On September 25th, the UN Secretary General’s Independent Advisory Expert Group (IEAG) on the Data Revolution held its first meeting in New York. A series of papers and blog posts surrounded this event. They provided suggestions and recommendations for the IEAG. We’ve listed brief summaries and links to some of these publications. If the list is missing a blog or article, please contact ODW and watch this space for periodic updates.
7 October 2014
Enrico Giovannini and Eva Jespersen (a co-chair and a member of the IEAG, respectively) publishes a blog post to the UNDP webpage titled You Say You want a Revolution. The post summarizes some thoughts about the Data Revolution including a discussion of the relationship between big data and official statistics. …(more)
6 October 2014
Sabina Alkire and Emma Samman of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative publish a briefing paper to the IEAG. Mobilizing the Household Data Required to Progress Toward the SDGs looks at the advantages and disadvantages of collecting post-2015 data through household survey instruments, administrative and registry data, and big data. …(more)
3 October 2014
Notes from the IEAG group meeting are published as a blog on the IEAG website. The notes cover the breadth of topics mentioned in the meeting of the IEAG, the meeting with Deputy Secretary Jan Eliasson, and in meetings with civil society groups. …(more)
2 October 2014
Nancy McGuire Choi published a post on the Development Gateway blog entitled Harnessing the Data Revolution. She highlights the benefits of mapping and tracking who does what in development and then outlines the conditions necessary to ensure that data are put to good use. …(more)
1 October 2014
Interaction moderates a series of blog posts on transparency featuring AidData, Development Initiatives, Foundation Center, Open Aid Partnership, Oxfam America, and Publish What You Fund. This post on the future of transparency provides several points related to the data revolution–including call for a greater focus on subnational data users. …(more)
1 October 2014
Making All Voices Count Director Marjan Besuijen publishes a blog post about governance and the post-2015 agenda. She suggests that the Data Revolution needs to be carefully monitored to ensure that it empowers the people and that isn’t used to their disadvantage. …(more)
1 October 2014
Claire Melamad publishes an article in the Guardian titled The data revolution is coming and it will unlock the corridors of power. The article highlights the work of the IEAG and argues that, through transparency and openness, data can empower and enrich lives. …(more)
1 October 2014
Kate Krukiel published a blog post on the Microsoft Government page: Data revolution: How the UN is visualizing the future. It shares three insights about the MDGs: 1) Data has a shelf life 2) Government need visualization tools 3) The private sector can help. …(more)
27 September 2014
Cheryl Doss a Senior Lecturer at Yale University published a post on Huffington Post entitled To Help the World’s Poor – Start With Data? The post discusses the need to improve data quality to help monitor the SDGs. It also argues for more disaggregated data. …(more)
26 September 2014
The Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Jan Eliasson, gives remarks at the first meeting of the IEAG. The remarks call for efforts to improve the quality and quantity of data and to engage with “non traditional counterparts.” The remarks are posted on the IEAG blog. …(more)
25 September 2014
The Open Data Research Network publishes a blog post: Building a better data revolution. The post offers several suggestions for the data revolution: 1) Think about the primary data user; 2) Focus on capacity for action; 3) Think critically about the politics of categories and standards; 4)Focus on accountability AND collaboration; 5) There is both the need, and the opportunity, for research to inform the debate. …(more)
25 September 2014
The World Bank Group, the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, Norway, and USAID created the Global Financing Facility (GFF) to support health-related MDGs. Among the goals of the GFF is to promote improved civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS). …(more)
25 September 2014
Open Data Watch publishes an article on National Statistical Development Strategies and how they should be transformed and updated to incorporate the principles of the data revolution—particularly openness. …(more)
24 September 2014
A Reuters article highlights new research by Morten Jerven suggesting that it would cost $254 billion to monitor the 169 targets outlined in the latest version of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Reuters article: …(more) Jerven article: …(more)
24 September 2014
Enrico Giovannini, Co-chair of the UN IEAG for the Data Revolution, writes an introductory blog post for the new website for the new IEAG website. He invites input for the report the IEAG will submit to the UN Secretary General but pledges that the report will not be “the end of the story.” …(more)
24 September 2014
Rufus Pollock published a blog post: A Data Revolution That Works for All of Us. He argues that the Data Revolution must be open, that data about people should be controlled by and accessible to those people, and that more needs to translate raw data into something beneficial for people. …(more)
19 September 2014
Toby McIntosh wrote an article for the Guardian celebrating Paraguay becoming the 100th country to pass a Freedom of Information law. The article discusses the successes and failures of the movement for Freedom of Information laws as part of the broader movement for openness and open data. …(more)