The data revolution this year ignited a handful of initiatives aimed to help achieve the sustainable development goals and improve statistical capacities worldwide. As we move into 2017, here is a look back at reports, blogs, and articles on the topic of the data revolution for the last quarter of 2016. If there is something else to add, please contact us.
DECEMBER
What is metadata and why is it as important as the data itself? (Dec 26)
Jason Hare of OpenDataSoft reports on the definitions of metadata as well as the ontologies and standards in a Dataconomy article. He reinforces the importance of metadata and offers a few examples of its value. (source)
Civil society calls out lack of data for implementing sustainable development goals (Dec 23)
Ith Sothoeuth of VOA Cambodia reports on the gap between the implementation of SDGs and its awareness at the local level. According to Srey Vanthon, country director of Action on Disability and Development (ADD) International, information provided about the SDGs was not adequate or was not widely disseminated and serious data gaps on vulnerable groups are present. (source)
How USAID is connecting data from 85 countries (Dec 22)
Jason Miller, Executive Editor of Federal News Radio, reports on the upcoming launch of USAID’s development data library. The goal of the library is to regularly capture data in a central place and to easily share and visualize collected information from around the world. (source)
Has the world of big data forgotten Africa? (Dec 22)
Kalev Leetaru of Forbes reports on the gaps of big data in Africa. He concludes that while big data offers us great insight into society, the continent of Africa is considerably absent. According to Leeatur, current analyses of big data capture the local events and perspectives of African countries very poorly. (source)
2016 in review: 12 steps of progress we took together (Dec 20)
The United Nations Foundation collects 12 highlights from 2016, including the significant progress made by Data2X and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data in harnessing the data revolution. (source)
5 gender data moments to celebrate from 2016 (Dec 16)
Emily Courey Pryor, Executive Director of Data2X, recaps five gender data moments that helped make 2016 a year of progress for the gender data agenda for the United Nations Foundation blog,. (source)
Sunlight Foundation launches national open data policy portal (Dec 15)
Jason Sueh of the StateScoop reports on the relaunch of the Sunlight Foundation’s “Open Data Policies Decoded” website. The website, which serves as a clearinghouse for open data policies published by government offices around the country, has moved out of its beta stage and offers new features to make the 47 current open data policies more easily searchable. (source)
NBS calls for more support for statistics development (Dec 14)
Business Day reports on Nigeria’s Statistician General Yemi Kale’s plea for more support from stakeholders for implementation of the national strategy for the development of statistics with Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). (source)
Action plan in review: Takeaways from the capacity building action session (Dec 12)
Natália Mazotte, head of the School of Data in Brazil and co-director of Genero e Número, a data-driven magazine focused on gender issues, recaps the capacity building track at the International Open Data Conference (IODC) 2016 and draws attention to several areas where work is needed. (source)
New WHO data portal to help track progress towards universal health coverage (Dec 12)
The World Health Organization (WHO) publishes a news release on their newest data portal which tracks progress towards universal health coverage around the world. The portal, featuring data from each of WHO’s 194 member states, shows where countries need to improve access to services, and where they need to improve information. (source)
ECA to host open data session at first UN World Data Forum in Cape Town (Dec 9)
Ahead of the UN World Data Forum, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) authors an article on AllAfrica promoting their side event on open data and national statistical offices. The session aims to build consensus among national statistical offices and other parties involved in generating data on the need to work together to develop open data services for official statistics on the continent. (source)
We live in a world full of data. But what’s the point if none of it joins up? (Dec 8)
Posted by the Thomas Reuters Foundation, Harpinder Collacott, Executive Director of Development Initiatives, urges us all to recognize the growing need of interoperable data and break down barriers that prevent data from being joined up. (source)
Canada to make statistics agency independent amid data concerns (Dec 7)
Reuters reports on new developments regarding Statistics Canada’s independence. According to the article, Canada moved to formalize a higher degree of the agency’s independence in an attempt to regain credibility. (source)
A guide to data innovation for development: From idea to proof-of-concept (Dec 7)
The UNDP and UN Global Pulse release a practical guide on how to design data innovation projects. The publication provides guidance for working with new sources of data to staff of UN agencies and international non-governmental organizations. (source)
The impact of open government: Assessing the evidence (Dec 2016)
Vanessa Williamson and Norman Eisen author a working paper published by Brookings Center for Effective Public Management. They review the empirical and theoretical literature on the international impact of open government. They offer recommendations for policymakers and an agenda for further research on the subject. (source)
PARIS21 at the 15th IAOS Conference 2016 in Abu Dhabi (Dec 8)
The 15th Conference of International Association for Official Statistics (IAOS) convenes in Abu Dhabi, UAE from 6-8 December. The Conference was attended by statisticians and practitioners in the field of official statistics, under the theme The Spirit of Official Statistics: Partnership and Continuous Innovation. (source)
