Description: Do you have an insight to share on modernising the production of statistics? We are seeking abstracts on the following topics (further details can be found here): Topic 1: Improving interoperability using standards Interoperability refers here to the ability of organizations to use more than one implementation standard (such as SDMX and DDI) together without information loss for producing a given statistical output. A recent initiative related to interoperability in this context includes the Data Governance Framework for Statistical Interoperability. Of particular interest would be contributions covering the following questions: How have you approached achieving interoperability using implementation standards in your organization? If you implemented more than one standard, how did you achieve interoperability across them? Were reference ModernStats models useful for guiding this endeavour? Where are the key opportunities (and pain points) for realizing interoperability? Topic 2: Enhancing transparency with standards The use of standards can improve transparency, making it easier to follow and understand the processes used to produce a given statistical output. Of particular interest would be contributions addressing the following questions: Do you have insights to share on how to approach the use of metadata (and ModernStats standards) with the aim of improving transparency? Were reference conceptual ModernStats models useful for guiding this endeavour? Where are the key opportunities (and pain points) for realizing transparency? How do models like GSBPM and GSIM help to clarify the processes in a way that is easy to follow and understand by everyone, improving transparency? Have you implemented Linked Open Data (LOD) solutions, or have used LOD standards to model or disseminate (meta)data within or outside of your agency? Topic 3: Tools for automating metadata-driven processes Process automation is a key aim for those wishing to improve the efficiency and reproducibility of statistical production. Of particular interest are contributions addressing questions such as the following: Have you automated parts of your production workflows using ModernStats models? What worked and what didn’t? Were ModernStats used? How were they used? Were there any limitations to their usefulness? Have you implemented solutions using microservices, containers, cloud architecture, and automated pipelines for either data science or statistical production? How have you approached workflow design and pipeline construction? Topic 4: What should modern statistical production look like in 2025 and beyond? This topic aims to take an overview of where we have got to (using conceptual and implementation standards), and where we now need to go addressing questions such as the following: How has modernization worked for you and how do standards address your business needs? What needs remain? What should the main objectives of modernization be? What are your plans for the future? How can developments in the following areas influence the modernization of statistical production?: Data science environments Cloud computing environments Developments in open source Does AI have a role in shaping our production systems? How can we use standards to enhance the performance of AI? How to foster collaboration between communities using different standards.
Description: The Working Group aims to advance cooperation on measuring electronic commerce (e.commerce) and the digital economy and enhance the availability, quality, comparability, usability and relevance of statistics on e-commerce and the digital economy, with a view to supporting evidence-based policymaking, in particular in developing countries. The Intergovernmental Group of Experts on E-commerce and the Digital Economy, at its sixth session in May 2023, agreed on the following topics for the fourth meeting of the Working Group: a) Progress in measuring e-commerce and the digital economy: Work by relevant international organizations. b) Measuring the value of e-commerce. c) Non-survey–based measurement of e-commerce and the digital economy.
Description: The International Data Alliance for Children on the Move (IDAC), in partnership with UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight (Innocenti) and UNICEF Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring (DAPM), facilitated a global collaboration around the theme of improving data on climate-related child and family mobility. The workshop will convene a core group of cross-sectoral data and thematic experts working on issues relevant to mobility, climate, and child rights, protection and well-being. The objectives of the workshop will be to take stock of, and improve, data for informing solutions to the needs of children and their families engaged in contexts of climate-related migration and displacement, in order to set a shared research agenda, identifying common gaps, priorities, and opportunities for knowledge-sharing and collaboration.
Description: The Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA) promotes interagency coordination and cooperation on statistical programmes and consistency in statistical practices and development. As a forum of committed members it fosters good practices in statistical activities of international organisations, in accordance with the Principles Governing International Statistical Activities, and within the constraints of their own governance arrangements and resource envelopes. The members of the CCSA are committed to contribute actively to the development of a coordinated global statistical system producing and disseminating high-quality statistics, e.g. by facilitating the development and well functioning of regional and national statistical systems.
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21st International Conference of Labour Statisticians
Description: The International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) is a vehicle for standard-setting in labour statistics, hosted by the ILO every five years.
