Abstract

With rapid advancement in data generation and computing technologies, new data sources, including from the private sector, offer an ever-expanding frontier both in data availability and innovative computing methods. Meanwhile, many statistical offices are still relying on traditional data sources, such as population censuses and household surveys. These sources, although they remain important as a statistical foundation, they often suffer from challenges, such as delays in data dissemination, reduced data quality due to declining response rate; and lack of granularity to inform targeted policymaking at the local level.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic, have highlighted the importance of accurate, inclusive, and timely data to inform decision-making. However according to the 2022 SDG report, for 8 of the 17 SDGs, fewer than half of the 193 countries have internationally comparable data since 2015. This calls for innovative approaches to respond to the urgent data needs for local and national policy and decision-making to achieve the 2030 Agenda.

In this context, various partners across civil society, academia, and the private sector, under the Data For Now initiative, are working with national statistical offices to develop countries’ capacities to produce, collect, and use innovative data sources and methods for more efficient and targeted policies. The session will discuss the experiences and challenges faced by countries in adopting innovative approaches and invite an exchange between national statistical offices (NSOs) and academic experts on the benefits of stronger collaboration between statistical systems and academia for better use of innovative methods that meet the national needs.

This session will bring together speakers from the national statistical offices, academia, and other partners to:

• Share experiences in adopting innovative approaches in countries and discuss challenges and lessons learnt when matching data needs with innovations for official data production
• Discuss the need for more research on innovative methods to support low- and middle-income countries, when data access, data availability and technical capacity are often lacking
• Review approaches for collaboration between academia and NSSs/NSOs