With the exponential growth in data generated worldwide and new technologies such as machine learning, governments are increasingly realizing the importance of data. The COVID-19 pandemic has also highlighted the need for more timely and more granular data. But although the value of data is now much better understood that value is still not being fully realized. Too often data is left in silos where it is not accessible and not easily interpreted or used.
While countries in the region are making progress on this front, national statistical offices will need to adapt their role as they cope with increasing demands and an increasingly complex environment. Heads of National Statistical Offices in the Asia and the Pacific and development partners will convene next week at the Eighth Session of the Committee on Statistics hosted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). The Committee will explore ways to build and implement new data governance arrangements to create a synergy between data privacy and data use.
Delegates will also discuss the way forward to establish sound data governance mechanisms and respond to the challenge of capturing progress on well-being and sustainability that goes beyond the usual measurement of Growth Domestic Products (GDP).
