by the Open Data Watch Team
Bringing together perspectives, finding common ground, and listening and learning at this year’s IODC
National statistical systems have embraced open data. Open data is a key action item of the Cape Town Global Action Plan and the subject of a report to the 49th meeting of the United Nations Statistical Commission. Following up the work of the Friends of the Chair group on the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, the UNSC tasked a subcommittee to carry forward the work of integrating open data into the work of national statistical systems. The International Open Data Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is a major opportunity to bring the international community together around this important agenda.
The Open Data Watch (ODW) team is setting off to Argentina with three goals in mind: continue to strengthen links between the open data and official statistics communities by bringing together different perspectives; to create a meaningful dialogue to generate agreement on standards and processes; and to listen and learn from the experiences of stakeholders.
Bringing together different perspectives
Alongside our partners — PARIS21, Open Data for Development, Inter-American Development Bank, Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, World Bank, International Development Research Centre, and United Nations Statistics Division — ODW will be continuing our efforts to strengthen the links between the open data and official statistics communities at this year’s IODC. Last year these partners brought country representatives from national statistical offices (NSOs) to the IODC for the first time. More will join us this year. The first step was connecting the two communities. The second step is bringing together different perspectives to spur action on specific issues, like SDG reporting.
We are focused on making sure that NSO representatives’ perspectives are included in outcomes from the UNSD conference on National platforms for SDG reporting; the ongoing work of the “Friends of the Chair Group on the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics;” and the Interoperability Data Collaborative. The NSO perspective is critical to ensuring that the guidelines and reports from these groups are fit-for-purpose and feasible to implement.
Spurring dialogue to find common ground
With a diverse set of participants, including NSOs, international agencies, and stakeholders from collaborative groups, we will try to find common ground on issues of open data and interoperability for SDG reporting. The key to interoperability is having a shared understanding of guidelines and standards so that data can be easily joined-up and used across countries, regions, and platforms. It is a great opportunity for the Interoperability Data Collaborative (convened by the UNSD and GPSDD) to receive feedback from this important user community and incorporate it into their interoperability guidelines. Additionally, this will be a chance for several NSO representatives’ from countries that have been at the forefront of this process to discuss good practices and solutions to common issues.
Listening and learning
We want to hear about the best practices on SDG reporting. We want to hear about the challenges that countries and organizations are facing when it comes to implementing open data standards or tackling interoperability? And we want to hear about the success stories. How has open data changed peoples’ lives? Where is progress being made? How has open data improved the ability to monitor, measure, and achieve the SDGs?
ODW’s IODC Schedule
Here are a few of the sessions at IODC where the ODW team will either be moderating and presenting, listening and learning, or both. Either way, please come and see us at any of the following sessions:
Tuesday, September 25th:
- #ODCRefresh Workshop — 2pm-6pm
Wednesday, September 26th:
Thursday, September 27th:
- The State of Open Data — 11am-12pm
- Strengthening Global Commitments to Open Data — 12pm-1pm
- Gender and Open Data – What’s Next? — 12pm-1pm
- Is Open Data Working For Women? — 2pm-3pm
- Open Data + Inclusion — 3pm-4pm
Friday, September 28th:
- Putting Open Data Measurement to Use — 11am-12pm
- National Reporting for SDGs: Open Data Priority Actions — 12pm-1pm
To learn more about the work these organizations are doing to bring together official statistics, open data, and interoperability communities at IODC, please see this brochure.
