StaTact regional workshop 1 for Asia-Pacific SIDS "Governance of data ecosystems for SDGs" in Sydney
In April-May 2019, UNITAR and UN Statistics Division are rolling out StaTact in the Asia-Pacific region with a special focus on SIDS. This is done through four regional workshops each hosting three to four countries, with around 5 participants per country from National Statistical Offices, other parts of the Government and non-traditional data producers. The workshops are organised with funding support from the Government of Italy and in collaboration with regional partners: Secretariat of the Pacific Community, UNESCAP and Australian Bureau of Statistics. We hope that these workshops will mark the Asia-Pacific SIDS joining the StaTact process.
The main expected outcomes of the StaTact process for participating countries in 2019 will be a limited number (2-3) of action plans per country implemented within 6-12 months helping improve the measurement of progress in selected, nationally relevant SDG areas. At least one of these action plans will be designed by each country during the workshops themselves, and it is hoped that each country would apply StaTact methodology to at least 1 or 2 more short-term measurement issues they are facing starting in 2019.
The double objective of the StaTact workshops will therefore be
- to provide space for developing the above short-term action plans to address selected data gaps and discuss how to strengthen coordination, partnerships and collaboration between data producers and data users as the countries prepare to monitor and implement SDGs;
- to train participants on StaTact methodology so that they could apply it to other data gaps upon their return.
Participants will able to:
- Enhance knowledge of the requirements associated with monitoring progress on the SDGs, incl. institutional and coordination aspects, compilation of indicators, and data production;
- Increase awareness of the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the role coordination, partnerships and governance can play in making more timely, better quality and disaggregated data available for monitoring SDGs
- Strengthen skills related to the use of models developed by the international statistical community GSBPM and GAMSO to map current data-related institutional arrangements, identify problem areas and possible solutions
- Improv understanding of key challenges related to measurement and production of data and indicators in your selected (Working Group) area
- Better dialogue between different communities of key stakeholders involved in data collection, processing, analysis, dissemination and utilization in support of the SDGs at country level
- Produce 1 concrete action plan per group developed for implementation within 6-12 month timeframe
The workshops will run over two to two and a half days and will be organized around specific measurement problems selected by each country as critical to the development of policies and programmes aimed at the achievement of national priority areas corresponding to the Pacific Sustainable Development Indicators and SDGs. Each country group will use StaTact methodology to address their selected problems.
The typical StaTact process consists of three main phases that are applied as part of the roll-out of StaTact to Asia-Pacific SIDS. It is expected that all participants contribute during all 3 phases:
Pre-workshop phase
This phase starts 2-3 weeks before the workshop and comprises the participation in the e-learning course « Governance of data ecosystems for SDGs” and an online collaboration in your country working group using online StaTact tool. During this phase, each country group leader will propose an initial measurement problem via portal and facilitate a discussion in an online chat to refine or change their proposed data/measurement problem.
Participants will also be invited to consult a number of resources prior to the workshop.
Workshop phase
The workshop will start with the explanation of the methodology, and a session on institutional, partnerships and coordination aspects related to data production, dissemination and utilization and their relevance in the context of SDGs.
Participants will then continue their work within already established working groups led by the designated group leaders. They will complete the analysis using StaTact application and develop detailed action plans, and will discuss the budgets and monitoring frameworks.
By the end of this phase, the working groups will have produced each a short-term action plan (6-12 months) that could be realistically implemented with a small or relatively small budget. The action plans will be presented in plenary and discussed. Towards the end of the workshop, it will be important to discuss all relevant stakeholders who should be part of the Working Group to follow up on action plan refinement and implementation, as well as identify a high-ranking official from most relevant Ministry/Department who will take on the role of the StaTact champion – one for each of the validated action plans - to ensure follow-up on its implementation.
Monitoring and Implementation phase
After the workshop, the participating focal points will be expected to organize a meeting to inform relevant colleagues within the Ministry on the action plan and related steps/activities involving the Ministry and to assign responsibilities. The progress will be tracked using a monitoring mechanism that will also be made available online after the workshops.
The StaTact tool is available online at statact.unitar.org and combines three elements in one:
a simple, bottom-up analytical framework for mapping the institutional arrangements for data collection, production, dissemination and utilization to support the implementation of the SDGs and for identifying challenges and good practices around a specific problem statement;
a participatory methodology for organizing working groups and structuring future partnerships and operational arrangements between data producers, data holders and data users, and for planning actions to inform domestic processes;
a mechanism to monitor implementation through the online monitoring schedule, the use of focal points in each concerned entity for the related working group and other support.
The analytical framework aims to help assess the challenges and opportunities presented by current governance, coordination practices and broader institutional architecture with a focus on data. To this end, the analysis is focused on a specific measurement problem area that will be discussed by each thematic group and relevant inter-linkages. It uses a bottom-up, tactical approach and problem trees taking group discussions around a specific measurement problem through several stages: Stage 1. Problem statement and business case, Stage 2. Mapping to SDG and national indicators, Stage 3. Institutional arrangements (using Generic Activity Model for Statistical Organizations or GAMSO), Stage 4. Analysis of data ecosystems (using Generic Statistical Business Process Model or GSBPM), and Stage 5. Action planning.
Each country will be represented by a group composed of a Chief Statistician and/or other senior participants from National Statistical Office and other senior government officials from relevant ministries with a delegated authority to contribute to action-planning and agree on the Ministry/Department’s contributions to the implementation stage. They will also serve as StaTact focal points for monitoring progress on the implementation of the steps/activities for which their Ministry/Department will be assigned responsibility. In addition to government officials, representatives of relevant non-government stakeholders such as key data users or producers in the selected thematic areas will also be invited.