ODW releases the full 2020/21 ODIN Annual Report and hosts a high-level panel of NSOs on successes and challenges using ODIN. Articles and reports highlighted this month cover topics ranging from the critical role of CRVS during the COVID-19 pandemic, to frictionless statistics, to avoiding data colonialism.

2021 kicked off in full force with ODW and partners continuing to monitor available datasets, dashboards, visualizations, and relevant articles on topics ranging from mining Twitter data, to the global census under-count, to open data for agriculture and nutrition, to combatting the spread of COVID-19.

As 2020 comes to a close, Open Data Watch (ODW) wishes all of our partners a healthy and happy new year. This year, despite the unprecedented challenges, ODW continued work…

Among major news this month is the release of the latest Open Data Inventory (ODIN) – the global assessment of the coverage and openness of official statistics – showing remarkable progress. Other reports cover the vulnerability of women and girls to COVID-19, data responsibility, data innovation, the usability of SDG reporting platforms, and combating world hunger with better data.

Over 10,000 development data experts from 180 countries met in October at the UN World Data Forum (UNWDF) on how to build capacity and increase investment in data and statistics for a more equitable, well-governed, sustainable and resilient future. Other October articles and reports highlighted topics ranging from pandemic data, to open science, to climate and gender data.

Heads of governments, companies, and organizations gather virtually for the 75th anniversary of the UN General Assembly and the fifth anniversary of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. ODW examines gaps in the data needed to measure progress toward SDGs. Others report progress using data for initiatives ranging from forestry, to HIV health, to gender equality.

August was action packed this year with the launch of the latest report on regional gender data availability, Bridging the Gap: Mapping Gender Data Availability in Latin America and the Caribbean, and with sustainable development initiatives ranging from new ways to measure poverty and racial inequality to new commitment to data-driven decision-making.

July was a busy month for the development data community — new data for SDGs, gender data portals and initiatives, census data, tracking the trackers, trusting open data, inclusive data for policy, sex-disaggregated data on COVID-19, and more.

The updated Data in the Time of COVID-19 covers some grim milestones. Tracking online mentions and traffic for coronavirus data, Learning from Coronavirus Data Use and Demand looks at trends in how public conversation about COVID-19 is being driven by data. The weekly updates by ODW and Data2X spotlight the best gender-disaggregated data on the pandemic.

As data-driven decision making is critical during the pandemic, ODW updated its special edition of What’s Being Said on COVID-19 (organized by data value chain stages) and also partnered with Data2X to review the gender impact of the pandemic. A virtual ODIN training session for Uzbekistan looked at country-specific ways to improve open data, and a number of new sustainable development data reports appeared.

With data availability and openness being so important during the pandemic, ODW regularly updates its special edition of What’s Being Said on COVID-19. In addition, ODW, the UN Statistics Division and GPSDD are working on a new website to support NSO data continuity by sharing guidance, actions, tools, and best practices.

The month kicked off with the 51st session of the UN Statistical Commission and ODW was also in Dubai to present the Open Data Inventory to the FCSA. But the unprecedented need for reliable data about the COVID-19 pandemic saw ODW, in its monitoring role at the intersection of open data and official statistics, devote particular attention to regular updates of a special edition of What’s Being Said on COVID-19 data resources.

In February, ODW was in snowy Ottawa to co-host ConVERGE: Connecting Vital Events Registration and Gender Equality with the IDRC and UNFPA where the third and final knowledge brief on best practices and key challenges to improve CRVS systems was released. End-month was marked by preparations for discussions at the 51st UN Statistical Commission on open data, gender data, and privacy.

2020 took off in full force with preparations for the ConVERGE conference scheduled for end-February at IDRC with UNFPA. The month also included the PARIS21 conference on innovation, New Approaches to Capacity Development for Better Data, as well as an event at George Washington University, Data as a Development Issue, that looked at how data can stimulate development. 

2019 ended with an action-packed month to maximize the impact of open data around the world. ODW partnered with the Open Government Partnership for an Open Data Workshop with 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 in February…

In November, the Data2X’s event, Big Data, Big Impact? The Future of Gender-Sensitive Data Systems was followed by a regional meeting on gender statistics in Accra that fell on African Statistics Day. The month ended with a workshop and training on how to improve open data within the General Authority for Statistics in Saudi Arabia…

October saw meetings all over the world reinforce support for data-driven solutions and strong statistical capacity. PARIS21 and UN Women acted to strengthen national statistical systems and produce quality gender statistics. Palestine held a Data Festival to promote creative initiatives to improve decision making. An SDSN TReNDS event looked at how cities measure SDGs…

September was a busy month for the development data community. Held in New York City, the UN General Assembly (UNGA 74) brought together stakeholders, politicians, donors, and statisticians to discuss topics such as data interoperability, civil registration and vital statistics, and financing for data.

