The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development charts a path to a better world over the next decade. To effectively and efficiently address the breadth and depth of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), governments are increasingly adopting alternative or non-traditional data sources and methods to fill data gaps and complement traditional data.
While harnessing the data revolution for official statistics is a developing and evolving process, this report highlights the key non-traditional data sources and methods currently being used and the opportunities, challenges, and considerations associated with incorporating them into SDG monitoring and implementation.
This report is a practical resource that provides brief overviews of topics of interest and provides links to more detailed information. It highlights key areas of consideration for using alternative data sources and approaches. The four key alternative data sources and approaches highlighted are geospatial data, citizen generated data, privately-held data, and administrative data.
This report is co-produced by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data and GIZ.
