As 2019 comes to a close, Open Data Watch (ODW) ended the year with an action-packed month to maximize the impact of open data around the world. This month, ODW partnered with Open Government Partnership for an Open Data Workshop with working-level innovation practitioners from the Government of the Republic of Korea and also began sending out invitations for the upcoming ConVERGE: Connecting Vital Events Registration and Gender Equality conference in Ottawa at the end of February. ODW is looking forward to 2020 and eager to see what we can accomplish together with our partners around the world in the coming year.
Below is a list of additional sustainable development data articles and reports published in December. If there is something else to add, please contact us.
December 2019
Birth Registration for Every Child by 2030: Are we on track? (December)
UNICEF releases a publication presenting the latest available country data as well as global and regional estimates of unregistered children. The study assesses progress over time and the efforts needed to achieve universal birth registration by 2030. (source)
Every Country Is Developing, According To The New Sustainable Development Index (12/1)
Forbes publishes an article on the new Sustainable Development Index (SDI), which incorporates environmental indicators. Findings from the SDI show that every country in the world needs to take additional measures to achieve environmentally reasonable development. (source)
Promoting SDG Implementation through Data: The Arab Region SDG Index and Dashboards Report 2019 (12/3)
Mari Luomi, the Senior Research Fellow at Emirates Diplomatic Academy, authors a piece for The International Institute for Sustainable Development announces the newly formed Arab Region SDG Index and 2019 Dashboards Report. She explains that this is the first regional study to track country-level progress on the 17 SDGs in the 22 Arab countries. (source)
UNECE Launches Regional Resources on SDG Statistics (12/3)
Catherine Benson Wahlén, a Thematic Expert for Human Development, Human Settlements and Sustainable Development announces the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s launch of a Knowledge Hub on Statistics for SDGs to improve evidence-driven policies by growing the availability of statistics. (source)
Here’s how countries might actually reach the UN sustainable development goals (12/4)
Nancy Lee, a senior policy fellow from the Center for Global Development, introduces “the stretch fund” a new model that can mobilize more finance for development. The “stretch fund” partners with existing development finance institutions to stretch their scope and spectrum of clients. (source)
The environmental impact of balancing the food system is still unknown (12/4)
Devex publishes an article on the dearth of data on the consumption of animal-sourced food in low-income countries and how it impedes the production of evidence-based policy. (source)
Myanmar to introduce mandatory biometric data collection for a massive national database (12/6)
Luana Pascu authors a piece for The Biometric Update on Myanmar’s decision to create a national database of private citizen information by collecting biometric data when users buy a mobile phone. She explains that this initiative is a step towards building a national biometric database. (source)
World Bank to Support Bulgaria in Collecting Catastrophe Data, Developing National Risk Management Plan (12/6)
The World Bank announces its work with the Government of Bulgaria through the Ministry of Interior to improve their national disaster risk management system. They state that the work will focus on developing disaster risk management, collect data on historical damage, and will culminate into a proposal for a National Disaster Risk Management Plan for Bulgaria. (source)
Counting the invisible: Three priorities for strengthening statistical capacities in the SDG era (12/6)
OECD releases a piece on the importance of high-quality data for making informed decisions. This piece, by Johannes Jütting, Rolando Avendano, and Manuel Kuhm, outlines the challenges of data collection and they believe that a way to alleviate those challenges is to avoid overburdening national statistical systems. (source)
Inside data strategies to build capacity and fill gaps (12/9)
Lisa Cornish authors a piece for Devex on the power dynamic of data collection. She includes an interview with Richard Volk, a former 20-year veteran of the United States Agency for International Development in fisheries management, who argues that data are not shared equally, and the most vulnerable communities are left without access. (source)
The role of data and statistics for evidence-based policy making (12/9)
Modern Diplomacy publishes a piece on an international workshop on data and statistics for evidence-based Voluntary Nation Reviews (VNRs) which took place at the headquarters of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in collaboration with the United Nations Statistics Division. (source)
Countries Have a Long Way to Go before Data Begins to Make a Difference (12/9)
Open Government Partnership members launch their first comprehensive assessment of the state of open government. The assessment focuses on the first eight years of the Partnership and synthesizes their work in 79 countries. (source)
Development Co-operation Report 2019 (12/10)
The OECD releases the 57th edition of the Development Co-operation Report which outlines today’s most urgent global priorities while demonstrating evidence and analysis to reinvigorate public and political debate. (source)
First-Ever Official GDP Stats Released for Every US County (12/12)
The US government releases gross domestic product statistics for all 3,113 counties in the United States. Tom Ozimek explains that this new detailed look at the geographic distribution of economic activity in the United States will address gaps in economic knowledge and serve as an important tool for policymakers. (source)
Why Does the Census Matter? (12/16)
The Council of Foreign relations explains the establishment and the importance the United States census. They explain how the census functions as a tool for ensuring a fair distribution of federally funded programs and distribution of political power. (source)
These 10 countries are closest to achieving gender equality (12/17)
The World Economic Forum announces the latest Global Gender Index. The Index reveals that the global gender gap has narrowed to 68.6 percent but that gender equality is still almost a century away. (source)
Why gender is an important part of migration policy: an example (12/17)
The World Bank Blog issues a piece in commemoration of International Migrants Day on the importance of using a gender lens when understanding migration trends. They pull data from the World Bank Gender Data portal to assess the different employment challenges women and men face in Indonesia. (source)
Why Nigeria must embrace Open Data Initiative – Pantami (12/18)
The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami, stresses the importance of open data in Nigeria as their economy continues to grow and become globally competitive. He states that to strengthen the data revolution in Nigeria, they must improve data literacy. (source)
Are We Leaving Too Many Behind? Addressing the Gap Between Population Data Suppliers and Policymakers (12/18)
Maryam Rabiee authors a recap for SDSN TReNDS on the most important discussions held at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meetings. She explains that driving science to action was a critical theme of the conference and that the gap between technological and policy progress is still impeding the implementation of the SDGs. (source)
AI and data in government: 2019’s 5 biggest trends (12/18)
Betty Feenstra, from the Office of the Chief Information Officer of the central public administration in the Netherlands, outlines the major breakthroughs is 2019 surrounding Artificial Intelligence and the challenges that accompany the many developments such as privacy and data rights. (source)
Subnational data desks set the stage for more efficient, participatory development (12/20)
World Bank Blog publishes a piece on the Open Institute in Kenya, and the importance of their work developing the foundations for consistent use of data to strengthen the participatory processes at local levels. They hypothesize that sustainable development is best achieved by starting with village-level approaches. (source)
Year in Review: 2019 in 14 Charts (12/20)
The World Bank recaps the progress and the challenges that emerged in 2019. Donna Barne and Divyanshi Wadhwa discuss topics such as the all-time high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the record amount of forcibly displaced people. (source)