Chapter 2: Data as a force

for public good

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Outline

1. What is public intent data?

2. How can public intent data

generate value?

3. Why is the value not fully

realized?

4. What policies can untap the

value?

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What is public intent data?

• Data collected with the intent of serving the public good by informing the
design, execution, monitoring, and evaluation of public policy, or through
other activities.
• The chapter works with six types of public intent data:

Administrative Censuses Sample Citizen- Machine- Geospatial

data surveys generated generated data
data data
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Outline

1. What is public intent data?

2. How can public intent data

generate value?

3. Why is the value not fully

realized?

4. What policies can untap the

value?

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How can public intent data generate value?

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How can public intent data generate value?

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How can public intent data generate value?

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How can public intent data generate value?

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How can public intent data generate value?

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Outline

1. What is public intent data?

2. How can public intent data

generate value?

3. Why is the value not fully

realized?

4. What policies can untap the

value?

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Why is the value not fully realized?

Share of countries with complete

birth and death records

Low-income 0%
Lower-middle-income 22%
Upper-middle-income 51%
High-income 95%

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Why is the value not fully realized?

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Why is the value not fully realized?

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What is the value not fully realized?

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What is the value not fully realized?

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What is the value not fully realized?

• In a global survey of NSOs conducted by

PARIS21, 86 percent of African NSOs
selected strengthening human resources as
one of their five most important goals for
capacity development.
• Acquiring up-to-date technology and
infrastructure was considered critical to
strengthening the national statistical system
in the medium term.

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What is the value not fully realized?

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What is the value not fully realized?

An analysis of the use of statistics in news

articles in 32 countries in four languages
revealed considerable scope for journalists
to improve their critical engagement with
statistics.

Source: Klein, Galdin, and Mohamedou (2016)

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Outline

1. What is public intent data?

2. How can public intent data

generate value?

3. Why is the value not fully

realized?

4. What policies can untap the

value?

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(Selected) policies to untap the value

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(Selected) policies to untap the value

Create a target fraction

of government
spending on national
statistical system

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(Selected) policies to untap the value

Interviews with representatives of NGOs

in Argentina, Kenya, and Nepal revealed that lack
of funding can constrain citizen-generated data.

These data can provide complementary insights

vis-à-vis official statistics and serve important
transparency and accountability functions.

Allocate resources to
citizen-generated data
collection

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(Selected) policies to untap the value

Devote more time and With more and better

resources to building
internal capacity
government funding,
investments in human
capital should be a top
priority – bolstering internal
capacity for data
production, methodological
research and data use.

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(Selected) policies to untap the value

This is critical for ensuring

Create/strengthen that public sector
technical units in
charge of data institutions at-large can
production and use fulfill their mandated roles in
national data systems.

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(Selected) policies to untap the value

Foundational numeracy and statistical literacy skills should be part of

the fundamental curricula for primary and secondary education –
contributing to the creation of data and statistics literate citizens.

Promote data literacy

in primary and
secondary education

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(Selected) policies to untap the value

Ensure that NSO

independence is
anchored in laws and
institutional set-up

Alignment with the United

Nations Fundamental
Principles of Official
Statistics should be
ensured, possibly as part
of the development of a
national data strategy

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(Selected) policies to untap the value

In Rwanda, mayors commit to setting

Institutionalize data-
development targets. Each target is intensive
evaluated by the national government with management
practices
respect to its achievement and whether it
was monitored appropriately.

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THANK YOU

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