With the introduction of new sources of data and ways to analyse them, there are important opportunities for the public sector to become more data-informed. Whether it is through the incorporation of social media insights, geospatial data, call detail records, or text-mining of documents and transcripts, the current data age is presenting policy-makers with great possibilities. Yet, to properly integrate data analyses into decision- and policy-making, it doesn’t suffice to hire data analysts.
There is a need for diplomats and international policy-makers to:
- understand what is, and what is not, possible when it comes to data for policy-making;
- be able to communicate smoothly with data scientists, and vice versa;
- ask the right questions, so that data scientists are aware of exactly what is needed;
- understand the legal framework within which data can be processed, and related data protection and security
mechanisms; and - craft sustainable partnerships with data providers or analysts in the private sector.
This session will address the capacity development needs for decision-makers in the public sector, with a focus on ministries of foreign affairs. The session builds on DiploFoundation’s 15 years of expertise in capacity building in the field of diplomacy and technology, which includes a recently developed course on Data Diplomacy. The session aims to establish a curriculum for data-skills for policy-makers, which can be further elaborated and implemented in DiploFoundation’s online courses.