Geospatial information exists in many forms and mediums, integrating all digital data with a location dimension. It can be as simple as a name on a map or as complicated as a multi-layer 3-dimensional model of that place – containing anything from cities, land-use and traffic distribution to monitoring the environment and climate variables.

All countries and all sectors need geospatial information to make informed decisions, to develop national development plans and strategies and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In today’s digital world, standardized geographical names are vital. They help us find our way in society and they also help us organize the world we live in. They also play a key role in our efforts to achieve sustainable development, providing fundamental channels of communication, facilitating cooperation among local, national and international organizations. We also need standardized geographical names in emergency situations.

On the surface, we are making remarkable progress towards ensuring quality education for all. In 2010, 63 per cent of children of adequate age were receiving early childhood or primary education. By 2016, that proportion grew to 70 per cent, meaning that millions more children were now going to school.

In today's digital age, social movements and policy priorities are increasingly shaped by the use of data to inform our daily decisions and help us connect with each other. From "we are the 1%" to "keep it under 2°C," data has the power to ignite imaginations and rally support for various causes around the world.

There are still “huge gaps at country level,” to be overcome in order to develop an effective global migration data programme, said the head of the Demographic and Social Statistics Branch of UN Statistics, on Monday.

Francesca Grum was addressing a key meeting at UN Headquarters in New York,  convened in response to the UN’s Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, the first-ever global migration pact, which was adopted by more than

When thinking about data, our mind usually jumps to our mobile phones and the endless possibilities they open. But we rarely spare a thought for the kind of data that accompanies our entire lives – even before we are born – and that can, quite literally, save our lives.

Health data allows doctors to make the right diagnoses, decide on adequate therapies and prescribe the right medicines. When compiled, analysed and interpreted according to international standards, our health data can also help to save others.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are at the core of the most ambitious agenda in humanity's history to root out poverty and hunger, fight climate change and create a more equitable and just world for all in only 15 short years.

Governments and businesses are challenged to combat hunger, poverty, water scarcity, climate change, disasters and other perils, and to provide peace and prosperity for its people, leaving no one behind. Addressing these challenges requires evidence-based policy making, which is achievable with the use of geospatial data, statistical data and applicable technologies. Everything – all our challenges – happens somewhere and can be located, mapped, viewed, measured, analyzed, modelled and monitored.

Over 150 statistics experts from around 40 countries will assemble in Tokyo from 14 to 16 November to discuss ways of improving data for evidenced-based gender policies.

The second United Nations World Data Forum is concluding today with the launch of the Dubai Declaration to increase financing for better data and statistics for sustainable development.

“While it is clear that the data revolution is having an enormous impact, it has not benefited everyone equally,” said United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed at the Forum. “Our task is to make sure data is available to all people.