söndag 13 september 2015

Why we need a data revolution to track development goals

A hand is silhouetted in front of a computer screen in this picture illustration taken in Berlin May 21, 2013. The Financial Times' website and Twitter feeds were hacked May 17, 2013, renewing questions about whether the popular social media service has done enough to tighten security as cyber-attacks on the news media intensify. The attack is the latest in which hackers commandeered the Twitter account of a prominent news organization to push their agenda. Twitter's 200 million users worldwide send out more than 400 million tweets a day, making it a potent distributor of news. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski   (GERMANY - Tags: CRIME LAW SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) - RTXZUYDSource: World Economic Forum 
By 2030, we should be living healthier, more prosperous lives on a greener, cleaner planet helped by robust policies to combat climate change and use precious resources, like water, wisely.

That is, if world leaders live up to the promise of ambitious development goals to end poverty and hunger, and promote a more sustainable way of life, over the next 15 years.

But for governments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), due to be adopted at a U.N. summit this month, there must be a push for better data to allow progress to be tracked and leaders to be held to account, experts say.