The Role of Governments in Building Modern Data Ecosystems for Sustainable Development

Since the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, member states have been actively engaged in trying to strengthen monitoring and information systems to track progress for people, planet, and prosperity. A particular opportunity has emerged, in the form of the rising tide of new data sources. But this surge of data has at times proved difficult to wrangle and has surfaced concerns old and new–from data protection, to the quality of official statistical systems, to financing. So how have national data systems progressed since 2015, particularly in their ability to support SDG monitoring? What systemic issues underpin these efforts, and what critical course changes are required if we are to properly measure and progress on the SDGs?

The event is a small, 20-person roundtable, intended to maximize active dialogue and exchange among all participants. Participants will include representatives from the Permanent Missions of Member States. The co-chairs of TReNDS’ expert group–representing notable data ecosystem actors such as Open Data Watch and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University–and representatives from the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD) will also participate.