This session aims at bridging the gap between data producers and data users. By inviting them to sit together in the panel, it provides a great opportunity for the data users to listen to the true demands, ideas and challenges of the users. On the other hand, data users will have a chance to understand how statistics are created, why they are created in such a way, and where to find the information they need. The proposed panelists will hail from a representative spectrum of producers and consumers of data i.e. statisticians, policy makers, planners, researchers, experts from the civil society, and journalists.
Statisticians will share with the audience on how official statistics are created and disseminated, the practicalities and challenges they are facing in delivering timely, high quality data, and on how to improve data literacy and correctly interpret and explain the data to the general public.
The civil society may share their experience on the choosing between official data and other sources of data, including private and citizen generated data. The importance of linking privately generated data to the tracking and monitoring of SDGs.
University researchers have the first-hand knowledge on how to tap into the growth and opportunities provided by the data revolution and big data initiatives to assist important researches in the universities.
Policy makers and planners should be primary data consumers. However, in developing countries often times policy makers do not use or trust data. The panel should discuss how to put data above politics. In order for the policy makers to better utilize data, producers have to present data in correct, meaningful, easy to understand ways: maps, visualizations and infographics are powerful tools to communicate and disseminate data to where it matters.
Finally, journalists are in a unique position that can promote and deliver official statistics and data to the maximum audience. Statisticians and NSOs need to do a better job advocating data literacy to the journalist community: they need to learn the meanings and interpretations of the data to better interpret and publish the data. The greater data literacy journalist has, the easier for the important messages to be delivered correctly and swiftly to the public and policy makers. We advocate that the data community should involve the journalists right from the beginning of the data production process.