The United States Government, working with members of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, hosted the first of a series of community data events, starting with one in that brought together policy makers, data scientists, statisticians, application developers, and other data users and producers.

The U.S. Government, working with members of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, hosted the first of a series of community data events, starting with one in September in Washington, D.C. bringing together policy makers, data scientists, statisticians, application developers, and other data users and producers. The aim is to look together for new ways to find solutions and identify opportunities to fill the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) data gaps, identifying new or existing data sources, data analysis, and data sharing methods for sustainable development data. Based on the lessons learned from the September event, other events will be organized to replicate it in other locations and to collect and share the results.

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Participation: We had a diverse group of participants, totaling over 80 people on Friday night and more than 50 who participated in the workshops on Saturday. Participants travelled from 7 countries on 4 continents. We also had strong turnout from members of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, with SDSN, USG, Planet Labs, the Hewlett Foundation, the UN Foundation, SAP, ESRI, Planet Labs, Development Gateway, and many others taking part. 

Outcomes: Please see the outcomes and commitments from the event. Overall, there was a high level of support for planning additional community data events focusing on other Sustainable Development Goals in other parts of the world. Many participants also made commitments to solve specific data gaps or create presentations in anticipation of the World Data Forum in 2016.  Our Facilitator, Allen Gunn, said that this event had one of the highest rates of commitments generated of any of the events he has facilitated, which was a testament to the energy and resolve of the participants.

Next steps: Please email info@data4sdgs.org if you are interested in helping coordinate future events.