25 April 2018: Stakeholders from different sectors in Costa Rica came together to chart a roadmap on generating statistical data on the SDGs. The Costa Rica Forum on Data Roadmaps for Sustainable Development also aimed to elicit ways for government institutions, the private sector and civil society to work together to meet the challenges faced in implementing the SDGs.

The Forum convened from 24-25 April 2018, in San Jose, Costa Rica. It was hosted by the Government of Costa Rica, in partnership with the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD), the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Centro de Pensamiento Estratégico Internacional.

The Forum addressed such issues as: Costa Rica’s national strategy for implementing the SDGs; challenges faced in SDG implementation, in terms of data, technology, policies, resources and capacity; data availability for SDG indicators, including thematic data gaps and cross-cutting issues that faced in producing adequate and appropriate SDG data; SDG data requirements, gaps and opportunities for Costa Rica, including innovative ways to improve data production; data roadmaps for sustainable development and country experiences from Colombia, Ghana, Mexico and the Philippines; data disaggregation, including challenges and the importance of disaggregation in terms of gender, location, socioeconomic grouping and other characteristics; the potential of administrative data, and need for a strengthened administrative data system; open data, the production of spatial data and earth observations, and new data sources; and policy and enabling environments, including required regulatory initiatives, to ensure quality, interoperability, security and data protection.

Regarding the roadmap going forward, the meeting focused on, inter alia: administrative data and data disaggregation; governance and leadership, including regulation, coordination and collaboration for data availability under a multi-stakeholder approach; development of capacities and resources required to move towards a data ecosystem; and data and technology innovation, and addressing data gaps, new data sources and necessary technologies. [Forum Website] [Forum Agenda] [GPSDD Event Page]