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Original webpage was deleted, archived version from the Internet Archive (not a UN service): Link
Description: The Committee of the Chief Statisticians of the United Nations System promotes coherent and integrated system-wide United Nations actions to support statistics at the national, regional and international levels, following the principles governing international statistical activities, adopted by the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities in 2005, and the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, adopted by the General Assembly in 2015. Taking into account the comparative advantages of each member, the Committee encourages coordinated efforts by United Nations agencies and programmes in strengthening national statistical capacity through the definition of common approaches and joint interventions. The Committee supports in particular the modernization of national statistical systems and the reinforcement of their capacity to respond to new data demands for underpinning evidence-based policymaking, including the monitoring of global, regional and national development goals. Recognizing that national needs and priorities should guide the United Nations system’s efforts to support national statistical systems, the Committee supports the development and full implementation of international statistical standards in member States for the production of high-quality and internationally comparable data. The Committee promotes the coordination of the statistical programmes of the United Nations system entities with the aim of “delivering as one”, by fostering synergies, avoiding duplication and overlap, and facilitating data exchange. It promotes the adoption of common quality criteria to drive the statistical production of all agencies of the United Nations system and supports the sharing of knowledge and good practices. It also defines common United Nations positions on statistical matters, to be reported at the Statistical Commission or at other coordination bodies, such as the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities.
Description: UNCTAD and UNODC are custodian agencies of indicator 16.4.1 on illicit financial flows (IFFs) and their respective statistical sections jointly developed a Conceptual Framework for the Statistical Measurement of Illicit Financial Flows in 2020.1 The Framework was endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in March 2022. In parallel, custodian agencies have drafted methodologies to measure various types of IFFs. To date, methodologies to measure IFFs have been tested by 22 countries on three continents in efforts coordinated by UN regional commissions and UNODC field Offices (on crime-related IFFs), alongside UNCTAD and UNODC statistics. This includes 12 African countries, 4 Latin American and 6 Asian countries many of which produced first estimates of commercial or crime-related IFFs. As lessons are learned and estimation methods are tested and refined, interest from countries to systematically and regularly measure IFFs is growing. During the first quarter of the year 2023, for SDG reporting, UNODC has provided the first ever data on crime-related IFFs for SDG indicator 16.4.12. Following up with these efforts, the UN Development Account project Measuring and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows3 aims to strengthen the capacity of developing countries across regions to produce standardized estimates of illicit financial flows and enhance investigative and analytical capacities to develop evidence -based policy responses to monitor and curb illicit financial flows. This meeting will launch activities of the project and is organised with three specific objectives: * To kick-off the UN Development Account project Measuring and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows globally with partners and participating countries; and strengthen stakeholder engagement and coordination. * To enhance capacity on the methodologies to measure SDG indicator 16.4.1 on IFFs and implementation of policy measures to curbing these flows by disseminating globally agreed concepts and methods to measure IFFs and providing examples from different regions. * Allow participating countries to share their experiences and learn. Targeted participants of the international kick-off meeting are national and international stakeholders within the UN Development Account project Measuring and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows. 1 https://unctad.org/publication/conceptual-framework-statistical-measurement-illicit-financial-flows 2 Selecting data series to reflect SDG indicator 16.4.1 on SDG Indicators Database: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataportal/database returns Indicator 16.4.1 series: Total value of inward illicit financial flows (DI_ILL_IN) and Total value of outward illicit financial flows (DI_ILL_OUT). 3 https://unctad.org/project/measuring-and-curbing-illicit-financial-flows
Description: UNCTAD and UNODC are custodian agencies of indicator 16.4.1 on illicit financial flows (IFFs) and their respective statistical sections jointly developed a Conceptual Framework for the Statistical Measurement of Illicit Financial Flows in 2020.1 The Framework was endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in March 2022. In parallel, custodian agencies have drafted methodologies to measure various types of IFFs. To date, methodologies to measure IFFs have been tested by 22 countries on three continents in efforts coordinated by UN regional commissions and UNODC field Offices (on crime-related IFFs), alongside UNCTAD and UNODC statistics. This includes 12 African countries, 4 Latin American and 6 Asian countries many of which produced first estimates of commercial or crime-related IFFs. As lessons are learned and estimation methods are tested and refined, interest from countries to systematically and regularly measure IFFs is growing. During the first quarter of the year 2023, for SDG reporting, UNODC has