Batapa-Sigue: Data for development

Batapa-Sigue: Data for development

DATA is not only the new oil, it is the new soil, says David McCandless, data visualization expert – an imperative we need to harness to effectively scale and deploy innovative solutions in a timely manner to design the future we visualize today.

I am truly grateful to be one of the senior research fellows under the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) Graduate School of Public and Development Management (GSPDM) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Futures Thinking Research.

My paper, Data for Development (D4D): A Study Towards Building a Comprehensive Data Analytics and Visualization Portal for National and Local Development in the Philippines, is part of DAP's 2021 Research Program under the theme: “Reimagining Sustainable Development Futures Today.”

Our ambitious mission is to support the goal of achieving the SDGs for the Philippines by helping measure our compliance. SDG 2030 may only have 17 goals, but there are 169 targets under these goals, and the 247 indicators. What we need to focus on are 247 indicators that are basically the measurement of our compliance. Given this framework – we cannot measure the 17 goals without gathering data about the presence or absence of these indicators. Hence, our focus is SDG 17 – particularly indicator 17.13.1 which calls for a macroeconomic dashboard. The indicators under SDG 17.18 calls for statistical capacity for SDG monitoring, while SDG 17.19.1 is also an ongoing call for statistical capacity even beyond the SDGs.

I am excited to have undertaken this study alongside my role as an information and communications technology (ICT) advocate for job generation, digital governance, digital skilling and other advocacies, especially in the countryside, which gave me a personal experience of how the lack of structured data is a big challenge towards creating policies and programs that are relevant and effective.

I am assisted and guided by a young Filipino innovator, Frei Sangil, founder and chief executive officer of LAYERTech Software Labs. Frei is a data analyst, cybersecurity, computing and intelligence consultant for various companies, non-government organizations, and local governments and government agencies.

This study was inspired by the excitement of knowing that we are sitting on a huge amount of data of all sizes and shapes, forms and structure, from different sources and platforms – waiting to be harnessed for purposes of effectively extracting and drawing hindsight, insight and foresight. Big data, side by side with other disruptive technologies such as AI, IOT and cloud computing compose what experts call the confluence of digital transformation, which every economy today aims to embrace.

Our study will focus on building a case for the need to catch up with governments around the world that promote and mainstream a data-driven public sector. An OECD digital government study in 2019 – proposes a model for understanding the "data-driven public sector" (DDPS) that will maximize the opportunities provided by twenty-first-century data.

Countries with a truly data-driven public sector recognize data as a key strategic asset with its value defined and its impact measured; reflect active efforts to remove barriers to managing, sharing and reusing data; apply data to transform the design, delivery and monitoring of public policies and services; and values efforts to publish data openly as much as the use of data between, and within, public sector organizations.

The requisite towards a data-driven public sector is to develop a framework that defines data governance and prescribes a common framework for establishing such governance, apply data to generate public value mainly in anticipation and planning programs, designing policies, and interventions; delivery of public services; and evaluation and monitoring impact and performance.

Our study aims to establish the importance, value, and urgency of a clearly defined government data cycle towards a unified data governance framework in the Philippines, and the creation of a comprehensive data analytics and visualization portal towards a data-driven public sector. A data-driven public sector will pave the way for the practice of anticipatory governance, which involves strategic foresight and forecasting.

With our own data visualization platform, the Philippines can empower its key-decision makers and planners, and even its citizens, to drive effective policies and programs for development. Finally, to ensure that the mechanisms established in this study are put to good use, it is crucial to also identify major strategies to ensure that our citizens have functional data literacy.

With this research, we ask, how important is public data in the Philippines and how do we scale a national data visualization portal for the Philippines? I shall share the initial outputs of our survey tool next week.

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