No, the Forum is a United Nations conference which means there are no fees or restrictions on who can register or attend the Forum. Those wishing to attend in-person are responsible for their own travel and accommodation costs.

The UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) will be working closely with the Forum secretariat (Statistics Division) and host country to ensure that the conference facilities are safe and secure for all participants.

A completed registration will generate an acknowledgement email which the Forum secretariat (Statistics Division) will review and approve. If approved, you will receive a notification which can serve as an official invitation. For further advice, please contact the secretariat: dataforum@un.org.

This will be announced nearer the time of the Forum along with the launch of an online event platform. The online event platform will be accessible through a web browser or smartphone app. It will allow you to watch live stream broadcasts from the Forum, submit questions and interact with speakers and other participants. Recordings of past sessions can also be found on the platform and through the playlists on our YouTube channel.

The Forum secretariat (Statistics Division) has limited funds for sponsoring travel and accommodation. These sponsorships are usually reserved for those contributing to the programme either as an organizer or a speaker. The funds for these sponsorships are provided thanks to the generous support of the host country and other partners. Those wishing to apply are welcome to email: dataforum@un.org and your request will be considered among other requests we receive as funds are decided nearer the time of the Forum.

The Forum does not issue certificates of participation. However, we note the interest shown in receiving a formal document indicating you have attended the Forum. We continue to explore this idea with the Programme Committee and the host country to find a meaningful way to issue them during the future Forum; taking account of the value participants received from attendance.

The Forum is an in-person event to enable more creative formats and ensure heightened engagement and networking at the venue. In contrast to the Forums held during the Covid-19 pandemic, only by special exception will any virtual or hybrid mode of delivery be permitted in the programme, this includes speakers connecting remotely.

Both the conference venue and the online event platform will be accessible to people with disabilities. In-person, the venue hotel and transport vehicles will provide disability access and a team of volunteers will be available to aid you whereas virtually, the online event platform will be chosen to meet accessibility requirements. If you have any accessibility issues or requests, please contact: dataforum@un.org.

Given the mandate of the United Nations and the generous contribution from the host country and other partners, the Programme Committee [Note: the link currently shows the previous Forum’s Committee] will ensure the programme contains an equitable distribution of underrepresented groups and speakers from the global South. The Programme Committee will also make efforts to link sponsorships and partnerships with other donors to ensure more inclusive participation. However, there are no sponsorship funds specifically allocated to these groups as of now.

Please contact dataforum@un.org to stay informed about the latest news and updates regarding the Forum.

The Forum serves as a space for all participants to propose, present, launch or share their work with a larger audience. As the Forum is not a formal inter-governmental process, there will be no official side events. This side event policy will be reviewed by the Programme Committee in consultation with the High-Level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (HLG-PCCB).

The selection of the Programme Committee [Note: the link currently shows the previous Forum’s Committee] is decided by the High-Level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (HLG-PCCB). A open call to apply to serve on the Programme Committee was carried out for the first time, this will form part of the candidate pool to be selected.

While the Forum is conducted in English, but proposals can be accepted in any of the six official languages of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). If the proposal selected by the Programme Committee, the proposer is responsible for providing interpretation into English unless this can be provided by the hosts.

A proposal should be aimed at making an important contribution or action towards the implementation of the Medellin Framework for action on data for sustainable development and the Cape Town Global Action Plan (CTGAP) for sustainable development data aligned with the programme’s Thematic Areas (TAs) [Note: the link currently shows the previous Forum’s TAs].

There are opportunities in the programme to focus on regional and national issues, but it is important to note that the Forum has an international and diverse audience representing different communities.

Yes, more than one proposal can be submitted during the Call for Programme Proposals but the content of each proposal should be substantively different.

The Programme Committee [Note: the link currently shows the previous Forum’s Committee] encourages participants to put forward proposals which balance different regional¹ and data community² perspectives as applicable. The Committee will attempt to balance these aspects in the programme.