Coordination challenges within the national statistical systems of developing countries (Dec 5)
Hernán Muñoz, National Director of Statistical Planning and Coordination at the National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina (INDEC), authors a post on the UN World Data Forum blog. Muñoz sees the implementation of the SDGs as an opportunity for the transformation and modernization of national statistical systems. (source)
NOVEMBER
Counting the invisible girls: Gender data key for change (Nov)
A new report “Counting the Invisible” by Plan International explores the current state of gender data and stresses the importance of better gender data to help create a more equitable world for all. (source)
Measuring support to statistics in developing countries (Nov 2016)
Johannes Jütting and Thilo Klein of PARIS21 in the OECD Statistics Newsletter report on the recently released PRESS 2016 figures. It affirms that official support to statistics remains relatively low, comprising only 0.25 percent of official development assistance. (source)
Data responsibility: a new social good for the information age (Nov 29)
Stefaan Verhulst, co-founder of the Governance Laboratory, discusses three pillars of data responsibility on the World Bank blog. Verhulst notes that to fully harness the potential of data, three duties of data responsibility must be fulfilled: a duty to share, a duty to protect, and a duty to act. (source)
GSS launches second national strategy for statistics development (Nov 27)
According to Ghana Web, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has launched the second national strategy for the development of statistics (NSDS). The NSDS follows the Ghana Statistics Development Plan (GSP), which covered 2009-2012, and is said to address the under-development of the administrative system. (source)
Tanzania to implement the International Monetary Fund’s Enhanced General Data Dissemination System (Nov 23)
The International Monetary Fund writes a press release announcing Tanzania’s progress in implementing the Enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS). Tanzania is among the first wave of countries to implement the e-GDSS. (source)
How to climb the open data maturity ladder: Lessons from Europe (Nov 22)
Jorn Berends and Wendy Carrara of the European Data Portal provide a guest post on the The Data Blog by the World Bank regarding their open data readiness indicator. Based on the findings of the “2016 Open Data Maturity in Europe” report, the post explores which countries are doing well, what makes them champions, and what other countries can learn. (source)
The 4th meeting of the IAEG-SDGs: SDG indicators and data news (Nov 22)
SDG Counting provides an update of the fourth meeting of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on the Sustainable Development Goals, which took place November 15th to the 18th. Data disaggregation continues to be a focus and the role of national and international statistical agencies was further defined and clarified. (source)
Telecom statistics are key to socioeconomic development (Nov 21)
The Mail & Guardian reports on the 14th World Telecommunication/ICT Indicator Symposium (WTIS) held in Botswana this month. WTIS-2016 brings together information and communication technologies (ICT) ministers, heads of national statistical offices, heads of international organizations, and statistical experts from around the world. (source)
African Statistics Day 2016 (Nov 18)
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) promotes Africa Statistics Day and posts the poster and media advisory of the event. The theme of the Day this year is Strengthening economic statistics for regional integration, structural transformation and sustainable development. (source)
Revolutionizing the collection of household data (Nov 15)
Research fellow Patrick Ward authors a post on the International Food Policy Research Institute Research blog exploring the use of smart phones to gather information. The post cites a recent pilot study conducted by IFPRI and New York University and provides an early snapshot of the potential for such data collection method alongside the most pressing concerns. (source)
Consultation opens on SD data action plan (Nov 8)
The High-Level Group on Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (HLG-PCCB) has issued a draft “Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data”, which addresses statistical capacity building needs. The Group is collecting comments on the Action Plan and it is expected to present the plan at the UN World Data Forum. (source)
Is predicted data a viable alternative to real data? (Nov 8)
Roy van der Weide and Tomoki Fujii author a post on the World Bank’s Let’s Talk Development blog on the extent to which predicted data can be a viable replacement of real data. They conclude that under the right circumstances prediction estimators could be of great value, but one should not rely solely on these data. (source)
The World Bank’s leadership in open data – are they back? (Nov 7)
Posted by DevEx, Karin Christiansen, founding CEO and patron of Publish What You Fund, discusses where the World Bank stands as an open data champion and the potential for the bank to regain its leadership on transparency. Christiansen believes there are exciting signs that the bank’s influence is back and outlines three recommendations for re-establishment. (source)
Tanzania undertakes its second NSS peer review in a decade (Nov 7)
PARIS21 reports on Tanzania’s second National Statistical System peer review by Kenya and South Africa. This is the second peer review in a decade, following the peer view in 2007 by Zambia and Ghana. Several achievements have been recorded because of the first review, including a new Statistics Act approved in 2015. (source)
Making gender data count: Can IATI help? (Nov 4)
Posted on the Center for Global Development blog, Megan O’Donnell and Tanvi Jaluka recap a recently held workshop with Data2X, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and Development Gateway on the potential of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) to track aid flows and outcomes, specifically how IATI can be used to improve the availability of gender data. (source)
