The United Nations (UN) is currently in the process of adopting the next development agenda for post-2015.  Over the weekend, more than 150 heads of state met at the United Nations headquarters in New York City to commemorate the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals build off of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and will guide future global development policies and development agendas for the next fifteen years. 

The agenda is an ambitious one. The current count of the SDGs sits at 17 goals and 169 indicators, a significant increase from the 8 goals and 21 indicators of the MDGs. The reason behind this extensive list of development goals is the comprehensive global conversations that took place to hammer out the agreement’s details. In an unprecedented effort, the UN held 11 thematic and 83 national consultations and launched a My World Survey to capture perceptions and opinions on what should comprise the next development agenda. 

An ambitious agenda, however, is not necessarily the problem. The issue is the ability (or the inability) of the global community to monitor and track the progress of each and every indicator. Skepticism surrounds the goals for these exact reasons. Some critics characterize the SDGs as unsustainable and unmeasurable. In our current resource-constrained environment, can countries really afford to fund and measure the progress of 17 goals for 15 years? While critiques should be welcomed, the signatory pen will soon be to paper. It is now up to the global development community to drive the progress of their commitments. Part of achieving that progress will be focusing on the data revolution. 

Proponents of the agenda, such as economist Jeffrey Sachs, frame the goals’ achievement as contingent upon harnessing the power of data. The UN sides with this school of thought and has called for a UN Data Revolution. Out with the old, in with the new. It is an upheaval of the traditional methods of measurements, an insurgency of innovation, if you will. Despite the clamor at the top of the pyramid, however, one cannot help but wonder, don’t most revolutions start at the bottom? Can we really achieve these new goals with a top-down revolution?

But weariness need not equal defeat. Here is what we must do if we want to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals:

Go Local
In order to mitigate apprehensions toward a top-down data revolution, we must orientate some of our focus towards the grassroots. This should be done with an intense focus on increasing the capacity of national statistics offices and public agencies while improving data accuracy, data literacy, and data value. Data value refers to the government perception, at the national and subnational level, that data is not only important but necessary for effective planning, monitoring, and evaluation. Politicians and citizens alike must be energized about data’s potential to improve service delivery, public management, accountability, and transparency within their country. 

This feat won’t come cheap; estimates for bolstering the IT and statistical capacity of all lower-income countries are projected at $1billion per year. Financing these initiatives is an entirely different can of worms. Domestically-raised revenues, official development assistance, and private investments are the current appointees to foot the bill. Whether or not this is palpable is a discussion for another blog.

Go Innovative (and get it in real time)
A key lesson learned from the MDGs was the need for more up to date data. There is a crucial need to decrease the lag in time for this next agenda. Fortunately, there has been an explosion of innovative information and communication technology which may help quell this problem. Technologies similar to DevTrac, and UReport should be utilized to collect data at the local level in real time. The supply of the technology is the easy part. The real challenge is achieving use and uptake of such technology. The question now will be whether we can harness these innovative data collection regimes effectively and thus measure the SDG indicators more frequently.  

Go for the Gaps
One concern about relying on innovative technologic data collection methods is that we may further marginalize disadvantaged groups that lack the means of technical infrastructure (cell phones, sufficient bandwidth, internet connectivity, etc.). As we revolutionize data collection, we must ensure that we are capturing the most vulnerable populations: the elderly, young girls and women , the disabled, and others. As the revolution rages on, we must be sure to include those who are most often excluded.

Next Steps 
While the ink is already drying on the SDG declaration, the discussion of statistical measures and data collection is still ripe. As the development community moves forward with this new agenda, these three themes (go local, go innovative, and go for the gaps) must drive that discussion. The development community should continue to promote, but must also invest in, innovative data systems and information and communication technologies (ICTs). The success of these effort are contingent upon the arming of revolutionaries at the bottom and patiently waiting to see if those at the top follow up the agenda with action. Will the revolution be powerful enough to dismantle the traditional data-archy? We will have to wait and see. 


​Deirdre Appel is a Master’s candidate in Global Policy Studies at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. 

As a research affiliate at Innovations for Peace and Development (IPD) at the University of Texas at Austin this summer, I returned to China and did research on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). All of my resources for the AIIB are from the National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) website, which contains published academic articles and dissertations from Chinese scholars and researchers. After reading more than thirty academic articles, I have made this brief summary of some typical opinions among various Chinese researchers. The following are three popular opinions that hypothesize the aim or potential impact of the AIIB.

1) The AIIB’s investment in infrastructure will help grow the economies of both China and its neighbors due to the significant impact of infrastructure on the country’s GDP.

Xingjie Sun, a post-doctor who is interested in theoretical economics, stated in one of his articles:

“In the past few decades, investment in domestic infrastructure has brought significant GDP increase to China. Today, in a time of economic transformation for China, the government is seeking to expand its infrastructure development capacity and investment internationally.”

To strengthen the importance of infrastructure to a country, the author mentioned Brazil as an example. There was once an anti-government parade consisting of millions of people in Brazil protesting the continuing rising price of bus tickets. But here, we should notice that the fundamental reason for this situation was a lack of infrastructure. If citizens could have other convenient transportation choices, such as subways, light rail, and rapid shuttles, there would not be such a mess. This definitely lagged the economic development in Brazil. (Xingjie Sun, “The Prospect and Challenge of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank” 2014)

Another researcher from the International Finance Institute in Bank of China, Youxin Wang, expressed a similar opinion: 

“Many of China’s neighboring countries, such as the Philippines, Vietnam, and India, will need a high level of investment to build their infrastructure in the next decade. China has the top foreign exchange reserve. Therefore, by making loans or exporting technique and management to support these countries’ economic development, China can earn a large profit, as well as develop a good relationship with these countries.” (Youxin Wang, “The Establishment of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a Multi-win Choice” 2014)

2) The AIIB is a realistic method for the reformation of the global financial system.

The financial crisis in 2008 reminded people around the world of the importance of global financial system reformation. In fact, some international institutes, such as World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank (WB), are taking steps to make the financial system more stable and efficient. However, many problems still exist.

Wei Li, an associate professor in college of international relations in Renmin University of China presented an interesting statement,

“These institutes, such as WB and IMF, are actually under control of the United States. They often take the profit of US and other developed countries in the first place and overlook developing countries. AIIB is needed in order to expand the impact of developing countries in the global financial system and break unfair rules in those institutes that mentioned. The establishment of AIIB is to refine our current Global Financial System, to make it more healthy and fair for the whole world.” (Wei Li, “Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will Construct a New Financial System” 2015)


3) The AIIB can help internationalize the Chinese currency (RMB) to avoid potential losses.

In the past few decades, China has relied heavily on the US dollar. Many researchers worry that China’s large amounts of foreign exchange reserves for US dollars may generate a huge loss of Chinese economy once the US dollar loses value. Internationalizing the RMB to become an SDR currency through the establishment of the AIIB is one preferred step toward avoiding these future losses.

 Da Wang, an associate professor of the American Research Institute at Jilin University, mentions, “China has changed from the biggest beneficiary to the biggest victim of US dollars after the 2008 Financial Crisis because the devaluation of the US dollar against the RMB generated a huge loss for China.” Wang further explains this situation by referencing “China’s Dollar Trap”, created by Paul Krugman in 2009. (Da Wang, “The Worldwide Meaning and Practice in China of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank” 2015)