Data Strategy

13 August 2021

Steve MacFeely, Director of Data and Analytics, World Health Organization

What distinguishes revolution from evolution? What events or movements in the world of data have been sufficiently disruptive or transformational to deserve being called revolutionary? Although they might seem like abstract questions, when I hear everyone talking about a “Data Revolution”, they are the ones I find myself asking.

1 July 2021

Christina Goodness, Chief, Information Management Unit, UN Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations

One year and 15 minutes later, I stepped away from the nurse’s table. I waited to see if there would be any vaccine reaction. After a year of remote work and crisis response for COVID-19, I sat there and took a deep breath, listening to the clicking of keyboards as the medical staff recorded the data and murmured amongst themselves.

25 May 2021

By Kyoung-Soo Eom, Chief of Geospatial Information Section, Technology Operations Service, Operations Support Division, OICT

Since the establishment of the United Nations, cartography and geospatial information have been an important component of the Organization. In 1948, the Committee of Experts on Cartography sought to answer two questions:

1. What should the United Nations do to stimulate and assist Member States in the development of the mapping sciences?
2. What sort of cartographic service did the United Nations need to carry out this program, for its own operations, and in its relations with the specialized agencies?

12 April 2021

By Stefan Lemm, former Head, Military Operations Unit, OICT

Data Privacy and Protection is one of the key aspects of the Secretary-General’s Data Strategy. It is clear that protecting people from indiscriminate data collection is important because it might result in data misuse, for instance, by businesses. But a potentially more dangerous scenario would be that data collected in good faith ends up in the hands of ill-meaning actors who intend to intimidate or even threaten the victim's personal safety.

29 January 2021

By Martijn Lampert, Research Director, Glocalities  

In this Q&A, Martijn Lampert, Research Director, Glocalities, shares a methodology he and his team used to measure international trust in the UN. He argues that research focusing on the links between values, issues and cultures is key to quantifying qualitative data.  

25 November 2020 

A Q&A with Jordan Morrow, Head of Data, Design, and Management Skills, Pluralsight

In this Q&A, Jordan Morrow, Head of Data, Design, and Management Skills, Pluralsight, shares insights on what can help drive data and analytics success in an organization, and how curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking play key roles in this process.

14 October 2020 

By Yu Ping Chan, Senior Programme Officer/Team Leader, Digital Cooperation, Office of the Special Advisor to the Secretary-General

As we continue the conversation on how the international community should engage with data, we must also consider the broader context: the need for global steerage on digital technologies. Today, more than ever before, the international community must carefully examine and confront the world of digital technologies.

23 December 2019

By Katelyn Rogers and Lisa Peterson, Data Literacy Co-Lead, Centre for Humanitarian Data, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

There has been a rapid and significant shift in the role data plays in all of our work, with virtually every aspect shaped by data. Everyone in the United Nations community is working with and using data in some capacity.

17 December 2019

By Mahsa Hedayati, Information Systems Officer, Policy, Strategy and Governance Division, Office of Information and Communications Technology

With data growing exponentially, the Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) hosted a symposium at United Nations Headquarters on 8 October titled “The Future of Data at the UN”.

8 October 2019

By Atefeh Riazi, Assistant Secretary-General, Chief Information Technology Officer, Office of Information and Communications Technology

There is a general perception across organizations, including at the United Nations, that the topic of data should be managed and led by “IT” or “technical” people. In the UN, data is usually associated with the Office of Information and Communications Technology and Information Management teams located in various departments.