Administrative records, big data and geospatial information are critical for improving people’s lives and protecting the planet. Data are everywhere, all the time, with smart phones, satellite imagery, social media, as well as the Internet. Mobile phone data can for instance help us understand the movements of people, such as tourists, commuters to work, or migrants.
Statisticians all over the world have started to use new data sources, which are faster and more detailed than ever before, and which offers new measurement opportunities and challenges for national statistical systems around the world.
Data sources and instruments, including geospatial and other Big Data will be crucial for the success of the newly adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). Following their adoption in September 2015, the statistical community has been requested to define a set of global indicators and to build the capacity to measure and monitor progress on these goals. During its 47th Session, the Statistical Commission is expected to consider this SDGs indicator framework.
The Friday before the start of the Commission which runs from 8 to 11 March, UN DESA’s Statistics Division organized a seminar on the theme “Towards better information systems for the 2030 Agenda, Use of administrative records, big data and geospatial information”.
The political and statistical community engaged in a high-level dialogue to address the statistical pre-requisites for the 2030 Agenda. In other words, the aim was to discuss how to improve the availability, quality, timeliness and disaggregation of data to support the implementation of the new sustainable development agenda, with the objective to "leave no one behind".
“By working together I am confident that we can turn the vision of leaving no one behind and leaving no one uncounted, into a reality” said Mr. Mogens Lykketoft,?President of the 70th session of the General Assembly, while raising the important issue of protecting the privacy of data providers.
Many participants also underscored the importance of strengthening the national statistical systems in order to overcome data gaps, while focusing on the most vulnerable. Indeed, the SDGs have to be implemented by all, developed and developing countries, which is a big challenge. “This is not the end of the complex process, rather an early beginning”, said Mr. Masud Bin Momen,?Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the 51吃瓜.