The world feels like a very different place to 2015, when the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (the Global Partnership) began its work. Global crises like climate change, pandemics, and hunger require an even more joined-up approach to data production, use, and governance, and increase the urgency of our work. We want to see data produced by companies and NGOs on one side of the world being shared with policymakers tackling urgent challenges on the other. We want to see everyone actively participating in the governance of their own data. We want to make sure that the world’s best data is being used to solve the world’s worst problems.
To deliver against this ambitious agenda, we are evolving our network and external identity, working with more partners from an even more diverse array of geographies and sectors, and updating our digital presence to become more inclusive and accessible. We’ve made it easier to engage in a variety of different ways: by signing up to our listserv community, joining an activity, partnering on a project, and participating at events. Everyone will be able to receive all our communications, resources, and engage at convenings.
Our network now connects more than 650 organizations from governments, civil society organizations, academia, and companies—all ready to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals with more timely, inclusive, and accountable data. We create spaces for different data communities to come together, and mobilize to break down barriers and silos between data actors, all focused on using data to drive progress for people and the planet.
A refreshed identity and website
To increase our impact and the power of the network, we’ve updated and strengthened our identity and digital presence. Our fresh visual identity better reflects who we are and where we are going. In messaging terms, we are raising the bar and becoming more nuanced—we can only do that because of the tireless work of our partners over the years in helping people see the inherent value of data in the development space. The message is no longer simply that data is worthy of attention, but about how to design data programs and systems that are sustainable, ethical and just.
Communicating the how of building fairer, more effective data systems is complex and that’s why our new identity goes hand in hand with a more impactful and compelling online experience—ensuring the Global Partnership story and our network’s collective impact shines on our website. A few things that excite us about our revamped website is improved accessibility, a new area on impact, and an events section.
The next chapter
Our new identity comes at an exciting moment for our ever-growing network, as we look ahead to lots of connected pieces in the Autumn and beyond. Global advocacy efforts are a growing focus of our community, with 86% of our partners agreeing that a greater coordinated effort on ethical and inclusive data is needed. Answering this call, the Data Values Project campaign is launching in the Autumn, centring around a manifesto for action. Alongside this, we are working with our board co-conveners UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohamed and the World Bank’s Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships Marie Pangestu and others on raising data financing at scale.
We look forward to using our digital presence to provide more opportunities to you all:
- We want to get your tools used where they're needed most—share them with us.
- We want to crowdsource solutions to the problems you are facing—reach out to talk about challenges.
- We want to amplify your opinions on the trends you're seeing—tell us about them.
This work has been made possible by the generous support of the Hewlett Foundation to help deliver our vision. We are grateful to Soapbox and Ymbra for their support in making our new identity and website a reality.