remains steady. This year, the partners plan to deepen their efforts in the pilot countries as well as expand efforts to additional countries. The partners will continue to place a strong focus during the initial stages on engaging decision-makers in the prioritization of indicators, bringing in key stakeholders and partners from across sectors, and assessing the potential innovative approaches that can help improve the availability of the prioritized indicators by NSOs. Examples of some of the recent work will be presented during this event, showcasing the variety of topics covered and partners involved in the initiative. The four core partners spearheading D4N - the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, The Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics, the World Bank, and the United Nations Statistics Division - will jointly moderate and engage in the event.

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. 

WHAT

AGU Fall Meeting Session - Humanitarian Response and Disaster Risk Management in the Age of Climate Change: The Need for Georeferenced Population and Infrastructure Data

WHERE

Online

WHEN

3:30 - 4:45 PM EST

About the Event

From COVID-19 to unprecedented wildfires, the events of 2020 affirm that knowing where people live, work, and travel, and how vulnerable they are, is essential to public health interventions, humanitarian action, and disaster risk reduction. To this end, geo-referenced population and infrastructure data derived from Earth observations are increasingly being integrated with environmental data and models to aid decision makers. However, many end-users are unaware of best practices when integrating and applying geo-referenced population and infrastructure data.

This session showcases progress in fitness-for-use guidelines, validation and inter-comparison, case studies, and novel applications, including crowdsourcing and machine learning. Focal areas highlight anticipatory humanitarian actions, risk reduction and financing, disease modeling, climate services, food security, and early warning systems, especially in the context of climate change. The session provides a venue for both researchers and end-users to learn about developments in geo-referenced population and infrastructure data across public and private sectors.

WHAT

United Nations World Data Forum webinar
Reflections from the 2021 UN World Data Forum: the evolving data ecosystem and the role of National Statistical Offices

WHERE

Online

WHEN

9:00 - 10:15 AM EST

About the Event

At the first UN World Data Forum in 2017, the Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data (CTGAP) was launched with the aim to provide a framework for discussion on, and planning and implementation of statistical capacity building necessary to achieve the scope and intent of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Activity around the third Forum held last month in Bern, Switzerland continues to show the diversity, dynamism, and dedication of this community to finding solutions through data and statistics to drive sustainable development. Some of this spirit was encapsulated in the Bern Data Compact launched at the Forum, together with the launch of the World Bank’s Global Data Facility and the Bern Network's Clearinghouse for Financing Development Data.

In preparing for the fourth and fifth UN World Data Forums in Hangzhou, China in 2023 and Medellin, Colombia in 2024; the data community must take stock and reflect on the widening, increasing and evolving needs of both data users and producers. This webinar is part of a conversation that contributes to the review and revision of the Cape Town Global Action plan to meet the needs of the countries in key areas such as coordination, partnership, capacity development and modernization of skills and infrastructure.

The Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21), the World Bank, and the United Nations Statistics Division launched a Survey on the implementation of Cape Town Global Action Plan in August 2021. The results of the survey will help identify new statistical priorities resulting from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, inform the action of policy makers and international partners to better support official statistics in the implementation, monitoring, and financing of the CTGAP and help update and revitalize the CT GAP.

This webinar, part of the UN World Data Forum series, will bring together experts to:

• Present the results of the Survey on the implementation of Cape Town Global Action Plan;

• Highlight new national statistical priorities resulting from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and reflect on discussions held during the third World Data Forum;

• Share statistical capacity needs and challenges necessary to achieve the scope and intent of the 2030 Agenda.

Speakers

• Moderator: Grant Cameron, Director, Sustainable Development Solutions Network Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (SDSN TReNDS)

• Panelist: Francesca Perucci, Assistant Director, Development Data and Outreach Branch, United Nations Statistics Division

• Panelist: Alberto Zezza, Senior Economist, World Bank Group

• Panelist: Md. Alamgir Hossen, Focal point Officer, SDG Cell, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics

• Panelist: Miosotis Rivas Peña, Director General, National Statistics Office of the Dominican Republic

• Panelist: Aberash Tariku Abaye, Deputy Director, Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia

WHAT

Accelerating South-South Cooperation to unlock the value of data for development

WHERE

Online

WHEN

Wednesday, October 20th from 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM UCT / 7:00 - 8:30 AM EST

About the Event

Description

The global landscape of development cooperation has changed drastically in recent years. The era of one-way, North-South cooperation, although persistent, has become outdated. Countries of the South engage in collaborative learning to share innovative, adaptable, and cost-efficient solutions to address their development challenges. These innovations are informed by their deep, shared understandings of the data-development nexus.

