U.S. Roadmap on Harnessing the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development

Dr. Paul S. Zeitz U.N. World Data Forum

January 18, 2017

Harnessing the Data Revolution for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• Two Major Tracks – MONITORING: Supporting and

complementing efforts already underway by governments to generate data for statistics for the formal SDG monitoring framework

– ACTION: Unleashing innovation on the use of real-time, dynamic, disaggregated data from multiple sources

Why Harness the Data Revolution? Data is the Oil of the 21st Century

• Governments: Enhance data-informed decision making to set time-bound measurable goals, improve budget alignment to needs, and ensure that all programs have clear and deliberate impact

• Citizens: to help make decisions that affect their lives and to hold governments and other stakeholders accountable for their commitments

• Businesses: to drive economic growth, entrepreneurship, innovation and efficiency;

• All stakeholders: to optimize impact and enhance efficiency, transparency and mutual accountability

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• Locked in programmatic silos and closed systems

• Built for specific uses at specific times

• Difficult to adapt to changing needs, duplication, limited interoperability

Opportunity:

Unlock the Power of Government Data

Current State of USG Government Data

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• Improve services for the people

• Fuel the open data ecosystem to spur innovation and create jobs

• Increase efficiency, interoperability, and reduce costs

Open Data Fuels the Data Revolution

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“And today I’m announcing that we’re making even more government data available, and we’re making it easier for people to find and to use. And that’s going to help launch more start-ups. It’s going to help launch more businesses…It’s going to help more entrepreneurs come up with products and services that we haven’t even imagined yet. This kind of innovation and ingenuity has the potential to transform the way we do almost everything.”

- President Obama, May 9, 2013

E.O. 13642: Making Open and Machine Readable

the New Default for Government Information

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Harnessing the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development: Whole-of-Government Initiative, 2015-present

• Cabinet Level Endorsement: Kick-off at Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa (July 2015) & SDG/UNGA Summits (September 2015)

• Founding Anchor Partner: Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (July 2015-present)

• USG Interagency Working Group on Data Revolution for Sustainable Development: coordinates and catalyzes USG commitments-to-action (2015-present)

INSTITUTIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR DATA REVOLUTION FOR THE SDGs

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

White House Interagency &

OGP

Global Partnership for Sustainable

Development Data

Office of the U.S. Chief Statistician

U.S. Department

of State

OPEN DATA www.data.gov

Data Revolution

Interagency

Third U.S. Open Government Partnership National Action Plan (NAP), October 2015

• U.S. 3rd Open Government Partnership (OGP) NAP, includes commitments to harness open government, and promote progress toward the Global Goals both domestically and globally.

• Key cross-cutting commitments for SDGs include:

U.S. will continue to work alongside partner’s governments in collaboration with the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data

Interagency stakeholders will consult with civil society on existing USG data that relates to each of the 17 SDGs, and strategies for tracking progress.

U.S. OGP NAP 3.1, September 2016 New Initiatives & Commitments

• Engage in public consultations in taking stock of data and data gaps • Develop an open U.S. SDG National Reporting Platform • Collaborate with other countries & regional organizations to develop

open National Reporting Platforms • Develop a U.S. SDG Data Revolution Roadmap through an open,

inclusive, multi-stakeholder process • Continue to support the efforts of the Global Partnership

For more information please see the September 2016 State Department Factsheet: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/09/262294.htm

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First “beta” Look: U.S. National Reporting Platform http://sdg.data.gov

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U.S. SDG Data Revolution Roadmap Roundtable Report

• Hosts: Center for Open Data Enterprise &

GPSDD Co-convened Roundtable on Dec 14, 2016 in Washington, D.C.; hosted by Microsoft

• Who: U.S. Government, NGOs, Civil Society Organizations & Private Sector stakeholders

• Full Report: http://reports.opendataenterprise.org/us-sdg-report.pdf

• Three Action Goals: 1) National Reporting Platform; 2) Data for Action in USA; 3) Support for Global Efforts

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USA Sustainable Cities Initiative (USA-SCI) http://unsdsn.org/what-we-do/solution-initiatives/usa-sustainable-cities-initiative-usa-sci/

• SDG achievement strategies in three pilot US cities:

1. Baltimore, Maryland 2. New York, New York 3. San Jose, California

• Global pioneers; model for cities worldwide

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US Cities SDG Index http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/161018-US-Cities-SDG-Index-DRAFT-FOR-PUBLIC-

CONSULTATION.pdf

• Assessment of sustainable development challenges faced by US cities

• Index of 24 most populous cities in US

• Covers some 70% of US population

• Expected to be released in early 2017

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• Sustaining Political Momentum • Translating Data Revolution into an Impact Revolution

• Keeping apace with the rapidly evolving digital and data

revolutions

Data Revolution for Sustainable Development

For more information, please email

ZeitzPS@state.gov