UN Secretary-General’s Data Strategy

Introduction

As structural UN reforms consolidate, we are focused on building the data, digital, technology and innovation capabilities that the UN needs to succeed in the 21st century. The Secretary General’s “Data Strategy for Action by Everyone, Everywhere” is our agenda for the data-driven transformation.

Data permeates all aspects of our work, and its power—harnessed responsibly—is critical to the global agendas we serve. The UN family’s footprint, expertise and connectedness create unique opportunities to advance global “data action” with insight, impact and integrity. To help unlock more potential, 50 UN entities jointly designed this Strategy as a comprehensive playbook for data-driven change based on global best practice.

At the core of our Strategy is a simple idea:
We start with data action that adds immediate value for our organization and the people we serve.

António Guterres, Secretary-General

Our vision

Building a whole-of-UN ecosystem that unlocks our full data potential: For better decisions and stronger support to people and planet—in the moments that matter most.

PRIORITIES FOR DATA ACTION

Our ambition is to unlock the data potential of the UN family to better support people and planet. We want to focus data action on what matters most.

Priority 1

DECADE OF ACTION

At the heart of the 2030 Agenda are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. For the Decade of Action, we will leverage the UN family’s data potential everywhere we can and aim to mobilize governments, civil society and businesses.

Priority 2

CLIMATE ACTION

Climate change is already affecting every country on every continent, impacting lives and disrupting economies, both now and in the future. We will put emphasis on employing data and analytics for urgent climate action.

Priority 3

GENDER EQUALITY

25 years after the historic Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, where the Beijing Platform for Action was agreed upon, full gender equality around the world is still not a reality. Together with global partners, we will build better gender data and analytics capabilities.

Priority 4

HUMAN RIGHTS AND RULE OF LAW

Powered by the SG’s Call to Action on Human Rights, we will form global coalitions for human rights-based approaches to data, fight hate speech online while upholding freedoms and strengthen human rights monitoring.

Priority 5

PEACE AND SECURITY

We will leverage data and analytics for the prevention, mediation and resolution of conflicts: for stronger analysis and recommendations, to deploy peacekeepers faster to where they are needed most, and to protect civilians and UN personnel.

Priority 6

GOVERNANCE AND ETHICS FOR THE FUTURE

In support of stronger global digital cooperation, we will help foster dialogue, the collaborative design and the implementation of data policies that advance the responsible human-rights-based use of data and drive innovation for people and planet.

Priority 7

UN REFORM

To accelerate UN reform, we will foster centres of excellence that catalyze stronger data and analytics capabilities, help account for reform benefits, foster transparency, raise performance, and build resilient supply chains.

Priority 8

DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY

Building on our Data Protection and Privacy Principles, our ambition is to strengthen dialogue with public and private stakeholders, and champion data protection and privacy capacity in the UN family.

OUR STRATEGY

Our strategy pursues a simple idea: we focus not on process, but on learning, iteratively, to deliver data use cases that add value for stakeholders based on our vision, outcomes and principles. Use cases – purposes for which data is used – already permeate our organization. We will systematically identify and deliver them through dedicated data action portfolios. While new capabilities will in part emerge through “learning by doing”, we will also strengthen organizational enablers to deliver on our vision, including shifts in people and culture, partnerships, data governance and technology.

CAPABILITIES

We will nurture the abilities we need to unlock our full data potential

ANALYTICS

Challenging everyone in the UN family to use data to understand “what happened”, “why it happened”, “what may happen next” – and respond with insight, impact and integrity

DATA MANAGEMENT

Enabling everyone to discover, access and share data they need across the full spectrum of data types, so we can meet the data needs of the organization, people and planet

ENABLERS

We will foster key enablers to accelerate the transformation

PEOPLE AND CULTURE

Building the skill, talent, teams and culture so that everyone in the UN family can support colleagues, people and planet with data insight, impact and integrity

DATA GOVERNANCE

Governing data at the right levels and with the right approaches everywhere, so that everyone in the UN family can leverage data as a strategic asset

PARTNERSHIPS

Building sustainable data partnerships across ecosystems so that we can jointly tackle the toughest challenges and deliver solutions for people and planet

TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENT

Making sure that our technology tools and processes are aligned to empower everyone, everywhere in using data optimally

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Secretary-General’s Data Strategy