What do we know about the value of data?

In an excellent new paper by Jenna Slotin, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD) concludes that the best way to make the case for improved investments in data is “to show the concrete impacts of data on improving people’s lives, or how a failure to invest in data holds back progress.”

GPSDD sees this as a cornerstone of its work. The paper concludes:

“Going forward, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data will support efforts to compile stories of data impact that make a clear link to return on investment. We will build on the work of our partners and encourage anyone to contact us with stories they would like to share. We will package these stories and use them in our advocacy as we make the case for more and better financing for data.”

DI is up for this challenge and identifies five key areas to search out evidence:

• The integration of digital birth registration with national identity streamlines children’s access to services
• Accurate, disaggregated data on cause of death leads to better distribution of critical resources within the health service
• Accurate and timely data from facility-level health management information systems improves the resourcing and staffing of rural health services
• Accurate and timely data from school-level education management information systems improves school attendance by girls
• Transforming agricultural censuses into regularly collected administrative data improves production.

Read more about our work on data use.