The publication underscores that world leaders and their development partners need better information to assess progress, make real-time course corrections – explained as redirecting services and investments in response to most pressing needs – and craft forward-looking projections. According to the authors, this requires that intra-national datasets can be compatibly integrated as parts of planetary-scale evaluations. To that end, the report proposes four building blocks for an effective and inclusive national data system:
* Strong leadership and governance with an empowered national statistician or relevant national data coordinator who is open and enabled to collaborate with third parties, and is actively encouraging a more inclusive international statistical system;
* Common principles, standards and policy frameworks to ensure data comparability and the capacity to integrate data from different sources, as well as a supportive environment for collaboration;
* An open, user-centric system that actively supports public and private data demands, collaboration and innovation at local, national and international levels; and
* A “robust” funding model that ensures the long-term production of vital data.

The publication details how collaboration among a broad set of actors must occur across all stages of the data process, from collection and cleaning through dissemination and analysis, as well as the institutional arrangements, roles and responsibilities, and incentives necessary to catalyze this multi-stakeholder collaboration.

The recommendations provided are inspired by best practices and examples from Bangladesh, Colombia and the Philippines, among others, which are presented to illustrate the power of governments to make needed changes even when constrained by resources.(IISD)

Executive Summary
#Chapter 1: Introduction: Taking Stock of Progress
#Chapter 2: Getting the Governance Right
#Chapter 3: The Legal and Policy Scaffolding
#Chapter 4: Incentives for Innovation
#Chapter 5: Show Me the Money
#Chapter 6: Time to Act: A Roadmap
#Annex 1: Summary of Progress Against Recommendations from Counting on the World (2017)

Additional Resources
#Theory of Change from Counting on the World (2017)
#Counting on the World 2017
#Sustainable Development Will Falter without Data, Editorial in Nature, July 2019
#What is the true value of data? New series on the return on investment of data interventions
# Contracts for Data Collaboration
#Latest research from TReNDS

About: TReNDS is a network of experts catalyzing learning and investment in the data revolution for development.