A World that Counts is essentially a call to arms for the data revolution:
‘We propose that the UN establish a process whereby key stakeholders create a “Global Consensus on Data”, to adopt principles concerning legal, technical, privacy, geo-spatial and statistical standards which, among other things, will facilitate openness and information exchange and promote and protect human rights’
In parallel with these high-level changes, new thinking and technologies are encouraging the production of everyday indicators to reflect everyday life. own measures, produce their own data and tell laos rcs data their own stories direct to the public commons. For example, most indicators of peace and reconstruction are top-down, designed and identified by international organisations and governments, but the Everyday Peace Indicators project at George Mason University in the US and the University of Manchester in the UK is looking at what happens when communities in war-affected areas produce their own locally-grown indicators of security. People measure their own safety in ways governments may not expect, such as whether they hear abandoned dogs barking in the night, or judge it worthwhile to get their windows or store fronts repaired, or feel too scared to go outside to the toilet.
The data supporting the Sustainable Development Goals will form an important part of the UK Data Service collection. My colleague Susan Noble from the UK Data Service international macro data team produced a terrific set of teaching materials on the Millennium Development Goals at their half way point in 2007. These have now been brushed up, updated and made available through the ESRC Restore service.