A future for digital public goods for monitoring SDG indicators

Digital public goods (DPGs) can accelerate progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) when supported by effective policies. Yet, there is no universally accepted definition of DPGs nor clarity on how to maximize their societal benefit. The International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS) conducted a survey of 51 experts across multiple scientific fields worldwide to gather opinions on DPG definitions, challenges, and practical implementation for SDG support. Drawing on the survey, the paper proposes core principles and a strategy emphasizing international standards, adherence to open science and open data, and scalability in monitoring SDG indicators. A community-driven development approach is proposed to accelerate the production and adoption of DPGs for SDGs while following these principles.

Dong Liang, Huadong Guo, Stefano Nativi, Markku Kulmala, Zeeshan Shirazi, Fang Chen, Gretchen Kalonji, Dongmei Yan, Jianhui Li, Robert Duerler, Lei Luo, Qunli Han, Siming Deng, Yuanyuan Wang, Lingyi Kong, Thorsten Jelinek