UN initiative to provide MENA data

UN Big Data for Sustainable Development hub opens in UAE

The Middle East and North Africa's Big Data for Sustainable Development hub was launched at Expo 2020 Dubai this week by the UAE Government and the United Nations. The initiative aims to bring knowledge, technology and innovation to the data science teams of government statistics authorities across #MENA, helping to build the capacity of authorities to leverage big data, and thus help fast-track progress towards the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Leveraging big data is now vital for policymakers to better understand the demand for food, energy and water, shed light on disparities in society, forecast needs for services and infrastructure, and measure our impact on the environment. However, the processing and analysis of official data for global, regional and national development policymaking still lags far behind the private sector.

The UAE hub will facilitate big data and data science projects that support official statisticians and data scientists, and is one of only four countries selected as a regional headquarters for the platform. China, Brazil and Rwanda have also been made regional hubs.

Find out more about this initiative:

• Check out my Linkedin post on this.

• Read about UAE efforts to meet SDGs.

• More UN resources on Big Data for Sustainable Development.