South-South Cooperation (SSC) is critical to fuel technological innovation to advance the Data for Development (D4D) agenda and progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.  However, it is broadly acknowledged that SSC modalities for harnessing innovations in data for development remain under-developed. To overcome this deficit, there is a need for more documentation, discussion, and diffusion of lessons learned to spur fruitful South-South and Triangular data collaborations.

The Thematic Research Experts Network for Data and Statistics (SDSN/TReNDS), established in 2015, is global in reach with an objective to leverage knowledge from both the Global North and South to put innovative data sources to work for development.  TReNDs expert members are engaged in unlocking the value of new data sources for the world’s most pressing issues: Climate Change, Disaster Risk Reduction, Public Health, Agriculture and more.  These members sit at the heart of supra-national processes that reflect the growing contributions of the Global South to cutting edge research and customizing innovations to local circumstances for maximum impact.

TReNDS facilitates linkages between experts across a wide range of academic, private sector, and civil society institutions. Selected publications that demonstrate TReNDS work product include: Counting on the World (2017) andCounting on the World to Act: A Roadmap for Governments to Achieve Modern Data Systems for Sustainable Development (2019).  An example of TReNDS support of SSC for innovations in development data can be found at: https://cepei.org/en/initiative/data-for-now-2/ where CEPEI – a Colombia-based global think tank collaborated with the National Statistical Offices of Columbia and Paraguay.

TReNDS resides within the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).  Established in 2012, SDSN was set up under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General. SDSN mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical solutions for sustainable development, including the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement. SDSN works closely with United Nations agencies, multilateral financing institutions, the private sector, and civil society.

This session would draw from TReNDS members’ direct experience in South-South and Triangular Cooperation processes with the aim of distilling lessons learned and sparking a broader conversation with SciDataCon participants about accelerating more fruitful data collaborations. Specifically, session speakers and participants will take stock of progress to date in elevating contributions of the Global South in data for development, identify key blockers and opportunities to South-South Cooperation, and pinpoint areas in which Triangular Cooperation can help maximize data’s value in development.

We propose to structure this session in two-parts. During the first segment (50 minutes), 5 TReNDs members will share reflections on their experiences in various North-South and South-South data collaboration processes in a lightning talk format.  The second segment (20 minutes) would be an interactive panel discussion of how experiences across specific thematic areas can be shared for mutual benefit as well as discuss what global actions are necessary to accelerate the transformation to mature South-South collaboration models. The remaining 20 would be devoted to a structured Q&A session, with an objective to continue this exchange with interested SciDataCon participants.

Proposed speakers for the first part of the session would draw from the TReNDs network with an emphasis on diverse geographic, sectoral, and organizational backgrounds. The panel discussion would be a mix of TReNDS members along with their connections to key policy makers in the Global South.

The session will also provide an opportunity to engage with other members of the D4D community concerned with data capacitation and capacity-building in the Global South.

Prospective list of Speakers for Lightning Talks and Panelists (these and more to be confirmed)

• Grant Cameron, Director of SDSN/TReNDS.

• Virginia Murray, Global Disaster Risk Reduction for Public Health, England.

• Tom Moultrie, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

• Philipp Schonrock, President Centro de Pensamiento Estrategico Internacional (Cepei).

• Sabina Alkire, Director, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Institute.

• Ibrahima Kampo, Manager of SDSN Sahel, Universite Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal.

WHAT

(TA5.14) Governing data for development: from normative frameworks to implementation

WHERE

Online

WHEN

Wednesday, October 6th from 1:45 - 2:45 PM Bern / 7:45 - 8:45 AM EST

About the Event

Description

Organizer(s): Open Data Watch (ODW); Sustainable Development Solutions Network Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (SDSN TReNDS)

This session will highlight the challenges of implementing data strategies to respond to the data demands of the COVID-19 pandemic and how these strategies need to evolve as we build back better. From a policy and program perspective, the early phases of the pandemic were an unprecedented and extraordinary time. For policymakers, it was an incredibly unique environment. Real-time policymaking became the norm, and the scale of social and economic support programs were massive and rolled out in a matter of days. This timeline for designing and consulting on policies and programs lies in stark contrast with the pre-COVID policy making cycle of design/consult/implement that that typically took months. This real time policy was an experiment in and of itself and required new forms of data to be rapidly created, joined in new ways with other information, and quickly analyzed to match the speed at which programs were being designed. Accordingly, steps were taken and processes quickly put in place by government officials to maximize data sharing across government departments and ministries to address policy and program-making needs during the time of the pandemic. Government data providers see the value in maintaining the processes that were put in place to connect data providers to policy makers during the pandemic. However, without the day-to-day pressures of addressing COVID, how will these producer/user processes be sustained? And do the data sharing modalities developed during the pandemic need to be recalibrated to reflect ethical or privacy concerns that were revealed over the past 18 months? SDSN TReNDS and Open Data Watch are organizing this session that features senior government officials who were engaged in developing and implementing government-wide data strategies during the pandemic and to understand their views on balancing the need to leverage data to provide better services while ensuring public trust.

