Page 317 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 4

STS637 Ronald W. J.
timeliness of data are high, and surveys, which produce results that are by
definition more general in nature and take more time to process, can no longer
be the main collection tool of the statistical community.
This need for good and timely data is shared at the highest levels of the
4
United Nations. In her video message on 2 May 2019, Ms. Amina Mohamed,
the UN Deputy Secretary-General, stated that “Quality, relevant and timely
data are essential to drive policies and programs, whether it be in our efforts
to create decent work for all, monitoring environmental degradation,
containing the spread of the Ebola virus or improving the living conditions in
our urban areas. We need not only good data, but also real-time data.”
To make progress on data innovation, the UN Statistical Commission
created a Global Working Group (GWG) on Big Data for Official Statistics in
2014, which was requested to provide strategic vision, direction and
coordination for a global program on Big Data for official statistics and to
promote practical use of Big Data sources. Since then, the GWG explored the
benefits and challenges of the use of Big Data for official statistics and for the
compilation of SDG indicators. It addressed issues pertaining to methodology,
quality, technology, data access, legislation, privacy, management and finance,
and provides adequate cost-benefit analyses.
More recently, in 2018, the GWG put into place the so-called UN Global
Platform, which is a collaborative research and development environment for
the global statistical community and all its stakeholder groups. Its platform
organization is based on networking and marketplace principles, which
facilitates the exchange, development and sharing of data, methods, tools and
expertise, and accelerates data innovation. Ultimately, the purpose of the
platform is to produce trusted data, trusted methods and trusted learning. This
means that the platform will also be used as an environment for capacity
building activities, which includes development of skills sets related to Data
Science, since processing of Big Data requires use of advance technology and
machine learning techniques.
The remainder of this paper will focus on this last point: capacity
development for data innovation and data science on the UN Global Platform.
The GWG has several task teams working on the various aspects of its
mandate, and one of them works on training, competencies, and capacity
development.

2. GWG task team on training, competencies, and capacity development
This GWG task team focuses on new competencies and new skill sets,
5
which are needed for the staff of statistical institutes to work with the new
kinds of data sources, like Big Data. The main objectives of this task team are

4 See https://unstats.un.org/unsd/bigdata/conferences/2019/default.asp
5 See https://unstats.un.org/bigdata/taskteams/training/
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