World Data Forum
IBGE signs cooperation agreement to stimulate use of Big Data and Data Science
May 03, 2023 02h00 PM | Last Updated: May 03, 2023 04h45 PM
The IBGE was present in the 4th United Nations World Data Forum, held in Hangzhou, China, between April 24 and 27. It was a hybrid meeting - on-site and on-line - that discussed innovation, cooperation and improvement of data reliability at the international level. Maria Lucia França Pontes Vieira, Deputy Director of Surveys, Cayo de Oliveira Franco, Coordinator of Geography, and Andrea Diniz da Silva, head of the Center for Research of the National School of Statistical Sciences (ENCE/IBGE), represented the IBGE in the event.
During the forum, the IBGE, which hosts the United Nations Hub for Big Data in Latin America and the Caribbean, signed cooperation agreements with the other regional hubs hosted by China, United Arab Emirates and Rwanda. The regional hubs aim at improving the use of big data in the statistical production, fostering qualification and encouraging partnerships between statistical offices from different regions worldwide to upgrade the production of official statistics through the use of Big Data and Data Science.
For Andrea Diniz da Silva, who also coordinates the Brazilian Regional Hub, now is time to leverage the use of Big Data and meet the demands that cannot be addressed by traditional data from surveys and administrative records. “The forum is a key place to pinpoint and spotlight the efforts that are already being made towards this end, as well as to streamline the cooperation, avoiding duplicate work in the global statistical community,” explains her. “This is very important because demands are many and resources, scarce, so they need to be well used,” complements the researcher, who also highlighted the cooperation between the regional hubs, considered key to coordinate actions and share knowledge, experiences and good practices. “Regardless of the region, the challenges faced by statistical offices are very similar, so the solutions to face them should be shared,” states her.
Forum also discussed integration with geospatial information
The event also discussed the integration of data with geospatial information, seen by Cayo Franco, Coordinator of Geography, as an innovation way to be pursued by countries. “Brazil has a comparative advantage in relation to other countries, as it has both communities increasingly interacting in the IBGE. I hope that we might advance on many methodologies and subjects discussed in the conferences and sessions over the next years,” states the researcher. He also considered positive the particpation of Geosciences in the forum, as it allowed a qualified discussion about subjects like governance, partnerships, innovation and challenges in the production of data. He also highlighted the participation in the parallel event on Big Data Hub. “It was amazing, both for relevant subjects for the future of data production in the IBGE and for contacting the other regional hubs,” said him, highlighting the infrastructure of the Chinese Global Hub and the projection that Brazil and the IBGE have with the Regional Hub it hosts.
Censuses were discussed in the meeting as well
The achievement of census operations worldwide was also discussed in the 4th United Nations World Data Forum. Maria Lucia Vieira highlighted the discussions about this subject and how changes in society affected the census in different countries. “The difficulties of the statistical offices are similar and fostering such discussions to share ideas is key, as everybody profit,” praises her. She also considered a positive point in the event the sessions on monitoring digital statistics and on the use of big data and administrative records, as well as the sessions on data geoprocessing. “I also highlight the speeches on the importance of educating the population to understand and rely on statistical data among many relevant and interesting subjects,” concludes her.
