11 October 2016: The Arab Forum on Building Statistical Capacity for a Data Revolution, organized by Qatar’s national statistical agency with international partners, has called for a data revolution in the Arab region, based on regional, international, public and private partnerships.

The Forum convened from 10-11 October 2016, in Doha, Qatar. The Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS) of the State of Qatar together with the Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21) and the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat) jointly organized the event to discuss how the use of “big data” and innovation in the Arab region can support implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Participants in the event, including more than 150 representatives of national statistical organizations (NSOs) in the Arab States, recognized the significance of the sweeping changes that have occurred in data use and management. At the close of the meeting, they issued the ‘Doha Declaration on a Data Revolution in the Arab Region,’ which acknowledges the need for transformation of national statistical systems (NSSs) to be able to produce the quantity and quality of data that will be needed to monitor progress towards the SDGs.

The Declaration envisages great potential in the use of private data sources, such as social media and geospatial data.

The Doha Declaration envisages great potential in the use of existing private data sources, such as social media and geospatial data. The Declaration recognizes the challenge of maintaining high standards of privacy and confidentiality, and states that the approach must be tailor-made in each country, in view of differing levels of development across the region.

Specifically, the Declaration requests regional and international organizations, including PARIS21 and several UN agencies, to establish a multi-stakeholder partnership in support of ‘Data Revolution in Arab NSSs.’ It also calls on: stakeholders in the NSSs to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and data sharing, through public and private partnership mechanisms; the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) to establish a regional trust fund for financing and fostering the data revolution in the Arab region; and Qatar’s Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS) to begin a joint process with international and regional partners to produce a Data Revolution Road Map for the Arab Region. [PARIS 21 Event Webpage] [PARIS21 Website] [MDPS Website] [Doha Declaration on a Data Revolution in the Arab Region] [ESCWA Website] [GCC Stat Website]