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Dubai Declaration launched for better data financing

The second iteration of the United Nations World Data Forum concluded last week with a promise to improve financing for better data and statistics. Known as the Dubai Declaration, the initiative will go a long way to support sustainable development.

Held between 22nd to 24th October 2018, the Forum brought together leaders from civil society, industry and government to share visions, challenges and most importantly buzz solutions for a data-driven future. Over 2,000 data experts from more than 100 countries gathered at the Forum. More than 85 sessions were held, and multiple innovative solutions proposed, as with partnerships formed.

Data for the Public and Public for Data

H.E. Abdulla Nasser Lootah, Director General of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA) of the United Arab Emirates, said, “The positive and insightful outcomes we’ve achieved during this important gathering are essential for unifying visions and empowering individuals, institutions and governments to embrace modern technologies and harness data to serve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) locally, regionally and internationally.”

During the discussions, 70% of the audience polled that they believed there was a crisis in the lack of public trust in data. 35% of the audience believed the biggest cause of poor trust in public data was that statistics did not align with pre-conceived ideas. Another 37% felt that improving citizen’s data literacy was a way forwarded to tackle the challenge of public trust in data and statistics.

Hence, the work for the data community is cut out. Both the public at large and policymakers must be data literate. Moreover, there is an urgent need to ensure data relevance, openness and quality.

Another key hurdle to cross was the democratisation of data. United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed said, “While it is clear that the data revolution is having an enormous impact, it has not benefited everyone equally.” She added, “Our task is to make sure data is available to all people. We must make sure it is harnessed to support implementation of the 2030 Agenda at all levels and in all regions and countries…But we urgently need to bridge important gaps. Funding for data and statistical systems remains limited. And beyond funding, we need political, technical and advocacy support in all areas.”

The Dubai Declaration

Hence, the Dubai Declaration is a timely initiative. Its aim is to establish an innovative funding mechanism where all stakeholders can draw from. In turn, both domestic and international funds can be mobilised. Furthermore, partnerships and funding opportunities will burgeon to strengthen the capacity of national data and statistical systems.

Helmed by representatives of statistical systems and various data and donor communities, a funding mechanism will be created. Under their leadership, they will support the decision making on the operational modalities and on raising resources to address the data needs to implement fully the 2030 Agenda.

“The UN World Data Forum is the best place to launch a declaration on financing for data and statistics,” said Mr. Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. “To achieve the ambitions set on in the Cape Town Global Action Plan, both increased domestic resources and international support will be needed. My expectation is that the declaration, the outcome of the discussions at this forum, will help us shape the way forward to promote “more and better funding” for data and statistics. The immediate next steps will be translating those ideas into action and ensuring that we maximize the effectiveness of funding for sustainable development data, as this is crucial to fulfil the data needs of the 2030 Agenda.”

Apart from the Dubai Declaration, the Forum also saw the launch of a data interoperability guide. This is a collaboration between the UN Statistics Division and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. The guide identifies practical steps to help countries and development partners who are embarking on projects which require the integration of data from multiple sources for better monitoring and policy making.

The next UN World Data Forum will be hosted by Switzerland in 2020. It will be held in Bern, between 18th to 21st October 2020.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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