Much energy has gone into the development of indicators as one such tool.
Indicators are essentially pieces of information that reveal conditions and, over time, trends.
Indicators can be used to make policy and planning decisions, to identify whether policy goals and targets are being met, and sometimes to predict change. Indicators can also be used to compare conditions of different locales or progress towards policy targets. Indicators used in monitoring and decision-making have tended to emphasise quantifiable data such as levels of economic or infrastructure development rather than including sustainability and social development concerns. Moreover, much of the development and dissemination of indicators has concentrated on indicators for use at national or international levels, particularly indicators based on aggregate statistics and comparability across contexts. The resulting information is not necessarily useful to local level planners for decision-making or monitoring.