Abu Dhabi - The second edition of the United Nations Data Forum 2018 will open tomorrow, Monday, in the United Arab Emirates
The three-day forum will bring together more than 2,500 data experts, high-ranking government officials and prominent policymakers from 120 countries around the world.
The UN World Data Forum 2018 is hosted by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA), with the support of the Statistics Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The Forum will be co-organised by a number of partners, including governments, the World Bank, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), PARIS21 (the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the United Nations Foundation, as well as a number of civil society organisations and entities.
The United Nations selected the UAE to host the second UN World Data Forum 2018 after competing with developed countries, including Switzerland, Finland, Mexico and other countries.
The 2ns UN Data Forum 2018 will discuss harnessing the data revolution for sustainable development and improving the use of data and statistics to achieve change towards a better future for human communities in line with the SDGs 2030.
The Forum will also feature presentations on interactive visual data and discussion panels, which enable the participants to interact, exchange ideas and views, and enhance data-use capabilities to meet the UN’s SDGs 2030.
The UN estimates that 90 percent of the world's data has been developed over the past two years, and that the volume of data will increase by 40 percent annually.
The expansion of new data sources, resulting mainly from mobile, digital and space technologies, gives ample opportunities for innovative solutions to be integrated with formal data mechanisms and structures.