Abstract
Quality data collection and distribution are fundamental to SDG achievement. However, the scope of the SDG indicator framework coupled with the potentially conflicting needs of the data producers and data consumers renders the SDGs an unprecedented global data reporting challenge. The magnitude of the challenge is such that international data partnerships are required should robust global SDG reporting be achieved. This chapter aims to describe one of the lifelines to global SDG reporting that results from an international data partnership between the UN and ESRI—the federated information system for the SDGs (FIS4SDGs). While the data partnership has proven fruitful insofar as national SDG data hubs have been successfully launched in five partnering nations, it does not come without certain limitations, the majority of which stem from barriers associated with the systems’ political, financial, or technological context. The FIS4SDGs serves as a potent example of the benefits that may be reaped from international data partnerships, catalyzing national SDG reporting and localization; however, its true power is yet to be realized. Indeed, the FIS4SDGs has the potential to revolutionize current SDG reporting acting as the medium through which citizen science-generated data and big data might be incorporated into the SDG data system.
Keywords
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In the case of the UN Open SDG Data Hub, the ESRI primarily participates in a consolatory role supporting the platform’s development while also providing the necessary ArcGIS technology.
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The magnitude of the task of reporting on the SDGs inspired the President of the seventieth session of the UN General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, to characterise the SDGs as an ‘unprecedented statistical challenge’ (Levada 2016).
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The global hub and each of the national SDG hubs can be found at the Global UN Open SDG Data Hub https://unstats-undesa.opendata.arcgis.com/
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Murphy, E., Murphy, E. (2022). Data Partnerships for the SDGs: The Potential of Federated Information Systems. In: Murphy, E., Banerjee, A., Walsh, P.P. (eds) Partnerships and the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07461-5_6
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