The United Nations World Data Forum took place in Medellín, Colombia, from November 12 to 15, 2024, bringing together a global community committed to advancing data for sustainable development. Since its inception in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2017, the Forum has grown into a pivotal platform for driving data innovation, building partnerships, and mobilizing political and financial support to strengthen the global data ecosystem. Over the years, its community expanded from 2,000 participants at its early gatherings to over 20,000 engaged stakeholders, reflecting the Forum’s efforts to promote inclusivity through virtual and hybrid formats.
Each edition of the Forum has been marked by significant milestones, including the Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data (2017), the Dubai Declaration (2018), and most recently, the Hangzhou Declaration (2023). These documents capture the progress and ambitions of the global data community, charting a collective path toward better data and statistics for sustainable development.
Datasphere Initiative’s Mariana Rozo-Paz, Policy, Research and Project Management Lead, attended the UN WDF in Medellín last week to meet with partners and share DI’s work on sandboxes, youth, holistic data governance, and more. This blog shares our key takeaways:
Cross-regional collaborations and partnerships are key to advance responsible data governance
The importance of investing in cross-border and cross-regional collaborations emerged as a cornerstone for advancing responsible data governance. Efforts to enhance knowledge and experience sharing across regions are gaining momentum, with South-South cooperation—collaborations among countries in the Global Majority—playing an increasingly fundamental role. While traditional North-South exchanges remain vital, various discussions highlighted how South-South collaborations are driving innovation, fostering partnerships, and addressing shared challenges with unique, context-specific solutions. In fact, citizen-generated data initiatives in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are becoming crucial referents for innovators globally, and exchanges between countries like Kenya and Colombia are being promoted.
As part of these efforts, the Datasphere Initiative hosted a meet-up in collaboration with Development Gateway: An IREX Venture (DG) to facilitate dialogue between stakeholders from Africa and LAC. This session created a vibrant space for networking, exchanging experiences, and sharing stories of responsible innovation. Participants discussed cross-border and interoperability initiatives, the development of digital public infrastructure across regions, and key aspects of fostering inclusive and ethical data ecosystems. The meet-up underscored the value of collaborative approaches in addressing global data challenges while tailoring solutions to regional needs.
Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is at the heart of the global digital agenda, and plays a fundamental role in advancing digital inclusion
Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is central to the global digital agenda, playing a crucial role in advancing digital inclusion. Discussions on digital inclusion were closely linked to conversations around DPIs, emphasizing their potential to create equitable and accessible digital ecosystems.
Mariana participated in an event moderated by colleagues from the Aapti Institute, titled “Identifying and Building Synergies in the Migration Data Ecosystem,” alongside co-panelists Aaron Martin and Steefan Verlhust. During the session, she presented the Datasphere Initiative’s holistic approach to data governance, the Digital Identity Inclusion Assessment Framework she developed with colleagues at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center, and the potential of sandboxes as tools to experiment with and advance the development of responsible DPIs.
Given current global migration trends and the challenges of including and protecting the human rights of people on the move, the discussions underscored the importance of fostering DPIs that prioritize inclusion and accessibility. These infrastructures are vital to ensuring that no one is left behind in the push for digital transformation, particularly for vulnerable populations navigating migration and displacement.
Sandboxes are increasingly perceived as fundamental spaces to enhance access to data for the public interest
Sandboxes are increasingly recognized as essential tools for enhancing access to data in ways that serve the public interest. Mariana participated in the session “Global Perspectives on Enabling Access to Platform Data for Public-Interest Research,” where she explored the transformative potential of sandboxes in fostering data access and driving innovation for societal benefit. She highlighted several interesting examples of sandboxes, including the Europeana Metis Sandbox, which supports the use of cultural heritage data in Europe, Colombia’s Operational Data Sandbox, which facilitates experimentation and collaboration to address local challenges, and New Zealand’s citizen-generated data solution, a unique initiative to track biodiversity through public engagement.
Discussions throughout the event underscored the excitement around sandbox approaches as catalysts for creating innovative ecosystems, building trust, and offering safe environments for governance experimentation and technological advancements. Sandboxes are emerging as key enablers of responsible data practices, offering pathways to harness data’s potential while ensuring it serves public interest objectives.
Youth are key stakeholders and we need to advance their involvement in data policy processes
As underscored by the DI’s Youth4OurDataFuture project, young people are key stakeholders that need to be involved in data governance policy processes and the design of data-driven technologies. DI partnered with the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, Chaski Global, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences – Next Einstein Forum, and the Global Shapers community in Medellín, to host the workshop “Leveraging Global South Youth’s Vision for an Equitable and Sustainable Data Future”.
In the workshop, participants explored pressing challenges such as access in rural communities, youth involvement in data collection, and the need for education and skills. By sharing their lived experiences and co-designing solutions, youth demonstrated their unique ability to bridge data gaps and envision a future where data governance reflects their realities and rights.
The power of citizen-generated data to drive better AI
“AI is just as good as the data it is trained with” was one of the most highlighted and repeated quotes at the UN WDF. A key takeaway was that ensuring AI is representative and inclusive requires accurate data. AI models can only reflect the realities of the world if the data they are trained on captures diverse experiences and perspectives. Citizen-generated data initiatives are hence emerging as a powerful tool and approach to bridge gaps in traditional data sources. Empowering communities to contribute their own data can lead to datasets that better represent marginalized and underrepresented groups. This not only enhances the inclusivity of AI systems but also ensures they are aligned with the lived realities of all people, driving equity and fairness in their applications.
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