Following the December launch of a new and improved Open Data Inventory (ODIN) website and an Executive Summary of the 2020/21 ODIN findings, this month Open Data Watch (ODW) released the full 2020/21 ODIN Annual Report and introduced it at a special event coinciding with the 52nd United Nations Statistical Commission.
The Annual Report offers an authoritative snapshot of trends in Open Data and the state of openness and availability of official statistics worldwide. The launch event featured a high-level panel from the National Statistical Offices of St. Lucia, Tanzania, Suriname, the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the UAE who shared stories of successes and challenges as they adopted robust open data practices and achieved extraordinary progress this past year.
Below is a selected list of sustainable development data articles and reports published in February. For specific items on the intersection of development data and COVID-19, visit our “Data in the Time of COVID-19.” Recently, the page has been updated to have a new section on vaccination data and resources to understand its distribution. If there is something else to add, please contact us.
February
Identification for Development (ID4D) 2020 Annual Report (February)
The World Bank publishes their ID4D 2020 Annual Report, which stresses the critical role ID and civil registration and vital statistics systems play in COVID-19-related emergency support and vaccination efforts. (source)
AODN February 2021 Resource List (February)
The Africa Open Data Network (AODN) releases a resource list for February 2021, which explores resources from different stakeholders across the globe that amplify the use of open data and better service delivery in sectors such as agriculture, education, and health. (source)
Planning and Implementing Household Surveys Under COVID-19 (February)
The Inter-Secretariat Working Group on Household Surveys authors a report that serves as guidance on conducting household surveys during COVID-19 and the various safety protocols. (source)
Livelihoods, food, and futures: COVID-19 and the displaced (February)
Research from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) shows the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on forcibly displaced and stateless people. Estimates show an 82 percent decline in earnings for informal workers in low- and lower-middle-income countries, which is where most internally displaced persons and refugee populations live. (source)
Guidelines on data disaggregation for SDG Indicators using survey data (February)
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) releases new guidelines on data disaggregation for Sustainable Development Goals indicators and targets using survey data. (source)
Development Goals Can Work, Even Amid Crisis, But We Need to Measure Better (2/1)
A new International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) policy brief looks at the evolution of global goals as a measurement framework for development and the state of play for a successor from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals. (source)
David Olusoga on the census: ‘Some see it as a civic duty, and they’re right’ (2/2)
The UK Historian, David Olusoga, explains the importance of the upcoming 2021 census in the UK and its role in society. He calls it a “civic duty” and highlights the impacts it would have on public infrastructure, hospitals, education, and more. (source)
Making statistics more frictionless (2/3)
Time Herzog authors a blog for The World Bank on the World Development Indicators and new formats and tools that are available to access the data using APIs, R, Python, and Stata. (source)
Upskilling Government leaders in data and statistical literacy (2/3)
The UK Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) authors a series of blogs about their work on data leadership. Their latest piece is on the importance of data literacy among senior leaders in the government, especially during COVID-19. (source)
Scientists call for fully open sharing of coronavirus genome data (2/3)
Richard Van Noorden authors a piece for Nature Magazine on the importance of open research and data on SARS-CoV-2 genome data. He highlights that while the GISAID data sharing platform for viral genomes has been a key actor for understanding COVID-19 variants, it does not allow sequences to be reshared publicly. (source)
How Disaggregated Data Can Pave the Way for a More Equitable Recovery (2/9)
Alyson Marks and Chisato Kimura of SDSN TReNDS explain the importance of disaggregated data by race and ethnicity to combat existing racial gaps and disparities. They highlight that racial data have been historically lacking, and people of color are disproportionately undercounted, especially in the United States. (source)
Accelerating progress on tackling the climate crisis through data collaboration (2/11)
Open Data Institute authors a piece on how to accelerate progress on tackling the climate crisis through data collaboration. They highlight stakeholders in the data ecosystems and the potential of data collaboration in six key areas. (source)
Pandemic hit academic mothers hard, data show (2/12)
Katie Langin authors a piece for Science Magazine on how COVID-19 has intensified existing gender disparities and has taken an especially hard toll on working mothers. A survey from the first few months of the pandemic finds that mothers suffered a 33% larger decline in research hours compared with fathers. (source)
The role of digital and data in achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 (2/17)
Cath Everett publishes a piece for Diginomica on the role of digital technology and open data in helping the UK hit its net-zero emission targets by 2050. The article states that technology can decrease global emissions by 15 percent. (source)
Balancing Privacy With Data Sharing for the Public Good (2/19)
David Demin authors a piece for the New York Times on balance between data sharing and data privacy. He explains that privacy risk should always be minimized and compared to the benefits of increased data availability. (source)
Avoiding the Data Colonialism Trap (2/22)
SDSN TReNDS’ Manager, Hayden Dahmm, and expert member Tom Moultrie argue that while there are many inspiring examples of communities and governments employing data to advance sustainability, as global institutions work to empower countries with data, they must be wary of “data colonialism.” (source)
Working hard and not being counted? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa on redefining employment (2/25)
World Bank Blogs authors a piece on a recent paper on measuring employment in Sub-Saharan Africa, based on household surveys from Ghana, Malawi, and Nigeria. Research finds that where gender differences are statistically significant, women’s farm work is less often classified as employment, and more often classified as own use production work, compared to men’s farm work. (source)
