Data for Sustainable Development

There has never been a more exciting or challenging time in the quest for good data on development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require us to question everything we think we know about the production, analysis and use of data. Tracking progress towards the goals means looking beyond sheer numbers or the pace of change to the quality of the progress that is being achieved. Is it sustainable? Is it transformative? Is it equitable?

Usually, Data is straightforward connected with SDGs since it contributes to its monitoring. But why is this relevant?In 2015, the world embarked on a new development agenda underpinned by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Achieving these goals requires integrated action on social, environmental and economic challenges, with a focus on inclusive, participatory development that leaves no one behind.

Big Data

The volume of data in the world is increasing exponentially. By some estimates, 90 per cent of the data in the world has been created in the last two years, and it is projected to increase by 40 per cent annually. A large share of this output is “data exhaust,” or passively collected data deriving from everyday interactions with digital products or services, including mobile phones, credit cards, and social media. This deluge of digital data is known as big data.  Data is growing because it is increasingly being gathered by inexpensive and numerous information‐sensing, mobile devices and because the world’s capacity for storing information has roughly doubled every 40 months since the 1980s.

Source: https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/big-data-for-sustainable-development

Critical data for global, regional and national development policymaking is still lacking. Many governments still do not have access to adequate data on their entire populations. This is particularly true for the poorest and most marginalized, the very people that leaders will need to focus on if they are to achieve zero extreme poverty and zero emissions by 2030, and to ‘leave no one behind’ in the process.

Big data can shed light on disparities in society that were previously hidden. For example, women and girls, who often work in the informal sector or at home, suffer social constraints on their mobility, and are marginalized in both private and public decision-making.

Much of the big data with the most potential to be used for public good is collected by the private sector. As such, public-private partnerships are likely to become more widespread. The challenge will be ensuring they are sustainable over time, and that clear frameworks are in place to clarify roles and expectations on all sides.
Read more about Big Data and SDGs: https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/big-data-for-sustainable-development

Here is one example for each of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals showing how big data could be used to help achieve the SDGs:

BIG DATA & the SDGs: https://www.un.org/en/pdfs/Bigdata_SDGs_single_spread_2017.pdf

There are several databases and tools that allow consultation on SDGs monitor, as well as other aspects of its achievement:

• Our World in Data website: Focuses on the most complex and large world problems, such as poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war and inequality. The websites’ mission is based on the premise that Research and data help make progress against the world’s largest problems – https://ourworldindata.org/ 
• World Bank Open Data: https://data.worldbank.org/
• Global SDG Indicators Database: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/database/ 
• The Power od Data to Advance the SDGs: https://www.elsevier.com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/1058179/Elsevier-SDG-Report-2020.pdf 
• Data for Sustainable Development UNESCO Institute for Statistics Blog: https://sdg.uis.unesco.org/about/