Background and Rationale
Digital and emerging technologies play a significant role as enablers of sustainable development and transforming how the world operates, both now and in the future. These technologies are reshaping how data are produced, integrated, analyzed, and used, opening new possibilities to close persistent data gaps to inform policy, while raising fundamental questions about quality, ethics, trust, representativeness and governance.
While the opportunities and risks associated with using emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), are widely recognized, adopting these technologies requires building capabilities in a safe, equitable, sustainable and responsible manner grounded in countries’ realities. Significant disparities persist across countries at the foundational level, especially in data infrastructure, governance, and technical capacity, thereby increasing the risk of deepening the digital divide.
Artificial intelligence, in particular, requires national statistical systems to rethink how data are governed, processed, and made accessible to enable its responsible and effective use. This includes modernizing data management and dissemination practices, strengthening quality controls, enhancing governance, and investing in new skills, technologies, and partnerships.[1] Recognizing both the opportunities and the challenges of making official statistics open, artificial intelligence-ready and future-ready, the Statistical Commission in its fifty-seventh session underscored the need for harmonized metadata, clear legal, ethical and governance frameworks, and safeguards to protect confidentiality. It further emphasized the need for practical guidance and sustained capacity development to support countries at varying levels of digital readiness in effectively adopting artificial intelligence. The Commission established the Kigali City Group on AI readiness of Official Data and Statistics, hosted by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (Dec 57/101(e)), to strengthen the AI-readiness of official data and statistics globally. Various elements of such work, including domain specific aspects, data quality, data governance, big data applications and others, are also carried forward by different expert bodies and groups both within and outside the aegis of the Statistical Commission.
Recent global commitments, including the Pact of the Future, underscore the urgency to strengthen capabilities and harness data and technology to anticipate risks, seize opportunities, act early, and manage uncertainty. It also highlights the importance of robust data governance and international cooperation, with inclusive and meaningful participation of all countries. In parallel, the Global Digital Compact calls for accelerated progress in developing countries, including least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), and small island developing States (SIDS), as well as the specific challenges facing middle-income countries.
This need is particularly acute in LDCs that are highly vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks and often have limited human and institutional capacity. The African region is especially affected, accounting for 32 of the world’s 44 LDCs. The Doha Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries further highlights these challenges and calls for greater support for accelerating their digital transformation.