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Harnessing big data to meet the Sustainable Development Goals – Building capacity in the Global South

Large volumes of complex and variable data, often called big data, promise to improve government service delivery, complement official statistics, and facilitate development in sectors such as health, urban development, transportation, and humanitarian response. Furthermore, declining prices and improved functionality have democratized data usage, and open-source tools have broadened the mechanisms for people to conduct big data analytics outside of proprietary and expensive software packages. Interest in capturing and analyzing these data sets for public purposes — big data for development (BD4D) — is still relatively new, but it accelerated when the post-2015 development agenda called for a data revolution to draw on existing and new sources of data to monitor progress on the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

However, much of the BD4D research is coming from Northern institutions and private sector companies, resulting in a Northern-driven, male-oriented agenda, rather than one driven by Southern voices and Global South collaboration. To meet this challenge, this project will develop capacity among researchers from the Global South, focusing on activities linked to measuring progress on the SDGs and to gender-related issues. It is being implemented by LIRNEasia, the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences, and the Centro de Pensamiento Estratégico Internacional – CIPEI.

Over a two-year period, a global network will work on applied big data for development innovations, including big data analyses and capacity building in close collaboration with private sector companies and policymakers. The network will also develop a critical perspective on issues related to big data and marginalization, privacy, security, rights, ethics and competition. Combining globally coordinated research efforts and regional hubs, the network will embed the findings of the project into Southern-led processes, and represent Southern voices in global policy discussions.

Project ID
108602
Project Status
Completed
End Date
Duration
24 months
IDRC Officer
Phet Sayo
Total Funding
CA$ 1,463,600.00
Location
Central Asia
South Asia
Far East Asia
Colombia
India
Kenya
Mexico
Rwanda
South America
Sri Lanka
Programs
Education and Science
Education and Science
Networked Economies
Institution Country
United Kingdom
Project Leader
Charles Mberi Kimpolo
Institution
The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences - Next Einstein Initiative Foundation (UK)
Institution Country
Colombia
Project Leader
Philipp Schonrock
Institution
Centro de Pensamiento Estratégico Internacional
Institution Country
Sri Lanka
Project Leader
Sriganesh Lokanathan
Institution
LirneAsia

Outputs

Generalidades del big data para el desarrollo sostenible en Colombia

Generalidades del big data para el desarrollo sostenible en Colombia

Estudios

Author(s): Vaca, Margarita, Camilo Vega, Juan

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Language: Spanish