data for development

Conversations: Strengthening the role of data in policy making-Perspectives from the World Bank Group, OECD, and AidData

kmilhollin — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 15:36:19 +0000

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In the developing country…

In the developing country context, there are many problems surrounding data production and use. First, there is lack of data. Second, available data is often of poor quality. Third, the data is mostly inaccessible. Fourth, where they are accessible they are not in user friendly formats. Fifth, these countries lack a critical mass of data users. Sixth, policymakers tend to be indifferent towards the value of quality data. Lesson: availability of data does not ensure its productive use.

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Infographic: The Shape of Successful National Data Systems in the Future

kmilhollin — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 21:18:44 +0000

Where Does the Data Come From?

kmilhollin — Tue, 21 Nov 2017 15:56:42 +0000

Where Does the Data Come From? kmilhollin Tue, 11/21/2017 - 10:56

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Data for Development (D4D)…

Data for Development (D4D) is crucial and cannot be overemphasized. One needs data to be able to track and measure development progress, through tracking development indicators against your targets overtime at various level of results, whether it be at activity, output, outcome, impact or goal level. Data needs and sources will also vary relative to the results level that one may want to track and measure. It will also depend on the emphasis and focus of monitoring and reporting, whether one conducts output monitoring, outcome monitoring or impact monitoring. However to be more strategic and serve the needs and requirements of donors and development partners, leaders and politicians and making a difference in communities, it is important to conduct outcome and impact monitoring and reporting as these stakeholders are really interested in higher level development results or development outcomes.

In terms of sources and avaialbility of data, I think in the Pacific Islands Countries, there is a lot of data, statistics and information that are being collected by the national statistics office and through reports (annual reports, reviews, assessments, evaluation) that are sitting and gathering dust in their registries and data bank - NSOs, administrative data, civil registration and vital statistics data and community data. The challenge lies in the construct and development of indicators on global commitments such as the MDGs and now the SDGs. First, attempt should be made to first know and understand the current status of data and information wealth in developing countries, thence develop/constuct indicators to measure output and outcome or impact level results that we know NSOs and organizations in developing countries are already collecting. It does not add value if at the global level indicators are developed and developing countries are not collecting data for these indicators. If the indicator is crucial to track directly the progress towards a relative outcome or impact,than include the indicators, however, the UN and other institutions must stand ready to provide technical assistance for strengthen NSOs and other institutions to be able to collect data for those key indicators. Secondly, the other option is to examine the potential for developing and constructing proxy indicators for outcome and impact level results for which countries are already collecting data. Thirdly, support institutional strengtheing to NSOs and organizations for the collection of key indicators through one off surveys or periodic surveys.

The other challenge and option is the standardization and alignment of global results framework and indicators to regional and national level results framework and a minimum indicator set for tracking global and regional results framework which is then aligned to the data capacity at regional and national levels. This would then identify and prioritise data and survey needs for results and indicators that needs to be tracked and measured and the costs asssociated with it and provide relevant survey and data collections TAs.

Having said that, support should be provided to NSOs in developing and strengthening their national statistical and data base system that is closely linked to ministries/departments statistical and data base system and the whole of Government M&E and database system. NSOs statistical and database system should feed into the whole of Government M&E and data base system, for which the latter is crucial for managing and reporting for results or development outomes to Cabinet, Parliament and donors and development partners. From my perspective, for developing countries such as Fiji or the PICs to better track, measure and report on development outcomes in the SDGs and other global commitments, there is indeed three areas of support or institutional strengthening that would be required; (i) NSOs Statistical and Database Systems (systems and apps, HR and staff capacity building, survey/data collection tools) (ii) Whole of Government M&E and Data Base System (systems, M&E results and indicator framework, tools, apps, templates, web-based reporting system, HR Capacity Building training on RBM and M&E, LFA, Programme/Project Design and Results based Reporting) (iii) M&E Leadership/M&E Focal Points and National M&E or Evaluation Associations - Strengthening M&E culture.

The challenge of tracking/monitoring, measuring and reporting on development outcomes is to ensure that no one is left behind from a development intervention whether it be at programme or project level at national, subnational (regional) district (subregional ) and community or village level. This highlights the importance of data collection and availability of data and tracking and measuring indicators and reporting not only at national level but also at regional, subregional, community and village levels. Therefore the construct of indicators is vitally important to be able to reach that far in measuring and tracking indicators at regional and subregional levels and reporting on them. In Fiji and other PICs, these seems to be a major problem. When tracking and reporting on national indicators on MDGs and global targets, at the national level, it may indicate that Fiji and other PICs are tracking well in terms of meeting the national targets, however, as one tracks these indicators at provincial or district levels than there is wide disaparity in terms of how well these provinces or districts are tracking. The challenge is to be able to track and report on whats working and whats not working and prioritise and focus and replicate and allocate more resources on whats working. This an area that may need support as we transit and move towards the SDGs where tracking/monitoring, reporting, prioritization and decision making is vitally importantly.