provided the first ever data on crime-related IFFs for SDG indicator 16.4.12. Following up with these efforts, the UN Development Account project Measuring and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows3 aims to strengthen the capacity of developing countries across regions to produce standardized estimates of illicit financial flows and enhance investigative and analytical capacities to develop evidence -based policy responses to monitor and curb illicit financial flows. This workshop is organised with three specific objectives: * To kick-off the UN Development Account project Measuring and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows globally and bring partners and participating countries to the similar level of understanding of the project and strengthen stakeholder engagement and coordination. * To enhance the capacity of countries on understanding the methodologies developed by custodian agencies and regional commissions to measure SDG indicator 16.4.1 on IFFs, and support countries in formulating relevant policy responses and providing examples from different regions. * Provide participating countries opportunities to share their experiences and learn. Targeted participants of the international kick-off meeting are national and international stakeholders within the UN Development Account project Measuring and Curbing Illicit Financial Flows. 1 https://unctad.org/publication/conceptual-framework-statistical-measurement-illicit-financial-flows 2 Selecting data series to reflect SDG indicator 16.4.1 on SDG Indicators Database: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataportal/database returns Indicator 16.4.1 series: Total value of inward illicit financial flows (DI_ILL_IN) and Total value of outward illicit financial flows (DI_ILL_OUT). 3 https://unctad.org/project/measuring-and-curbing-illicit-financial-flows
Description: On 15 September, join FAO Liaison Office in Geneva and FAO Office of Chief Statistician (OCS) for the launch of "Tracking progress on food and agriculture-related SDG indicators 2023" report.The high-level event will take place in a hybrid format at the Palais des Nations (Building H 208) on 15 September at 15:00. At the mid-point of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, the clock is ticking on meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The new report of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), titled Tracking progress on food and agriculture-related SDG indicators, offers a critical look at how far we have progressed to date on the SDG indicators, and highlights the main achievements and challenges faced by countries. With the participation of the FAO Chief Economist, Máximo Torero, the high-level event will present the main findings of the report, as well as policy recommendations to harness the power of data to achieve Zero Hunger and accelerate food systems transformation. Ahead of the 2023 SDG Summit, the event which will bring together FAO Members, UN bodies and partners, is an essential contribution to the ongoing efforts to renew commitment to invest in better data and statistics to inform evidence-based policies for people and the planet. The report will be published in six languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) at the following link: https://www.fao.org/sustainable-development-goals-data-portal/resources/analytical-reports/en Related links Register here for in-person participation* Register here for online participation * Detailed instructions for access to the Palais des Nations will be sent after Indico registration. Documents Agenda Contact LOG-Director@fao.org Chief-Statistician@fao.org
Organizer(s): Group on Earth Observations GEO Knowledge Hub
Description: The Data Working Group, together with the GEOSS Platform and the GEO Knowledge Hub teams are organizing a two-day Open Data and Open Knowledge workshop that will take place in Geneva from 15-16 June 2023. The workshop—held in person for the first time in three years—will provide the GEO community with an opportunity to discuss technical advances, challenges, and solutions. It follows the endorsement of the GEO Statement on Open Knowledge in 2021 and aims to enable all GEO Work Programme activities to embrace open knowledge practices. Objectives: Highlight the ongoing efforts of the GEO Community towards open and reproducible knowledge. Support open science - citizen science, crowdsourcing, Empower all users to access and use open EO based applications in the various engagement priorities and main conventions. Promote open knowledge applications to the youth community, as well as to less represented communities. Align the GEO community and its activities with the open and reproducible knowledge vision. Use of open EO in situ data and EO-space based data as well as knowledge for international policy frameworks. Explore and discuss technological advances that facilitate the implementation of open knowledge. Provide an opportunity for data & knowledge providers to meet users working on GEO engagement priorities. Discuss with GWP activities EO data gaps (VHR Space based EO Data- In situ); knowledge gaps and needs. Discuss gaps and needs versus statistical data to support development of knowledge-based products. Align and update on technological aspects of GEO infrastructure. FAO session: Session 3: Open In Situ Data (15 June 2023, 14H30-18h00) - Registration For more information, please visit the dedicated event page.
Description: This Intergovernmental Group of Experts aims to strengthen the work of UNCTAD on information and communications technologies, e-commerce and the digital economy for development, so as to enhance its ability to support developing countries to engage in and benefit from the evolving digital economy, and reduce the digital divide, for the creation of more inclusive knowledge societies. The substantive agenda items for the session are as follows: How to make data work for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Working Group on Measuring E-commerce and the Digital Economy.