New global poverty data – coming soon (Nov 3)
Save the Children reports on the new set of poverty measures that the World Bank will produce as part of their contribution to monitoring the SDGs. Jose Manuel Roche, Chief Researcher at Save the Children, provides a summary of the new Commission’s “Monitoring Global Poverty: Report of the Commission on Global Poverty” (source)
ASEAN forges ahead in regional statistical co-operation (Nov 2)
PARIS21 recaps their involvement in the 6th meeting of the ASEAN Community Statistical System Committee in Lao PDR. The meeting brought together the Chief Statisticians from the 10 ASEAN member countries to share their on-going work and capacity building initiatives to develop their respective national statistical systems as well as to strengthen the ASEAN regional statistical system. The blog post also includes ASEAN’s new video 2 Decades of regional statistical cooperation. (source)
Capacity building, yes – but how to do it? (Nov 1)
Johannes Jutting, Manager of PARIS21, writes a post on the UN World Data Forum blog on how best to build capacity of national statistical offices. He stresses that the UN World Data Forum will need to address how we can build capacity and disseminate knowledge in a more comprehensive, inclusive, and participatory way. (source)
OCTOBER
Data needs to be local, equitable, and collaborative (Oct 26)
In a World Bank blog post, Haishan Fu, Director of the Development Economics Data Group at the World Bank Group, discusses what’s on the horizon for open data following the IODC and acknowledges Shaida Badiee, Managing Director of Open Data Watch, as a continued force for open data. Haishan Fu’s three ideas for the future of data are data must be local, equitable, and collaborative. (source)
What is the global forum on gender statistics? (Oct 21)
Ahead of the Global Forum on Gender Statistics, Nina Rabinovitch Blecker of the UN Foundation interviews Francesca Grum, the Chief of Social and Housing Statistics at the UN Statistics Division to learn more about the history of the Forum and the goals of this year’s gathering. (source)
Indian government to review data collection methods following growing doubts over quality of GDP estimates (Oct 18)
Faced with doubts over the integrity of the gross domestic product (GDP) data following a change in accounting methodology that revised recent GDP growth forecasts upwards, the Indian government has decided to review the methods of collecting those estimates, setting up five committees tasked with the process. (source)
Sustainable funding for statistics off to a slow start (Oct 17)
Misha Belkindas, Managing Director of Open Data Watch reports on the recently released “Aid for Statistics 2016” report. It explores the most common financial instruments used to fund statistics, where new funding for statistics come from, how it will be delivered in the era of the SDGs.
The Local Development Research Institute will coordinate plans for the Africa Open Data Network (Oct 12)
Open Data for Development (OD4D) announces that the Local Development Research Institute (LDRI) will be the initial coordinate of the Africa Open Data Network. The Africa Open Data Network will act as a hub for the African-led research on open data for development. (source)
Three takeaways from the IODC: Linking national statistical offices and open data (Oct 14)
Deirdre Appel and Amelia Pittman of Open Data Watch summarize the major developments from our two high-level panels and pre-conference workshop of the International Open Data Conference (IODC) which focused on official statistics and open data. (source)
Bringing girls into the data revolution (Oct 11)
A DevEx article by Helena Minchew advocates that the SDG indicators on young girls must go beyond sex-disaggregation and must encompass more than official sources such as DHS, national statistical commissions, and UN agencies. According to Minchew, gaps should be filled with locally-sourced data from organizations that work most closely with young girls. (Source)
Data matters for development, democratization (Oct 10)
Indonesia’s poorest regions are turning to social media platforms and mobile technology for data to improve basic government services. Douglas Borderick of Jakarta Post reports on innovations referred to as “nowcasting,” or effective ways of gathering information and data by crowdsourcing social media platforms. (source)
The potential of open data (Oct 7)
Open Data NZ explores the potential of open data to change the way we see ourselves, our world, and our future through video animination. Open Data NZ is the New Zealand government’s open data program. (source)
10 takeaways from the 2016 International Open Data Conference (Oct 7)
Alex Howard of the Sunlight Foundation recaps the International Open Data Conference in Madrid, Spain, using Wired’s “Wired, Tired, Expired” frame. (source)
Statistics officers attend population estimates & demographic indicators workshop (Oct 7)
The Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) of the United Nations Population Division recently trained senior national statistical officers from eight African countries on applying useful demographic methods for the evaluation and production of population estimates as well as demographic indicators in their respective countries. (source)
Data revolutionaries: Routine administrative data can be sexy too (Oct 4)
Sebastian Bauhoff of the Center for Global Development makes a strong case for the greater utilization and appreciation of routine administrative data. But for routine data to be useful for policy, administrative data systems must be well designed, implemented, and maintained. (source)
The Era of big data for official statistics (Oct 1)
In preparation for the UN World Data Forum in January 2017, a global seminar hosted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of China and the Statistics Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs took place in Guilin, China, to provide countries with the opportunity to discuss data innovation for official statistics. (source)