17 October 2016: Statistics officials have highlighted the anticipated contributions of the UN World Forum on Sustainable Development Data (World Data Forum) to the monitoring and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), on the official blog for the Forum. The blog also provides practical information about the Forum.

The first WDF will convene from 15-18 January 2017, in Cape Town, South Africa, to provide a platform to intensify cooperation among information technology professionals, geospatial information managers, data scientists and users, as well as civil society stakeholders. The Forum was created by the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC) in March 2016, based on a recommendation of the UN Secretary-General’s Independent Expert and Advisory Group on a Data Revolution for Sustainable Development in its 2014 report, ‘A World That Counts.’

The Forum will be hosted by Statistics South Africa, with support from the Statistics Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) (UNStats), under the guidance of the UNSC and the High-level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda (HLG). The Forum will enable data and statistics experts from around the world to: interact with governments, businesses, civil society and the scientific and academic communities; explore innovative ways to apply data and statistics to measure global progress and inform evidence-based policy decisions on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; contribute to important discussions, data labs and interactive platforms aimed at improving the use of data for sustainable development; and launch new initiatives and solutions that will deliver better data for all.

In his article on the blog, Stefan Schweinfest, Director of UNStats, describes the 169 targets and 230 indicators agreed through the SDGs process as “unprecedented in their scope,” and notes that they set out what needs to be measured to monitor progress, inform decision-making and hold governments accountable on the 2030 Agenda. According to Schweinfest, the data revolution will require three types of capacity: financial, human and institutional. These require “full political backing from the highest national authorities,” he writes, as well as collaboration with a wide range of actors, and the WDF will help to generate needed resources and partnerships.

Although the Forum does not have an official mandate to feed into UN deliberations on the SDG indicators and methodologies, Lehohla says the ideas, initiatives, and solutions discussed at the Forum could be reflected in the SDGs process.

In an interview, Pali Lehohla, South Africa’s Statistician-General and Head of Statistics South Africa, expresses his hope that the Forum will convey “the value and beauty of statistics.” He says an effective information system for sustainable development requires: society as collective respondents and purveyors and actors on data; high-quality statistical evidence; appropriate indicators to communicate the evidence; and informed issue identification and informed policy action for results and remedy. Pali notes that although the Forum does not have an official mandate to feed into UN deliberations on the SDG indicators and methodologies, the ideas, initiatives, and solutions discussed at the Forum could be reflected in the SDGs process.

The blog also contains information on the partners for the Forum, registration, and the six main themes of the substantive programme. The six themes are: New approaches to capacity building for better data; Innovations and synergies across different data ecosystems; Leaving no one behind; Understanding the world through data; Data principles and governance; and The way forward: A global action plan for data. [WDF Website] [WDF Blog] [Report of Independent Expert and Advisory Group: A World That Counts]