More than 100 countries don\u2019t keep accurate counts of births and deaths. More than 70 don\u2019t have robust data on poverty. There\u2019s a dearth of accurate, comparable figures on the number of disabled children in almost every nation, U.N. statisticians say.<\/p>\n
\nThe world body hopes to help change that by convening its first-ever conference on global data starting this weekend in Cape Town, South Africa.<\/p>\n
More than 1,000 government statisticians, private-sector data scientists, politicians and others are expected at the U.N. World Data Forum , which aims to spark new ideas about using the world\u2019s ever-expanding stream of digital information. Tech giants including Google, Facebook and Amazon have signed up to send representatives the four-day event that starts Sunday, U.N. organizers said. The companies didn\u2019t immediately respond to inquiries about their plans.<\/p>\n
Planned discussions include gleaning information on refugees\u2019 migration from phone records, using data to illustrate people\u2019s concerns, and mapping poverty and measuring crop yields by scouring satellite images.<\/p>\n
\u201cData are not only for policymakers \u2014 data are also for citizens, who need to have access to data to understand what is happening in their various communities … and to be able to hold the various layers of government accountable,\u201d Stefan Schweinfest, director of the U.N.\u2019s Statistics Division, said at a news conference Tuesday. \u201cThis is something really that we are well placed, at the U.N., to invest in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.N. already collects and puts out information on subjects ranging from trade to temperatures to how people spend their time.<\/p>\n
But data can be patchy. For example, the world body estimates nearly one-fourth of the world\u2019s children under 5 have no record of their births. Without birth certificates, they may not be able to go to school or get health care, among other problems.<\/p>\n
The U.N. has flagged the problem for over a decade. A 2002 report by UNICEF, the U.N.\u2019s children\u2019s agency, called for free birth registration and new laws to facilitate registration, among other measures. The U.N. is continuing work with many countries on systems for recording births and vital statistics, Schweinfest said.<\/p>\n
The world body also is increasingly looking for ways to measure such issues as security and public safety, particularly as new Secretary-General Antonio Guterres prioritizes efforts to prevent conflicts. That could entail developing ways to pick up early on data that signal a spiral toward trouble.<\/p>\n
The U.N. has made strides in boosting nations\u2019 interest in the idea, but acting on it can be a challenge for countries, said Jennifer Ellis, who works on public health issues at Bloomberg Philanthropies, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg\u2019s foundation. It\u2019s putting $100 million into improving health data in poor and middle-income countries and is sending a technical expert to be on a panel at the U.N. forum.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur hope would be that this meeting makes some of that interest more concrete and informs action,\u201d Ellis said.\u2014AP<\/p>\n
Image: undataforum.org\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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