Press "Enter" to skip to content

Out of Reach: Gaps in Global Data Collection3 min read

Anne Gregory, MBA Class of 2017

anne gregoryAt the turn of the millennium, the United Nations (UN) launched the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) to launch a global effort for achieving sustainable and healthy growth. The most recent MDG report shared a difficult truth: “You can only change what you can measure”. In assessing the select MDG indicators, the report claims that the UN has secured at least 2 data points for 79% of the developing world. The suggestion that forecasts are built upon a couple of data points is a concerning one. While the established MDG targets are slowly coming to fruition, with poverty rates, disease prevention and education as key priorities, the reality is that the conditions under which a significant percentage of the world’s population live are unknown and (as a result) out of reach.

That global data collection is uneven seems implausible to those of us living in the developed world where the effects of the digital revolution are omnipresent. A 2014 report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce cites some interesting facts: 5 billion people will be connected to the Internet by 2020, an increase of nearly 50% since 2012. That same year, a McKinsey essay on Global Flows reported a near 20-fold increase of international online engagements from 2005 to 2012, facilitating unprecedented ease for cross-border production and the transference of information. Accenture Strategy released a report in January 2016 forecasting a boost of $1.36 trillion in GDP for the top ten economies over the next 4 years.

However, access to digital models that can lift developing countries out of poverty are still years away from realization…and thus the yawning chasm between data-wealthy nations and data-poor ones continues to widen. Data is the lifeblood of both global and corporate policy decisions – an organization would never pursue a project if there were no empirical evidence for doing so. Yet there are millions who have no voice in the digital fabric of today’s global politics, and NGOs and governments are expected to draw conclusions about these regions with (as mentioned above) a luxury of “2 data points.” According to the International Household Survey Network, the majority of available information on the developing world is supplied through independent survey programs. This results in inconsistencies or redundancies in the provided data, and hinders the data-driven decision-making process.

Data also requires context. Let’s take an example: The World Bank’s GINI Index measures the equality of wealth distribution in any given country, where “0” equals perfect equality. Compare this data to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), where “100” represents a country with no corruption. Taking arbitrary metrics of a GINI < 40 and a CPI > 70, only 16 countries constitute the rarified subset of countries with low income inequality and low corruption: The United States is not included in this group. More pointedly, there are countries on both lists where insufficient data calls to question the reliability of their scores.

Though the future of data collection is still in flux, there have been some positive developments. In August 2014, the UN convened international experts from a diversity of industries to form the Independent Expert Advisory Group on a Data Revolution for Sustainable Development (IEAG). The group’s intention is to identify and address gaps in global data collection, with the most recent IEAG report (A World that Counts) stating: “No one should be invisible. This is the world we want – a world that counts.” In October of last year, the World Bank announced a key initiative to distribute household surveys on poverty to the poorest 78 nations in the world, citing a severe lack of information about these regions. The World Bank also established the Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative to create a digital record, and subsequent dataset, for every individual by the year 2030.

As access to quality datasets and our ability to analyze big data continue to evolve, hopefully so will the nature of political and international relationships. The data revolution will bring a wealth of opportunity to business and governments alike – here’s to hoping we Sternies can be a part of that legacy as we look ahead to our own careers and future ambitions.

 

Mission News Theme by Compete Themes.