Video Message
Your Excellency Ms. Widyasanti,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very pleased to say a few words to mark the celebration of the inauguration of the Regional Hub on Big Data and Data Science for Asia and the Pacific, in support of the United Nations Global Platform.
In September, world leaders gathered in New York for the SDG Summit. The main focus was on renewed efforts to fulfill the promise of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. To accelerate the implementation of the goals, six transition areas were identified, namely Food systems, Energy access and affordability, Digital connectivity, Education, Jobs and social protection, and Climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
To make progress in each of these areas, we need effective national policies and relevant, timely and high-quality statistics and indicators. Statistical institutes must use innovative solutions to respond to the urgent demand for data, including the use of Big Data, data science and advanced technologies. The urgency of this need becomes clearer every day.
Dear colleagues,
The strength of the United Nations is to bring countries together to find solutions for common challenges. The United Nations Statistical Commission convenes Chief Statisticians from around the world to agree on common standards and to advance official statistics.
In 2014, the Commission created the Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for official statistics, which was mandated to explore the use of alternative data sources and new technologies; and in that way to meet the expectations of delivering relevant and timely data.
Over the last 10 years, this Committee delivered many new methods, new applications and new training materials. The Committee also established the UN Global Platform for hands-on collaboration on Big Data projects. Currently, 38 different institutes are collaborating on various AIS data projects on the Platform.
To be able to use the UN Global Platform and conduct Big Data projects, national statistical offices need to acquire new skills. Developing such new skills and building data science capacity were the main reasons why the Statistical Commission supported the creation of Regional Hubs. These Hubs were created in China, Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates in 2020 and in Brazil in 2021. The hubs help to facilitate Big Data projects, share knowledge on newly developed methods and applications; and provide training in these new topics at the regional level.
With the former regional hub in China now global in its scope, the opportunity was created for Indonesia to take up this important role for Asia and the Pacific. The Regional Hub in Indonesia will run regional projects, provide training to statisticians and data scientists, and conduct workshops on data science and modernization of official statistics.
With the support of our colleagues of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and my department, I am convinced that the Regional Hub in Indonesia will play a vital role in modernizing official statistics in Asia and the Pacific.
Dear colleagues,
In closing, I wish to express my sincere congratulations to Ms. Widyasanti and BPS Indonesia on the establishment of the Regional Hub in Indonesia. This is an important achievement. Relevant, frequent and granular data are needed more than ever to overcome the many challenges for our societies and our planet, and to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Thank you.