Innovations in technology, widespread penetration of electronic devices, and the rapid rise in the use of technology for social purposes have made an unprecedented amount of data available to statisticians at any given moment. Using Big Data, as it is commonly known, for official statistics, can fill data gaps, lead to efficiencies in production of statistics, and enhance data accuracy over time and space.

The General Assembly has declared 20 October 2015 as the World Statistics Day, with the slogan “Better data. Better lives”, conveying the idea that the ultimate goal of producing high quality official statistics is to improve the lives of people. It also underlines the connection between data and sustainable development, and the need for monitoring the progress and lack thereof, toward specific development goals.

This year, World Statistics Day coincides with the opening day of the second Global Conference on Big Data, which will highlight the benefits and opportunities of Big Data for Official Statistics. The conference will discuss the urgent need to continue the modernization of statistical production, in order to meet the increasing demand for timelier and more detailed data for monitoring the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The statistics community officially recognized the potential of Big Data in March 2014, when the UN Statistical Commission established a global working group (GWG) mandated to provide strategic vision, direction and coordination of a global programme on Big Data for official statistics.

The first global conference on Big Data was organized in Beijing in October 2014. It showcased a variety of examples of Big Data projects for official statistics, such as mobile phone data for daytime population statistics, satellite imagery data for agriculture statistics and social media data for consumer confidence indicators.

The second global conference will take the development of Big Data one step further, by moving from examples to guidance. Based on experience with a significant number of Big Data case studies, lessons learned and best practises can now be developed into preliminary guidelines for Big Data.

With the recent adoption of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, there is a need to frequently monitor progress on the goals and targets, not only for countries as a whole, but for every community and each part of the society. To achieve these goals in each and every country, policy makers therefore require high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts.

The innovative and transformative power of information technology must be harnessed and exploited in all stages of statistical production, from collection stage to dissemination. Big Data can play a central role in transforming statistical production: not only as an input, but also in the way in which issues of technology, methodology, estimation, partnerships and confidentiality need to be resolved. Big Data, used for official statistics, can make statistics timelier and more detailed and can, ultimately, help to fulfil the promise of better data for better lives.