The World Data Forum: 1st look
The first World Data Forum will be held early next year.
Last week, the UN celebrated the 1 year anniversary of the acceptance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a Global Goals week. The UN, Private Sector stakeholders, and civil society participants were given the chance to discuss the goals one year on, remaining critical of the work completed in order to plan ahead for the years to come.
During July 2016’s High Level Political Forum (HLPF), the dates of the first UN World Data Forum on Sustainable Development Data (World Data Forum) were announced. During Global Goals week. the official site of the Forum was unveiled, with further details of the discussions to take place. Here are the details that you need to know.
What: The UN World Data Forum, the first of its kind. This forum is dedicated to Sustainable Development data is all forms, not simply for the SDGs.
When: Opening ceremony to be held Sunday evening, January 15th, 2017. Sessions of the Forum will take place on January 16th, 17th, and closing on January 18th, 2016.
Where: Cape Town, South Africa. Registration details and specific locations have not yet been made available.
Who: Hosted by Statistic South Africa. The Statistics Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs will serve as Secretariat for the Forum. With guidance from the Statistical Commission, the discussions will be led by the High-level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (HLG). Member States and international partners will be in close consultation with the HLG.
Talking Points:
The Forum will consist of traditional panel discussions, as well as Data labs and interactive platforms. Talking points include:
- Building statistical capacity and data literacy
- Synergies between traditional statistics and new data sources, including big data
- Innovative technologies for data production and analysis
- Mobilizing resources needed
- Privacy and data protection
- Data governance and standards
- Geo-spatial information systems
- Data communication and visualization tools
The World Data Forum site includes 4 actions to guide the Forum: “JOIN together in this unique event with governments, businesses, civil society and the scientific and academic communities; EXPLORE innovative ways to apply data and statistics to measure global progress and inform evidence-based policy decisions on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; CONTRIBUTE to important discussions, data labs and interactive platforms aimed at improving the use of data for sustainable development; and LAUNCH new initiatives and solutions that will deliver better data for all.”
Following: @UNDataForum ; #UNDataForum; @UNStats; @StatsSA
Issues: Keep in mind that statistics, data, and technology is constantly changing. Even since the country presentations at the HLPF in July of 2016, statistics plans and outcomes are continuing to change. New countries are joining the movement, building capacity, and creating noise around their statistical systems. New data is published and spread. The 4th meeting of the IAEG-SDGs taking place in late October of this year will continue to impact the indicators for the SDGs. The statistics landscape will evolve leading up to the World Data Forum next year. The Forum must continue to be flexible, relevant, and incorporate new technologies and innovations that will have no doubt arrived between now and January 2017.
