November began with an event in New York City organized by Data2X on Big Data, Big Impact? The Future of Gender-Sensitive Data Systems. Follwing that, a regional meeting on gender statistics took place in Accra, Ghana, that happened to fall on African Statistics Day. The month ended with Open Data Watch conducting a workshop and training on how to improve open data within the General Authority for Statistics in Saudi Arabia.
The list below also contains additional sustainable development data articles and reports published in November. If there is something else to add, please contact us.
November 2019
Big Data, Big Impact? Towards Gender-Sensitive Data Systems. (November)
Data2X releases a new report showcasing 10 research projects examining the potential of big data to fill the global gender data gap. The study concludes gender-sensitive, big data can provide unique insight into the lives of women and girls if data privacy concerns are also addressed. (source)
Can big data help us make better development decisions? (November)
Asian Development blog discusses how data can be a powerful tool for international development but in an era of “information overload,” it needs to be used cautiously with careful planning and management. Specifically, they analyze decision support systems that integrate big data from various sources with a smart algorithm that processes millions of calculations at a time. (source)
Migration Data on the Central Mediterranean Route: What do we Know? (November)
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) calls for the need to improve data systems on migration in Northern and Western African countries for the improvement of evidence-based migration policies and monitoring and evaluation systems. (source)
Advancing Administrative Sources of Data for Monitoring Gender-Specific Sustainable Development Goals in Africa (November)
UN Women releases a study examining the importance of administrative data for producing gender statistics and monitoring gender-specific SDGs. The study includes the analysis of three pathfinder countries, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda and three non-pathfinder countries, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Rwanda. (source)
Holding on to the promise: strengthening administrative data for Agenda 2030 (11/1)
In preparation for a conference at Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía/National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) this month on administrative data, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data discusses the importance of fostering partnerships. (source)
Italy supports Việt Nam in improving statistics system (11/9)
VietNamNews publishes an update on the partnership between Vietnam and Italy which aims to improve the capacity of the Vietnamese National Statistical system. They explain that the project is financed by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) who has committed more than 716,000 USD. (source)
Localizing the SDGs in Bangladesh (11/10)
Mohammed Mamun Rashid authors a piece for the Daily Star explaining how the SDG data gaps in Bangladesh are limiting the localization of the SDGs and the monitoring of local initiatives. (source)
Kenya census: Why counting people can be controversial (11/11)
BBC News discuss why Kenya’s most recent population census figures have caused controversy. They explain that while the total population in the country has grown, certain regions have seen a decrease in population and a decrease in funding. (source)
Gender data is moving forward — with a new set of challenges (11/13)
Amy Lieberman authors a piece for Devex on the importance of gender-sensitive big data and traditional data sources to advance gender-related SDG indicators. She highlights Data2X’s new report, Big Data Big Impact? and their event in NYC which brought together representatives from the private sector, non-profits, academia, and the United Nations Agencies. (source)
The Data Countries Need Now: Outcomes from Data For Now’s Inception Workshop (11/14)
Alyson Marks and Maryam Rabiee review the outcomes from the Data for Now’s Inception Workshop in Kigali, Rwanda. The meeting convened representatives from eight diverse countries and discussed priority data needs. (source)
Do countries rely on wrong data to make decisions? (11/19)
The New Times, explores how countries may be relying on the wrong data to address challenges related to poverty, climate change, inequality, environmental degradation, and injustice. As part of this discussion, Maryam Rabiee explains that at the time there is a death in the production of frequent data hindering the measurement of the SDG’s. (source)
Former National Statistical Commission Chief Questions Scrapping Of Consumption Survey (11/19)
Pallavi Nahata, from Bloomberg Quint, interviews Indian National Statistical Commission Chief, PC Mohanan, who questions the scrapping of the most recent consumption survey. Mohanan says that even in the unlikely event of data quality issues in the survey, a report should have been released. (source)
Government pushes bill to protect INDEC bureau from ‘political pressures’ (11/22)
The Buenos Aires Times announces the Finance Minister Hernán Lacunza’s decision to send a new bill to congress that will make the National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina (INDEC) autonomous from the government. They mention that this precautionary measure was taken as an anticipatory move to ensure the credibility of national statistics during a shift of political power. (source)
World Statistics Pocketbook (11/25)
The United Nations Statistic Division releases the 2019 World Statistics Pocketbook. The Pocketbook is a compilation of key economic, social, and environmental indicators for 200 countries. (source)
The Director of Cepei participated in Santiago de Chile in the Statistical Conference of the Americas 2019 (11/27)
Cepei reflects on the 2019 Statistical Conference of the Americas held in Santiago, Chile on November 19-21. They focus on statistical capacity for sustainable development and bilateral cooperation between national offices and international and regional organizations. (source)
How digital civil registration accelerates the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (11/30)
Gilbert Nakweya authors a piece for The Next Web on technological innovations such as mobile devices and biometrics to improve the collection of data on births and deaths. The article includes cases from Armenia, Ecuador, Kyrgyzstan, Namibia, Netherlands, and Peru to demonstrate the potency of digital civil registration and vital statistic systems. (source)