6 May 2016: Harnessing the data revolution for sustainable development was the focus of a series of week-long discussions and workshops organized by the Global Partnership on Sustainable Development Data, in Bogota, Colombia. Participants considered possible indicators for a national sustainable development roadmap for Colombia, and opportunities to translate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their targets into a national programmatic strategy.
The events took place at the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, and were organized in collaboration with Colombia’s National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), the National Department of Planning, the Colombian Chamber of Commerce, Cepei, and the ‘todos por un unuevo pais’ campaign. Representatives from governments and statistical agencies around the world attended the workshops alongside representatives from the private sector and civil society.
According to a press release from the Global Partnership, Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos established an inter-agency commission for the preparation and implementation of the post-2015 development agenda in early 2015. Since the establishment of this commission, Colombia has aligned the priorities of its government agencies with the SDGs and focused on translating the Goals and targets into a national programmatic strategy, led by DANE.
DANE Director Mauricio Perfertti del Corral said Colombia is working “to define indicators” for a national sustainable development roadmap, in collaboration with the Global Partnership and the UN. DANE is responsible for launching and maintaining a national monitoring framework to track SDG progress, including identifying ways to measure and monitor indicators. DANE has evaluated the 231 global indicators released by the UN Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDGs (IAEG-SDGs), finding that 54% of the indicators are available in existing Colombian datasets but could be improved. DANE further found that 30% of the indicators either need improvement or can be measured in new ways, including some education and environmental indicators. Finally, DANE concluded that 16% of the indicators lack existing measurements or methodology. DANE has pledged to consider ways to incorporate big data into its statistical processes, and to improve data quality to monitor SDG progress.
As part of its efforts to measure and monitor SDG indicators, DANE launched a Smart Data unit to foster innovation and learning across the agency. The Smart Data unit held a competition for DANE employees to develop pilot projects to improve the quality or usefulness of statistics, collect data in a new way or collect new data. The five winning projects include: providing a “one-stop shop” for reliable, rapid education data, including an interface for teachers, policymakers and parents; using social media to generate subjective poverty measurements; mapping urban land use via satellite imagery; and harnessing the internet for up-to-date information on business. These projects are expected to promote the creation of responsive data in accessible, centralized databases that can support real-time decision-making and monitoring of progress, according to the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), which plans to include the ‘SICOLE’ education project in its Living Manual for Demand-Driven SDG Information Systems. DANE plans to hold a second competition in the future to challenge its employees to build methodologies and measurements for the SDGs.
DANE is also charged with sharing its findings and results with the public, with the broader aim of raising awareness on Colombia’s SDG progress among the general population. For instance, when DANE discovered that 34% of all Colombia’s food production becomes waste, the finding resulted in increased news stories on the issue and two bills before Colombia’s National Congress to address food waste and production.
The Global Partnership on Sustainable Development Data is a global network of governments, NGOs and businesses collaborating to strengthen innovation, inclusivity and trust in the way data are used to address sustainable development. Its vision 2030 is a world in which everyone is able to engage in solving the world’s greatest problems by effectively using data and fostering trust and accountability in the sharing of data. [Global Partnership on Sustainable Development Data Press Release] [DANE Website] [Todos por un unuevo pais Campaign Website] [SDSN Press Release]