Description: Objectives of Event The side event will explore the policy tools available for countries to overcome barriers to fast electrification. Understanding the problems across countries require good-quality official statistics. Existing efforts to collect charging infrastructure statistics at the country and international levels will be shared. The need for harmonized connector design and communication protocols globally to ensure seamless and flawless EV recharge all over the world will be assessed. The importance of harmonized regulation to achieve safe and fast charging, enable grid balancing and appropriate grid and recharging capacity, as well as minimize the carbon footprint of EV recharge will be explored. Speakers Moderated by Ms Els de Wit, Chair, UNECE Working Party on Transport Trends and Economics; Programme Coordinator, Smart and Sustainable Mobility, Ministry of Water Management and Infrastructure, Netherlands. John Wilkins, Chair, UNECE Working Party on Transport Statistics; Deputy Director, Travel and Environment Data and Statistics; Department for Transport, United Kingdom. Philippe Vangeel, Secretary-General, AVERE. Alex Schroeder, Chief Technology Officer, Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, United States Jacques Warichet, Power systems transformation analyst, International Energy Agency. Saki Gerassis, Policy and Data Officer; DG MOVE, European Commission. Duncan Kay, Vice-Chair, UNECE Working Party on Pollution and Energy; Head of Vehicle Engineering; Department for Transport, United Kingdom. Potential Outcomes As part of the Inland Transport Committee Strategy to 2030, the ITC is uniquely placed to enable to develop globally harmonized regulatory provision that would apply all over the world, and will make sure EV use is safe, environmentally-friendly, interoperable, increasing their potential to decarbonise transport. The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations is uniquely placed to develop such technical regulatory provisions and have them adopted globally by United Nations member States. The Working Party on Transport Statistics is in the process of assessing data availability for electric vehicle infrastructure and may initiate data collection in the near future, with any discussions during this event guiding work on this. The Working Party on Transport Trends decided at its 2022 session to establish a steady workflow on general trends and developments surrounding passenger EV and its charging infrastructure including aspects of accessibility to and affordability of charging at public EV charging equipment and its integration in the electricity grid. Discussions like this side event can guide WP.5’s workflow on this and promote dialogue on the best solutions.
Description: The Working Group aims to advance cooperation on measuring electronic commerce (e-commerce) and the digital economy and enhance the availability, quality, comparability, usability and relevance of statistics on e-commerce and the digital economy, with a view to supporting evidence-based policymaking, in particular in developing countries.
Organizer(s): UNCTAD Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade
Description: Following the inclusion of illicit trade as the only new area of work in the outcome document of UNCTAD15, the Bridgetown Covenant, UNCTAD will host the second iteration of the Illicit Trade Forum on 6-7 September 2022. The event is organised in collaboration with the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT). Theevent is structured as four main sessions, with interactive panel discussions addressing key issues: illicit trade in times of crisis; mitigating illicit trade through maritime transport; trade in falsified medicines; and illicit financial flows related to trade, tax, and criminal activities. The meeting will enable the sharing of best practices, case studies and policy approaches, and will involve a wide range of stakeholders, including member States and representatives from international governmental and nongovernmental organisations, academia and the private sector. Session on Illicit financial flows related to trade, tax, and criminal activities: For the SDG indicator framework, illicit financial flows (IFFs) are defined as financial flows that are illicit in origin, transfer or use, that reflect an exchange of value and that cross country borders. The definition comes from the Conceptual framework for the statistical measurement of illicit financial flows, developed by UNCTAD and UNODC in consultation with a global Task Force and approved in March 2022 by the UN Statistical Commission. IFFs cover a wide range of different activities, including flows related to drug markets, terrorist financing, trade misinvoicing, aggressive tax avoidance etc. They drain resources and limit countries’ capacity to recover from the pandemic and achieve the 2030 Agenda. In June 2021, UNCTAD published Methodological guidelines to measure tax and commercial IFFs for pilot testing, following deliberations with the global Task Force. The methods will be refined based on feedback from pilots which took place in 2022 in Africa and Asia, and from 2023 any country can join the efforts of a global UN Development Account project to measure and curb IFFs applying methods and tools tested by pilot countries. This session will invite representatives from stakeholders involved in African pilot countries to share their experience on the measurement of IFFs related to trade. The session mainly targets representatives from customs and revenue authorities, central banks, financial intelligence units, anti-corruption agencies, criminal justice bodies and national statistics offices. Opening remarks will be given by Ms. Anu Peltola (UNCTAD). This will be followed by brief introductions to the measurement of IFFs by Mr. Gamal Ibrahim (ECA), Ms. Diana Camerini (UNODC) and Mr. Bojan Nastav (UNCTAD), covering also future plans. Then, panellists will present regional or countries’ experience in measuring IFFs by Ms. Kathy Nicolaou (ECA), Ms. Anastasia Maga (ESCAP), Mr. Joseph Tembo (Zambia) and Ms. Lauraine Habib (Egypt).
