Earlier this month, OECD Chief Statistician Steve MacFeely led a delegation of OECD Statistics and PARIS21 experts at the UN World Data Forum 2024, in Medellín, Colombia.
The forum offered an exciting platform to explore how data can be harnessed to create a fairer, more sustainable world. Among the wide-ranging discussions, three themes emerged as particularly impactful:
SDMX as the silent enabler of better data sharing
The Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX) framework is a game-changer for cross-border collaboration. By streamlining the way statisticians around the world produce, share, and standardise data, SDMX strengthens data governance and decision-making processes and enhances transparency. At the Forum, the OECD Statistics team underscored how adopting and investing in SDMX can future-proof data ecosystems, bringing considerable long-term dividends for statistical organisations and policymakers alike.
Empowering youth in global discussions
The passion and insight shown by the young statisticians at the Forum was truly remarkable, something that should be championed and scaled up. Their innovative ideas and sense of urgency for action bring invaluable energy to these forums. More spaces should be created, and others expanded, to amplify young voices and make them co-pilots in steering the global data agenda.
The retreat of open data
Open data has long been a catalyst for innovation and collaboration – it has been essential for training AI datasets. However, as governments come to understand the costs of curating public data some of these data are moving behind paywalls. Other proprietary data, that might have been made available, remain locked away as their value as commercial assets comes to be understood. This trend risks limiting equitable access, stifling research, AI training and widening the gap between those who can afford data and those who cannot.
As part of the OECD’s delegation, Jonathan Challener, Community Manager of the Statistical Information System Collaboration Community (SIS-CC), joined a panel on community-driven approaches to data innovation. The session brought together representatives from diverse groups – including DHIS2, the National Statistics Office of the Dominican Republic, UNICEF’s Frontier Data Network, and the Development Data Partnership – to explore how collaborative efforts can drive innovation and build resilient data communities. Jonathan shared insights into how the SIS-CC is breaking new ground in using data and technology to achieve impactful results.
The 2024 UN World Data Forum was also the occasion to launch the Commit to Data campaign, with PARIS21 Executive Head Johannes Jütting and Friday’s session Catalysing Commitments for Sustainable Development Data, that provided an opportunity for participants to discover the 70+ commitments from grassroots initiatives to global endeavours, including one from the Community (SIS-CC). This initiative, spearheaded by a small secretariat comprising PARIS21, Open Data Watch, CEPEI, and close partners, operates under the strategic oversight of the UN’s High-Level Group on Capacity Building and Partnership, with further guidance from the UN World Data Forum Programme Committee.
The UN World Data Forum 2024 demonstrated the critical role of collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity in advancing the global data agenda. From technical enablers like SDMX to the power of youth and community-driven initiatives, the conversations in Medellín provided a compelling vision for a data-driven future.