Thus, to end, a national statistical and database system and Whole of Government M&E System must be able to reach out and respond in terms of data collection and reporting on development outcomes at district and village levels and provincial levels and contribute to achievements and performance at national levels. This also supports good governance and social justice on a targetted approach to development intervention and transparency and accountability on management for results and reporting, decision making and resource allocations.

Dear Jone, Thank you very…

Dear Jone, Thank you very much for taking interest in our evaluation and for your extensive comments. Your diagnosis of the challenges echoes very much what we found in our report, and your ideas for deepening and strengthening data work and statistical capacity building, M&E culture and data use resonate with the recommendations that were embedded in this and other IEG reports. We just had a very interesting conversations around these very issues with a panel of experts from OECD-DAC and AidData. You may want to take a look at their reports as well: http://www.oecd.org/dac/development-co-operation-report-20747721.htm and http://aiddata.org/blog/decoding-data-use-what-evidence-do-world-leader…

Dear Estelle, Thank you so…

Dear Estelle, Thank you so much for acknowledging my comments and the link provided for additional information and discussions. I will certainly follow up and access information from the link that you have provided. Best regards.

Hi Estelle! Good of you to…

Hi Estelle! Good of you to draw attention to this important - and often neglected - part of capacity building. Governments need the statistical offices (and survey capacity) for many things, most of all for informed decision making! As you and Jone point out, an important aspect of this work is also for government agencies, CSO, and other groups to be able - and see value in - engaging with the data. The Centers for Learning in Evaluation And Results (CLEAR) (https://www.theclearinitiative.org) are one of the groups that do just that - themselves and with their partners - through direct mobilisation and engagement. Worthwhile another blog? Warmest, Monika

Happy New Year Monika! Thank…

Happy New Year Monika! Thank you for keeping abreast of our progress and for highlighting the work of CLEAR. As we stress in the report, capacity-building for data use is as important as capacity-building for data production, but has received less attention from the international community. There are many avenues to do better, as shown in a new study from Aid Data - http://aiddata.org/publications/decoding-data-use - on the topic. CLEAR is a key player in this long-term effort to foster data ecosystems and promote data use. I agree with you a blog post on its unique model would be worthwhile!

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Data for Development: Perspectives on the World Bank’s Role and Contribution

kmilhollin — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 14:48:57 +0000

Data for Development: Perspectives on the World Bank’s Role and Contribution kmilhollin Mon, 11/13/2017 - 09:48

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In Slovenia we had pretty…

In Slovenia we had pretty well developed statistics and data thay were collecting. umerous data waspublically avalable for different uses. After 2008 (economic crisis) the public availability fo data decreased enormously in tersm of diveristy of data and its quality in temrs of periods of collection, level of collection. Is there any correlation among development level of the country and the public data availabilty?

How can we Regenerate &…

How can we Regenerate & Revive JOBS in huge billion agricultural & Non Farm Enterprises / Farmers in this year very Bad Drought & repeated Tsunami floodconditions in South India couples with Demonetisation cash crunch for year Long 2016-17..?

What percentage of a…

What percentage of a development project's cost should be allotted to data collection and evaluation (ballpark figures). What is the current average for Bank projects and is that expected to change in the next five years?

While working in statistical…

While working in statistical systems of developing countries, I witnessed numerous cases where donors supported operations didn't conform with the national statistics and other data acts or regulations. I know nationals accepted this, for various reasons.

My only question to the panellists: is what should be the general rule?

My own position is that the national regulations should be abided by, and advises on improvements given when relevant.

In my field (climate change)…

In my field (climate change), there is an urgent need for data among very diverse user groups, ranging from deputy ministers to farmers. While the World Bank has amassed an impressive repository of climate data and information on the internet, many potential users do not use the internet for climate change information and in fact may not use the internet at all. As the Bank has supported a number of innovative off-line approaches, such as text messaging, community risk mapping, etc., my question is as follows: Do you have plans to incorporate off-line data proliferation into your efforts to increase data use, and what are your thoughts on data use strategies in situations where target users are not obtaining information from the internet?

Unquestionably believe that…

Unquestionably believe that that you stated. Your favourite reason appeared to be at the net the easiest thing to be mindful of. I say to you, I certainly get irked at the same time as other folks think about issues that they just don't understand about. You managed to hit the nail upon the highest as smartly as outlined out the entire thing with no need side effect , other folks can take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thank you!

On the one hand, aggregate…

On the one hand, aggregate data is very useful for evidence-based policy making and we want it to be publicly available; on the other hand, individual data could threaten the privacy of individual people. Should we offer more help to countries in managing data (e.g., tax data) to protect the confidentiality of the individual? In particular, "disaggregated" data might inadvertantly reveal too much (e.g., a medium-sized manufacturing company in a particular locality might be easily guessed by anyone familiar with that locality).