Speakers

• Grant Cameron (Speaker) Sustainable Development Solutions Network Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (SDSN TReNDS), Director

• Catherine Vogel (Speaker) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Co-Coordinator GIZ Data Lab / Head of GIZ Project on Data Powered Positive Deviance

• Anil Arora (Speaker) Statistics Canada, Chief Statistician

• Mark Sowden (Speaker) Statistics New Zealand, Chief Executive and Government Statistician

• Mariana Kotzena (Speaker) Eurostat, Director General

• Virginia Murray (Speaker) Public Health England, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Chair of the ISC-UNDRR Hazard Definitions and Classification Review Technical Working Group and Head of Global Disaster Risk Reduction

• Tom Moultrie (Speaker) University of Cape Town, and SDSN-TReNDS, Professor of Demography and Director of the Centre for Actuarial Research (CARe)

WHAT

(TA2.12) Integrating Citizen Science into the Official SDG Monitoring Mechanisms and Introducing the Global Citizen Science Partnership (GCSP)

WHERE

Online

WHEN

Wednesday, October 6th from 10:00 - 11:00 AM Bern / 4:00 - 5:00 AM EST

About the Event

Description

Organizer(s): International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA); World Health Organization (WHO); United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity; Sustainable Development Solutions Network Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (SDSN TReNDS); Global Citizen Science Partnership (GCSP)

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as an overarching policy framework and a roadmap to guide global development efforts until 2030, could benefit from the potential offered by citizen science, especially in addressing the data gaps and needs in the global SDG indicator framework. In fact, a recent study by Fraisl et al shows that citizen science has the potential to contribute to 33% of the SDG indicators by providing timely, accurate and more detailed information, while at the same time using much less resources. However, there is a lack of knowledge of the value of citizen science for SDG monitoring among UN agencies, National Statistical Offices (NSOs), policy makers and the citizen science community itself. Additionally, if Covid-19 has taught us one thing, it is that there’s a critical need for real-time data to understand and take action to deal with crises and emergencies and to reduce their impacts. In this session, after providing an overview on the potential of citizen science for SDG monitoring, as well the opportunities and challenges it presents, we will discuss our learnings from the Citizen Science for the SDGs (CS4SDGs) project. CS4SDGs is a partnership between IIASA, SDSN TReNDS, the Ghana Statistical Service, UNEP, Earth Challenge and others. We will provide concrete examples of citizen science data being used in innovative ways by NSOs and UN agencies for SDG monitoring, including for biodiversity and other environment related SDG indicators. We will highlight citizen science tools that could be leveraged to provide data for SDG monitoring for various indicators. Additionally, we will discuss the Citizen Science Global Partnership (CSGP) that is in the process of incorporation and that aims at leveraging citizen science for the SDGs. We will also present updates on the work conducted by McFeely and Nastav that provides a roadmap and offers a mechanism to use “unofficial data”, such as data from citizen science, to produce “official statistics” in order to populate the global SDG indicator framework, including reactions to this piece of work from the data and statistics community.

Speakers

• Steve MacFeely (Speaker In-person) World Health Organization (WHO), Director of Data and Analytics

• Dilek Fraisl (Speaker In-person) International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Research Scholar

• Jillian Campbell (Speaker) United Nations Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), Head of Monitoring, Review and Reporting

• Grant Cameron (Speaker) Sustainable Development Solutions Network Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics (SDSN TReNDS), Director

• Albert van Jaarsveld (Speaker In-person) International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Director General

• Kwame Fredua (Speaker) EPA, Environmental Economist

• Rachel Bowers (Speaker) Ghana Statistical Service, ODI Fellow

WHAT

Digital Financial Inclusion for Women in Africa: A path to Recovery, Resilience, and Innovation

WHERE

Online

WHEN

Tuesday, September 28th from 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM EST

About the Event

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted women, threatening to derail decades of progress towards gender equality and economic gains. According to a recent McKinsey study, globally, female job loss rates from COVID-19 are nearly twice as high as male job loss rates, and the effects of the pandemic have been the most severe for women in emerging economies. 

Yet, even before COVID-19, in many parts of the world, women had less access to financial services than men and were at greater risk to economic shocks. Countries with policies and investments supportive of digital financial services (DFS), for example the presence of interoperable payment systems, were able to quickly rollout emergency cash transfer programs. Beyond payments, investments in women’s digital financial inclusion (WDFI) have ripple effects across sectors - from health and climate to sustainable development more broadly. For example, countries with active digital ID systems have been able to more effectively roll-out vaccines and testing services. Overall, digital financial inclusion continues to be indispensable for both short-term relief measures and a core element of economic recovery plans supporting women and women-led businesses.