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¹Regions refer to UN regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Northern America, and Oceania.
²Data community refers to the following nine non-mutually exclusive groups used for convenience in many Forum communications: (1) Academia / Professional association, (2) Civil society / Non-Governmental Organization, (3) Donor / Philanthropic foundation, (4) National Statistical Office (NSO), (5) National Statistical System (NSS), (6) National Geospatial Information Authority (NGIA), (7) Other Government, (8) Media, Private sector, (9) United Nations and other international agency.

Yes, proposals on data and statistical literacy are very important areas and are welcome to be presented at the Forum as long as they contribute towards the implementation of the Medellin Framework for action on data for sustainable development and the Cape Town Global Action Plan (CTGAP) for sustainable development data aligned with the programme’s Thematic Areas (TAs) [Note: the link currently shows the previous Forum’s TAs].

If the proposal presented is based on a single organisation covering the presenter’s own work, the Programme Committee [Note: the link currently shows the previous Forum’s Committee] recommends a submitting proposal for the “Shortened session: Ignite/lightning talks” format or the three special formats (i.e., announcement, learning labs or demos).

Along with the panel discussions and short talk formats, three other types were introduced: announcements, demonstrations, and learning labs, to allow for more creative ideas and sharing of solutions on data and statistics. The Programme Committee [Note: the link currently shows the previous Forum’s Committee] will be working closely with the host country to develop and curate a space to ensure that the sharing of creative ideas is presented in the most engaging way (cost permitting).

No, the selection criteria will be objectively based on the proposal contents and balance in terms of topics, formats and speaker representation by gender, data community and region across the programme.

The aim of the Call for Programme Proposals is to provide the content for the sessions in the parallel programme and not the plenary sessions which are organized between the Programme Committee, the host country and the secretariat.

The action to be taken depends on the format decided by the Programme Committee.

For announcements, demos and short-talk formats, the Programme Committee recommends in their decision to combine 3-5 proposals in the same format into the same session timeslot, each proposal has then equal time in the session. The Committee encourages those proposers in a combined decision to discuss selecting a host to introduce each proposal in the session and submit a single entry for the published programme which covers the combined proposals.

For panel discussions and learning lab formats, the Programme Committee recommends in their decisions for proposals strongly scored but overlapping in topic be merged as follows:

1. If a merger decision involves two proposals, then this requires two organizers to work together to resubmit a merged proposal.
2. If a merger decision involves more than two proposals, then one or two of the proposers are established as coordinators and asked to consider speakers or talking points from the other proposals. Again, all proposers part of the merger decision should work together for the coordinators/organizers to resubmit the proposal.

In any combination/merger decision, all those involved are included in the decision email to facilitate any working between proposal contacts. If any proposers drop out of the session, then usually the remaining proposers are welcome to continue to plan the session. The secretariat is ready to support the process and stands ready to advise if disagreements arise. In all cases any resubmitted proposal [with reference to a Programme ID] from a combination or merger decision should not stray from the original descriptions too much and be feasible to conduct in the timeslot allocated (i.e., have a reasonable number of speakers).

The Programme Committee reserves the right to request further adjustments to any session, especially to balance gender, region, and data community representation across the parallel programme in general and session in particular.

The Forum team will share details of the call for exhibits in 2026. Please continue to look for updates on the website, through social media and by joining the mailing list. For any general enquiries please contact: dataforum@un.org.

The next Forum seeks to serve a broad community interested in common challenges around data and statistics for sustainable development. It aims to be sustainable, practical, impactful, innovative, and fun. Each Forum is special and unique as each time it is held it is hosted in a different region and country. As the planning for the next Forum advances, the Forum secretariat, host country and Programme Committee will share these unique plans through this website, through social media and the mailing list.

They can submit any related communication material to the following email address: dataforum@un.org.

The hashtags used for the forthcoming Forum are: #undataforum, #betterdata, #SDGs, #datainnovation #datapartnerships.

An online event platform will be launched nearer the Forum to contain this information. It will be accessible through a web browser or smartphone app.

An online event platform will be released nearer the Forum to contain this information. It will be accessible through a web browser or smartphone app. The secretariat can also support in speaker identification and session organizer matching please contact dataforum@un.org for further assistance.