New Collaboration Will Assist African National Statistical Offices With Big Data Analytics

Global Voice Group and Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data will support analysis of key data to aid sustainable development
 
Global Voice Group (GVG), a leading regulatory technology developer and Big Data Analytics organisation, and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD) have announced a partnership that will see GVG share their expertise in the analysis of big data with national statistical offices across Africa, to support sustainable development initiatives. This collaboration will help to promote the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and strengthen GPSDD and the UN Economic Commission for Africa’s (UNECA) capacity building programme: COVID-19: Data for a Resilient Africa.
 
“Sustainable development is integral, and even more so on the African continent. All governments are looking to grow their countries’ economies and ensuring better lives for all, but they remain cognisant that it must be done in a systematic manner. We are looking to support this by sharing our expertise in data analytics that will make their data actionable and support decision making while ensuring that policies, resources and technology are deployed in the right place and time so that Africans receive the greatest benefit possible,” said Laurent Sarr, GVG Technical Director. 
 
The initiative between GPSDD and UNECA was officially announced in early 2020 seeking more collaboration in the areas of access to relevant data, analytics and visualization, training and capacity development, technology and connectivity, and financial resources. GVG’s experience on the continent allows them to fit right into the program seeing as they have been able to collect and analyse data which governments can use to support decision-making.
 
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, GVG was able to develop their “COVID-19 Tracker”, which is a technical and analytic system that uses mobility data to track and give a better understanding of the disease’s spread trajectories in any given country. The system was made available to governments, response teams and relevant authorities that wanted to make use of it. It was used to great success in Ghana and helped the authorities in their response to the virus. This process is in line with the expertise that GVG will provide through the collaboration with GPSDD, for purposes related to mobility analysis, including strategic tourism management and travel patterns among others.
 
Claire Melamed, CEO of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data said “Data has become part of the fabric of our societies and all governments therefore need robust data systems to understand the fundamental needs of their populations. Complex problems require partnerships: bringing together the best minds and sharing resources. We’re excited to broker partnerships with organisations like Global Voice Group that will help build data for decision-making capabilities in multiple countries in Africa. 
 
Global Voice Group has offices in the African countries they operate in and have continued to support African Governments in using mobility data that is especially critical in tracking the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.