The Future of Data at the UN

Quick glimpse into the OICT Symposium: The Future of Data at the UN

The conversation explored how the UN could create an effective data ecosystem across the Secretariat. To tackle this topic, experts from diverse professional backgrounds have been invited to share their perspectives. Here are a few snippets from the discussion this morning:

Jordan Morrow: "We think we have to get to a point of perfection before we can run with a decision…don’t ever get stuck in that because you won’t succeed. We need to know that there is uncertainty and unintended consequences built into everything we do. We need a culture of positivity that failure is not bad, learning is not bad, it’s okay for a study to go differently than expected. We need to help people understand that uncertainty is not a bad thing; this is what we need to build into everybody’s mindset from a data literacy perspective."

Lydia Clougherty Jones: "Data analytics helps with trends, it has predictive power, and probability power; but it’s not perfect. There is uncertainty in open data; if you trust the quality of the data, how do you control downstream sharing of data, how do we ensure ethical uses of data. You can’t eliminate bias either; together with uncertainty, there needs to be a balance to mitigate the bad downstream uses. Open by default positive outcomes will outweigh the costs. We have to be sensitive to how context matters when dealing with risks of uncertainty of use of data."

How can we break down the wall between data ownership & data use?

Dr. Sreekar Krishna: "Whoever the end decision makers are, they need to have ability to relate to how the data was created. Think about the lifecycle of data; consumers of the data put the onus of data accessibility to those that collect it. Ownership should be distributed equally along the entire lifecycle. Data is the water that flows through the organization; it’s holistic, we must all keep the water clean."

Lydia Clougherty Jones: "We don’t own data; we have rights to use the data for a certain period of time, for a purpose. We need to think about how we deploy the rights that you have. You have a right to use data under certain circumstances; in exchange you have an obligation to keep it secure and confidential. We need to move away from an ownership concept to a rights concept. It’s difficult to decide who owns and controls data because it creates confusion."

Should everyone be data literate and how do we go about this in a cost effective and pragmatic manner?

Jordan Morrow: "The approach that I take in helping organizations drive data literacy strategies. We assess every individual to assess their comfort level with data; it’s not a one size fits all. We then take them on a learning cycle. I’m a massive believer that data literacy has the power for every individual to do something – data literacy for all. We continue to drive the program that provides free resources to empower people to have skills that can help them succeed in this digital revolution." 

It was a very interesting discussion around data literacy and open data. Thanks to the UN for putting this on and making it accessible from anywhere!