Timely Data for the SDGs, Featuring the launch of the SDSN Data Platform for the SDGs
Channel: SDSN
Date: 14/07/2020

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an opportunity to mobilize the global community to address economic, social, and environmental challenges. To meet the Sustainable Development Goals in the remaining decade, these challenges need to be met with timely (annual or more frequent), georeferenced data, as opposed to the historical norm of infrequent and out of date data. The myriad of data and tools available cannot, however, address the challenges of implementing the SDGs while information is produced and used in silos. Key stakeholders, including policy makers, government officials, journalists, academics, students, and members of civil society need a virtual space where they can come together to access timely data relevant to the SDGs and learn to use the data effectively to push Agenda 2030 forward.

With only 10 years left to achieve the SDGs, there is an urgent need for a data platform that makes quality and timely data for the SDGs accessible to all, improves knowledge of geospatial tools and geographic information systems (GIS), and builds capacity to use these tools to support global agendas and policy making. In partnership with Esri and National Geographic Society, SDSN has developed a platform, ‘SDGs Today’, with real-time and timely data for the SDGs. ‘SDGs Today’ will support and encourage countries and other institutions to produce and share their data to this common, universally beneficial platform. The platform will also house GIS training and education material relevant for a variety of interest groups, helping train future and current leaders in GIS for Sustainable Development. ‘SDGs Today’ has the potential to revolutionize how we understand and communicate the urgency of the SDGs, how we develop solutions, and the speed and quality with which we do both.

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About the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN):

The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) was set up in 2012 under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General. SDSN mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical solutions for sustainable development, including the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement. SDSN works closely with United Nations agencies, multilateral financing institutions, the private sector, and civil society.

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