On the sidelines of this year’s 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), the G7 Partnership for Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion in Africa and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) will co-host an event in which key African leaders, the Partnership’s core champions, and emerging advocates leading implementation efforts on the ground will discuss the importance of collaborating across institutional boundaries to mobilize greater digital financial inclusion.

Featured Speakers Include:

• Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of the Economy, Finance and Recovery

• Melinda French Gates, Co-chair Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

• Miriam Djibo, Managing Director Advans Côte d'Ivoire

• Grace Majara Kibombo, Deputy Director – CARE Global VSLA Team

• Nancy Kacungira, BBC News

• High-Level Representation from the United Nations

• Senior African Leadership

WHAT

Harnessing Big Data Partnerships for National SDG Monitoring and Reporting: Exploring Opportunities, Challenges, and Best Practices

WHERE

Online

WHEN

Wednesday, July 14, 2021 from 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM EST

About the Event

National governments are central to monitoring and reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), yet significant data gaps still remain in assessing country-level progress. In recent years, big data has grown considerably, becoming increasingly valuable for use by National Statistical Offices (NSOs) for more timely, granular, and accurate data at reduced costs and reporting burdens. And while big data has great potential to support national monitoring of the SDGs, these benefits must be weighed against a number of challenges and risks, including methodological problems, technical skills and capacity gaps, sustainability and access issues, and data privacy and security concerns. Moreover, despite some country advancements in using big data to support their SDG monitoring, applications to date remain limited. To address these challenges and effectively harness big data for national SDG monitoring, increased collaboration and partnership between NSOs and a broad range of partners across sectors are needed. 

On the sidelines of this year’s High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), SDSN TReNDS and Partners for Review (P4R) will organize an event in which leading experts will discuss their experiences working with big data partnerships to support national SDG monitoring and reporting. This will include a discussion of emerging big data innovations for the SDGs, key challenges and barriers encountered during the partnership process, as well as practical steps for ensuring successful big data partnerships and long-term sustainability. During the event SDSN TReNDS and P4R will launch a jointly produced report and an accompanying digital repository on ‘Big Data and the Sustainable Development Goals: Innovations and Partnerships to Support National Monitoring and Reporting’.

Moderator/Panelists

• Grant Cameron, SDSN TReNDS Director (Moderator)

• Thomas Wollnik, Head of Programme, P4R

• Cameron Allen, SDSN TReNDS’ Senior Advisor and Adjunct Research Fellow at Monash Sustainable Development Institute

• Rachel Bowers, ODI Fellow, Secretariat at the Ghana Statistical Service

• Monica Scannapieco, Head of Division at ISTAT Enterprise Architecture, Big Data

• Tim Harris, User Engagement Lead, FCDO Data Science Hub

WHAT

Harnessing Innovation for a Sustainable Future: Bridging the Policy, Research, and Community Divide

WHERE

Online

WHEN

Monday, May 3rd from 7:45 am to 9:00 am EST

About the Event

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about mass global disruption and presented a significant setback to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yet, it has also paved the way for more science-informed decision-making, enabling the research, scientific, and policy communities to join together like never before, and proving the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to combating the crisis, developing effective policies, and accelerating innovation. 

On the sidelines of the UN Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology, and Innovation Forum, join Springer Nature and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) for a special virtual debate on how to bridge the divide between the research and policy communities to accelerate innovation on the SDGs and build resiliency post COVID-19. The debate will also draw on insights from a new white paper on how to foster greater collaboration and inclusive problem-solving between these communities.

The event will feature a keynote by María Cortés Puch, Vice President of Networks at SDSN, and Laura Helmuth, Editor-in-Chief of Scientific American, will moderate the debate. Panelists will include:

• Magdalena Skipper, Editor-in-Chief, Nature

• Cameron Allen, Adjunct Research Fellow at Monash Sustainable Development Institute and Senior Advisor, SDSN TReNDS

• David Smith, Director of the Center for Environmental Management, University of West Indies, and Coordinator of the Institute for Sustainable Development

• Aparajita Banerjee, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at University College Dublin

WHAT

How to Use Data to ‘Build Back Better’ Post-Covid-19

WHERE

Online

WHEN

Wednesday, March 24th from 10:00 am to 11:00 am EST

About the Event

Data has proven integral in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic - helping to track its
spread, understand the virus’s effects on citizens, and inform strategies to prevent transmission.

As governments begin to implement their recovery strategies and work to ramp up their
vaccination efforts, it will continue to prove invaluable.

This workshop will provide you with insights on how to best use data to inform your organisation’s recovery efforts and implement effective strategies. The workshop will also highlight practical approaches and guidance from practitioners who are dealing directly with the crisis ‘on-the-ground’ and share lessons learned.