Can you comment on the…

Can you comment on the status on gender disaggregated data? Also what are the on going efforts to have Governments produce information that can support the case for gender parity/equality?

Working in developing…

Working in developing countries of West Africa, where resources are not enough and are mostly used for priorities only. The national data systems are very week and the collection teams are not well trained to collect effectively, and the collection costs are high.
In reality, these countries use their scared resources in other development areas such as road building, health rather in data collection and use. My question is, how could we get to sensitize the decision makers of these countries that data financing is not a waste of resources and to make it a priority.

Big Data sources, such as…

Big Data sources, such as mobile operator data, have great potential to support the improvement of national statistics in low- and middle-income countries and cover the data gaps that currently exist there. How do we guarantee the quality of the statistics obtained from these new sources, such that they can be accepted (particularly by governments) as acceptable shoe-ins for those gold standard statistics derived from traditional data sources? It is also important to assist national statistical office's in capacity building around understanding how to use the outputs of those new statistics derived from Big Data sources in an effective manner.

Instead of thinking about …

Instead of thinking about "what percent of the project budget should be allocated for M&E", shouldn't we ask "How much should we invest in building capacity of client governments to be able to do their own M&E"?

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The Many Faces of World Bank Data

kmilhollin — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 18:08:56 +0000

The Many Faces of World Bank Data kmilhollin Fri, 10/20/2017 - 14:08

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Hi Rasmus, I really like…

Hi Rasmus, I really like your points. To avoid part of the mentioned shortcomings we developed an online solution, which automatically collect online data from a variety of sources:
A. Data from individuals known to the organization (whose coordinates are known)
i. Online reports - predefined templates to be filled out by project (or program) team members , by using their manageforchange.com accounts, or straight from e-mail reminders (without logging-on)
ii. Structured interviews – predefined templates to be sent as links via email to project stakeholders or partners (doesn’t require the respondents to have an account)
B. Data from anonymous individuals, or from individuals whose coordinates are not known
i. Automated surveys – surveys popping up on public computers managed or used by the program (e.g. public libraries, schools, universities, touch screens in public places, etc.)
ii. Offline reports – predefined templates to be filled out by project (or program) team members in the field, where no internet connection is available, using a portable device (e.g. laptop, tablet)
iii. Surveys embedded in websites
2. Qualitative data
A. Data from individuals known to the organization (whose coordinates are known)
i. Online unstructured interviews - pre designed templates to be sent as links via email to project stakeholders or partners (doesn’t require the respondents to have an account)
B. Data from anonymous individuals, or from individuals whose coordinates are not known
i. Automated surveys – surveys popping up on public computers managed or used by the program (e.g. public libraries, schools, universities, touch screens in public places, etc.)
ii. Offline reports – predefined templates to be filled out by project (or program) team members in the field, where no internet connection is available, using a portable device (e.g. laptop, tablet)
iii. Surveys embedded in websites

We used a much less complex form of this for a Bill and Melinda Gates program in Romania - Global Libraries. We developed it with several objectives in mind:
- to empower libraries to collect data in a simple, practical and cost effective way
- to contribute to program's sustainability - in a lot of cases after program's end some of the "good habits" (data collection and usage) tend to slow down
- to have a fast and efficient method for data collection during program implementation

We used it between 2007 and 2014. The present solution, much more complex, have also the some data processing and sharing possibilities:
1. Quick analysis – simple tool for quickly visualizing the data and draw basic conclusions or identify simple tendencies, that can be used by data processing experts
2. Quantitative analysis – in-depth analysis module, where complex charts can be created, saved, shared with others or published. It includes options for using formulas and conditions. The charts can be shared online with programs' stakeholders.
4. Info graphics – one-page flyers, designed to present data in a friendly format. They can be shared online with programs' stakeholders.
5. Dashboards – share real time charts based on quantitative and qualitative data analysis with staff members or with stakeholders (each user can have access to multiple dashboards simultaneously). They can be shared online with programs' stakeholders.

Definitely the whole system can be part of organizational capacity development plan. More details can be seen at www.manageforchange.com

Marcel
https://www.linkedin.com/in/performancemanagement/

Hi Marcel, thanks for your…

Hi Marcel, thanks for your points.

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Data for Development: An Evaluation of World Bank Support for Data and Statistical Capacity

kmilhollin — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 20:02:04 +0000

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statistical capacity building

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Watch In Brief: Why Data Matters in Development

To guide its inquiry, the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) developed a list of ingredients for successful national data systems of the future, included in the infographic below.

Organization Tags

IFC

MIGA

DOI

10.1596/IEG120111

Evaluation Reports Collection