Working Group on Data Governance


Background

In resolution 3 of 8 June 2022, the Economic and Social Council affirmed the Statistical Commission as the primary body for the coordination of the global statistical programmes in general and of the United Nations statistical and data-related system. The Statistical Commission plays a central coordinating role in the global data and statistics system to promote comparability, harmonization and cooperation between Member States and relevant stakeholders, with the aim of making data and statistics reliable and accessible for the good of society. The updated mandate of the Statistical Commission expanded its scope to incorporate data and its role in producing trustworthy official statistics.

With the expanded mandate, the Commission started discussing the role of the Commission on how data from multiple sources is governed. In 2024 and 2025, the Statistical Commission held two special events aimed at raising awareness on data governance issues among Member States and discussing its role in this area.

At its 55th session in 2024, the Commission called for "an overview of data governance as discussed in the 'Friday seminar on emerging issues: data governance' with the aim of launching a process towards the development of common terminology and definitions for data governance" (55/102 (c)). In response, the Secretariat prepared a short background paper for the 56th session of the Commission to inform and guide initial discussions and provide a foundation for the work ahead.

At its 56th session in 2025, the Commission "supported the establishment of a working group of the Commission on data governance, focusing on data governance within official statistics while also considering the Commission's broader mandate as the apex forum for discussions, knowledge exchange and sharing of best practices on statistics and data of the UN system." (Decision 56/103(d)). Furthermore, the Commission "requested the development of the working group's Terms of Reference, specifying its scope of work and deliverables based on the Commission's technical expertise while avoiding overlap with other mechanisms, and requested group to report back to the Commission at its fifty-seventh session, in 2026."

At its 56th session, the Commission also took note of the additional Chapter on National Data Ecosystem and Governance proposed for inclusion in the Handbook on the Management and Organization of National Statistical Systems. The chapter introduces a working definition of the national data ecosystem, clarifies data governance as the framework of policies, laws, and institutional arrangements, and defines data stewardship as the operational responsibility to protect data, ensure their quality, and uphold ethical standards.

As part of the Global Digital Compact of 2024, Member States requested the Commission for Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) to establish a working group on data governance at all levels. The Statistical Commission, along with a number of other intergovernmental bodies, is an observer of this group. In this context, the Statistical Commission’s own working group on data governance is expected to complement the multi-stakeholder dialogue taking place within the CSTD working group on data governance at all levels, while avoiding unnecessary duplication.


Objectives

Address "data governance within official statistics while also considering the Commission's broader mandate as the apex forum for discussions, knowledge exchange and sharing of best practices on statistics and data of the UN system."

The Statistical Commission's working group will focus on data governance from the perspective of national statistical offices and all data and statistics producers within the official data and statistics systems, within the broader scope of the global data ecosystem. The goal is to gain an understanding of how countries are approaching data governance in their national data and statistical systems and to develop a "data governance framework." The group will examine coordination within the national data and statistical systems (including all producers of official statistics) to contribute to the governance of data ecosystems from the perspective and for the purpose of official statistics. The group's tasks will focus within the scope of the mandate of the UN Statistical Commission.

This group will draw on the expertise of other groups of the Statistical Commission, five of which are explicitly working on related issues, namely big data and data science, data quality, data stewardship, geospatial information, and SDMX.

The group is tasked with:

  • A. Developing a common set of terminology around data governance.
  • B. Facilitating the exchange of national practices and experiences at regional and global levels, including through a knowledge repository.
  • C. Proposing a way forward for the Commission to support national statistical offices in developing coherent strategies to respond to rapid technological changes and the growing availability of data from multiple sources.
  • D. Building on existing initiatives in identifying global and regional principles on data governance and their applicability to official data and statistics at national levels.


Membership

Countries
Belize, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Netherlands, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Türkiye

International agencies
ECA, Eurostat, FAO, OECD, UNICEF

Geospatial community
USA (Co-Chair, GGIM)


Meetings


Terms of Reference

The Terms of Reference of the Working Group are available here.


Point of contact

Mr. Gabriel Gamez
Secretariat of the Working Group on Data Governance
Chief of the Statistical Capacity Management Section, UNSD
Email: unsd-data-governance@un.org


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