While August is typically a quiet month as offices slow down to enjoy summer vacation, the development data community has kept busy. The 62nd International Statistical Institute World Statistics Congress…

This month began with the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) where UN member states and specialized agencies reviewed the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. ODW co-hosted a side event with the International Women’s Deprivation Measures Agency and UN Women to discuss disaggregated data and new measurement approaches. End-month, ODW and the Centre of Excellence for CRVS Systems at IDRC released the second Knowledge Brief on gender and CRVS.

In early June, ODW was in Vancouver for “Women Deliver 2019” – the largest gender equality conference with over 8,000 attendees – to advocate for a strong focus on gender data and CRVS. June also saw the launch of PARIS21’s “Statistical Capacity Development Outlook Report” and SDSN’s “2019 Africa SDG Index.” End-June saw many groups preparing for the upcoming high-level political forum in New York City.

In May, Open Data Watch (ODW) traveled to Ottawa to participate in discussions on civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) with its partners at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)…

This month, Open Data Watch co-hosted an event titled “Resources for Data & Statistics: Transformative Opportunities” on the sidelines of the 2019 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and…

This month at the time of the 50th Session of the UN Statistical Commission, Open Data Watch released the latest Open Data Inventory assessing the coverage and openness of official statistics. The 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women discussed social protection and access to public services for women and girls. ODW with Data2X released “Bridging the Gap: Mapping Gender Data Availability in Africa”…

In February, the first ever Data Day gathered experts and innovators to discuss data-driven development, technology, and innovation. Earlier in the month, Open Data Watch and the Centre of Excellence at IDRC released the first of three briefs on CRVS and Gender…

The new year kicked off with meetings such as the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland and a roundtable on financing for data in Bern shortly thereafter. Outside the conference room, Open Data Watch, Cepei and PARIS21 launched the third webinar of the ‘Beyond the Numbers: Harnessing Data for the SDGs’ webinar series…

Looking back at the year, 2018 was packed with international conferences such as the United Nations World Data Forum and the International open Data Conference as well as and report launches like OECD’s Development Co-operation Report and the Africa Data Revolution Report. The case was no different for the last month of the year…

November kicked off with the 8th meeting of the IAEG-SDGs in Stockholm, Sweden where a review of the classification of the SDG indicators and a discussion on progress for data…

October was another exciting month with the World Data Forum in Dubai. The event brought hundreds of development data experts together and resulted in the Dubai Declaration, which calls for…

The last three months brought with them the United Nations High-Level Political Forum in July and the International Open Data Conference in Buenos Aires in September. In addition to major…

The second quarter of 2018 saw the start of a new round of ODIN assessments, a range of new projects focusing on better understanding data use, and a handful of initiatives promoting more and financing for better…

The new year of 2018 began with the UNSD meeting on national reporting platforms, which had a strong element of open data. Towards the end of the quarter, Open Data Watch updated the Open Data Inventory (ODIN)…

It was an eventful year for open data and the data revolution for sustainable development. The last quarter of 2017 saw the publication of an OECD Development Co-operation Report dedicated…

In addition to numerous data-specific events taking place at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum and the United Nations General Assembly, this quarter has seen the publication of several flagship…

The momentum of the data revolution moves into the second quarter of 2017 with no signs of slowing down. The data for development community has seen the publication of the…

  The first quarter of 2017 has been marked by advancements for open data through the U.N. World Data Forum, the Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data, and the…

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…

Since July open data professionals have been busy preparing for the UN General Assembly and the International Open Data Conference. In the last three months, there have been noteworthy developments,…

As we approach the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development in July, significant attention is being placed on eliminating the gender gap in data, using available data to measure…

In the first quarter of 2016, while discussions about the data revolution touched on its implications across different sectors and different countries, much of the focus remained on the challenges…

As we approach the new year, the data revolution remains a lively topic of conversation. The following list of summaries blogs and articles shows commentaries on how the data revolution…

As the international community prepares for the UN General Assembly where the Sustainable Development Goals will be officially adopted, there have been several important efforts to build the momentum of…

The recent Financing for Development Conference was a very important moment in the Data Revolution. Many reports and blogs were written about the need for continued commitment to the cause…

April and early May saw many signficant developments for the Data Revolution. The Sustainable Development Solutions Network released a report estimating the cost of the data revolution; African countries produced…

The data revolution has picked up pace in February and March, driven by discussions about the post-2015 development agenda. Lists of post-2015 indictors were proposed and reports about funding the post-2015…

December and January have been busy months for data revolutionaries. Several critiques were published of the IEAG’s report, A World That Counts. There was significant attention on the need for…

December and January have been busy months for data revolutionaries. Several critiques were published of the IEAG’s report, A World That Counts. There was significant attention on the need for…

On November 7th, the UN Secretary General’s Independent Advisory Expert Group (IEAG) on the Data Revolution published its report, ‘A World That Counts’: Mobilising the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development’.…

On October 15th, the UN Secretary General’s Independent Advisory Expert Group (IEAG) on the Data Revolution closed its comments and private submissions as it prepares its report for the UN…

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…

Despite the summer heat and vacation schedules, conversations about the Data Revolution have been lively over the past few months. This has been particularly the case in the context of…