On July 2, 2026, in Cali, Colombia's National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) presented the Marco de Datos Ciudadanos para Colombia, the country's first Citizen Data Framework. The Framework is an institutional roadmap that guides how citizen data is produced, managed, and used under clear standards of quality, ethics, and participation. The launch marks the culmination of Datos en Acción (Data in Action), Colombia's flagship project within Make Inclusive Data the Norm (MIDN), the initiative funded by APC-Colombia that also supports Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal in strengthening inclusive data systems.
Developed by DANE in collaboration with civil society organizations (CSOs) and technical support from the Global Partnership, together with APC-Colombia and the UN's Collaborative on Citizen Data, the Framework makes Colombia one of the first countries in the world to adopt an institutional roadmap based on the Copenhagen Framework on Citizen Data. A first version was released in 2025 and tested through an international Expert Meeting Group of the Collaborative on Citizen Data, ahead of this final version's launch in Cali.
"One of this administration's great achievements has been opening the door to data produced by citizens," said Piedad Urdinola, director of DANE, at the launch. She noted that the Framework moves the country toward new ways of producing information with technical rigor, innovation, and participation, describing the result as a more technical, more innovative DANE, with better tools to strengthen the quality of information as a public good that guides the country's decisions.
Citizen data refers to information generated through initiatives in which citizens, communities, and civil society organizations actively participate across the data value chain, from identifying information needs to collecting, analyzing, using, and disseminating data. This kind of information complements traditional statistical sources, offering a closer view of territorial, social, environmental, and demographic realities that require more detail, context, and differential or intersectional approaches, building on DANE's broader work tackling inequality in Colombia through an intersectional approach to data.
Since 2023, Datos en Acción has worked to build the Framework through sustained co-creation with civil society, part of a broader effort to shape the future of inclusive statistics in Colombia. DANE mapped 153 CSOs engaged in citizen data nationwide, 96 of which are actively generating it across 12 thematic areas, from gender equality and climate action to territorial governance and ethnic, disability, and rural differential approaches. Eleven in-person workshops and two virtual sessions, held in Bogotá, MedellÃn, Cali, and Cartagena and drawing an average of 60 participants each, shaped the Framework's guiding principles, technical recommendations, and quality standards.
"The launch of this Framework consolidates a co-creation process that we began together with DANE and other partners in 2023," said Fredy RodrÃguez, the Global Partnership regional manager for Latin America and the Caribbean. He described it as the result of a collective effort to build more inclusive data systems, one where citizen-generated information helps make realities visible, close gaps, and enrich decision-making. "When data reflects the diversity of people and territories, it generates greater impact for development," he said.
International partners helped connect the process to global discussions and comparable good practices, while keeping the focus on Colombia's own context. Haoyi Chen, of the Inter-Secretariat Working Group on Household Surveys at the UN Statistics Division, called it valuable to see how Colombia adapted and implemented the Framework's principles nationally, translating a global framework into a practical tool. She added that Colombia's experience will be shared with Malawi and Nepal as part of the Statistics Division's ongoing work.
For more on how the Framework and its Maturity Model came together, read Colombia's experience in Make Inclusive Data the Norm.
The launch took place in Cali, which will also host Colombia's second National Forum on Data and Statistics this September. At the event, Fernando Segura, Cali's head of transparency, noted that the true public value of data emerges when the knowledge held by the state is combined with information generated by citizens, reinforcing the importance of open and collaborative data systems.
