How to adapt national statistical systems for new data ecosystem?

Policymakers rely on relevant and reliable data to make informed decisions about different reforms, which is supplied by national statistical offices and other data producers. The importance of gathering reliable data has been elevated by the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are underpinned by various indicators. While new digital technologies have made gathering and analysing data from the field easier than in the past, they have also brought higher demands for transparency with them. It is of crucial importance for decision makers to ensure national statistical offices have capacity, skills, and knowledge to leverage and use new technologies available to them.

However, especially in low- and middle-income countries, the national statistical offices face large gaps in their ability to tap into new opportunities. Our senior consultant in data analytics Paul Jasper will attend the PARIS21 Cross Regional Forum to explore what can be done to bridge this gap and make national statistical systems fit for the new data. Paul will share insights from our work in Mozambique in the context of MUVA, which has used data coming from new sources, such as an online job platform for informal jobs, to analyse labour market dynamics, focusing in particular on gender issues.

Taking place on 3 and 4 December in Paris, France, the conference will bring together stakeholders from various countries and international development partners to identify what role national statistical systems will play in the new data ecosystem.