Description: We are pleased to announce the official launch of the GIS Centre for Health on 9 May 2022. The launch will take place at WHO Headquarters in Geneva. The event will also be live streamed on the WHO Workplace. Geneva-based colleagues are welcome to join in person at WHO Headquarters. The event will include opening and closing remarks by WHO senior leadership; an introduction to the GIS Centre for Health team; a highlight on partners, collaborators, regional offices and inspirational speakers; a panel discussion; a Q&A session and a GIS hands-on workshop. If you can join us in Geneva please register for the event here: https://indico.un.org/event/37794/ If you would like to join us online on zoom, please register here: https://who.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_V-fQvYE5SsCrJ4f6Yw40YQ
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Original webpage was deleted, archived version from the Internet Archive (not a UN service): Link
Description: Based on the topic approved by the Trade and Development Board at its sixty-eighth executive session and the decision to establish a working group on measuring e-commerce and the digital economy, the substantive agenda items for the fourth session are: Digital platforms and value creation in developing countries: Implications for national and international policies. Working group on measuring e-commerce and the digital economy.
Description: At the meeting of the Committee of the Chief Statisticians of the United Nations System (CCS-UN) that took place on 11 September 2019 in Copenhagen, the chief statisticians agreed to organize a “training session for agencies practitioners who want to adopt this technique [nowcasting]”. This session will take the form a technical workshop, jointly organised by UNCTAD and UNIDO, to discuss the current practices of CCS-UN members in areas related to nowcasting, identify gaps where additional methodological work is needed, and share successful communication strategies for these estimates.
Description: The Working Group aims to advance cooperation on measuring e-commerce and the digital economy and enhance the availability, quality, comparability, usability and relevance of statistics concerning e-commerce and the digital economy, with a view to supporting evidence-based policymaking, especially in developing countries.
Target Audience: This meeting is open to all member States of UNCTAD. Member State representatives wishing to attend are requested to provide their credentials to UNCTAD by 1 November 2019. They should have relevant expertise in producing official ICT statistics (for example from National Statistical Offices or Government Ministries). Other organizations that could be invited include: (i) international organizations involved in ICT measurement; (ii) expert organizations and research networks in the digital economy; and (iii) specialists from civil society, the private sector and academia, as appropriate.
Description: The objective of this three-day gathering is to explore how international organizations and other relevant stakeholders can implement privacy and ethical frameworks of artificial intelligence. Special emphasis will be placed on practical solutions for decision makers working to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This multi-stakeholder, multi-disciplinary event will address key challenges facing international organizations related to AI, data protection and human rights in the age of the 4th Industrial Revolution. It will feature leading technologists and…
Description: As custodian agencies of SDG Indicator 16.4.1, UNODC and UNCTAD have developed a programme of coordinated actions to develop, review and test a statistical methodology to measure illicit financial flows (IFFs). The goal is to develop methodologies and guidelines that can be used at national and international level to estimate the SDG indicator and IFFs in general. The meeting will bring together Task Force members to develop statistical definitions and methodologies in adherence with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. The work builds on previous expert consultations, held by UNODC and UNCTAD, and the expertise of the Task Force members representing different international organisations and government agencies, such as central banks, statistical offices, customs and tax authorities. The aim of the meeting is to develop the statistical measurement framework on IFFs and prepare guidance for the compilation of statistics on IFFs, including SDG indicator 16.4.1. The resulting proposals for statistical definitions and measurement methodologies for IFFs will be debated among stakeholders in the course of work and finally agreed upon by the members of the United Nations Statistical Commission.
Description: Substantive agenda items The value and role of data in electronic commerce (e-commerce) and the digital economy and its implications for inclusive trade and development. Working Group on Measuring E-commerce and the Digital Economy.