An overview of the conference. — VNS Photo Thu Trang

HÀ NỘI — National and international experts on data and statistics gathered in Hà Nội on Wednesday to share their experiences in data ecosystem management, data governance and data stewardship.

The conference, co-organised by the General Statistics Office (GSO) of Việt Nam and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), aims to further enhance the value of data and foster a deeper understanding of the data ecosystem among policymakers, data producers, and other stakeholders in Việt Nam.

High on the agenda were discussions on key topics on the current state of data governance and stewardship within Việt Nam's national data ecosystem, the roles played by the national statistical offices and other ministries in managing the data ecosystem, data governance, and stewardship.

Domestic and international experts from the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, UNFPA Asia-Pacific Regional Office, Denmark, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Thailand shared insights and practical experiences with a particular focus on issues related to digitalisation, use of administrative data sources, big data, and mechanisms for sharing administrative data between the National Statistics Offices and other government agencies.

The participants also discussed the challenges that arise in data governance and stewardship, along with an exploration of future trends in this domain.

Speaking at the conference, Nguyễn Thị Hương, director general of GSO under the Ministry of Planning and Investment stressed the importance of data ecosystem management, data governance and data stewardship.

“Key data exploitation and use is becoming a trend in the statistical work of many countries in the world in general and Việt Nam in particular. However, the work still faces some difficulties and challenges,” said Hương.

The administrative data source was initially established to serve the management and administration of ministries, universities, not for statistical purposes, so to exploit and use in statistical work requires time to research and improve the data to serve the purposes of statistics.

Many ministries and sectors have not synchronously exploited the database and are not ready to connect information with statistical offices.

Hương added: “As the coordinating agency for statistical activities and organising statistical activities, the GSO is working with ministries in guiding the professional statistical processes, build a system of national statistical data from census statistics, administrative databases and statistical reporting modes for general national statistical activities.

“To do this, the statistics branch alone is not enough, it needs the cooperation from all levels of central government, local government, ministries and sectors.”

Nguyễn Thị Hương, director general of GSO under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, gives a speech at the conference. — VNS Photo Thu Trang

Rémi Nono Womdim, UNFPA Việt Nam Officer-in-Charge and also Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Representative, said that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development stressed the importance of having high-quality population data.

“Our commitment to leaving no one behind means everyone must be counted for, including those furthest behind, and quality, reliable, consistent and comparable data is a crucial element in making this a reality,” he said.

“Better data, better lives.”

The conference was supported financially and technically by UNFPA under the framework of the project “Supporting Việt Nam in the production and utilisation of quality population data and evidence for the evaluation, formulation and implementation of the country's socio-economic development policies, strategies, plans and monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals”.

It supports Việt Nam in applying new technology and communication platforms to the data collection, analysis, and dissemination, and ensuring evidence-based policies, strategies, and programmes for the achievement of SDGs by 2030.

The project is funded by UNFPA with a total budget of US$1.9 million for five years from 2022 to 2026. — VNS