Myself and my fellow co-chairs want to bring to your attention the RDA for the Sustainable Development Goals IG. Our session for the next RDA virtual plenary has been accepted and will take place Tuesday, 20 April 2021 from 12:45pm-14:15pm UTC. In addition, our group will be presenting during the Outputs and Adoption Session Wednesday, 21 April from 8:00am-9:30am UTC. You may find more details about the upcoming RDA Plenary 17 and related events here: https://www.rd-alliance.org/plenaries/rda-17th-plenary-meeting-edinburgh-virtual
Alignment of the SDGS with international principles of data management and research ethics remains a barrier to collecting, storing, merging, and analyzing data for monitoring SDG metrics effectively. Such principles of importance include FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable), TRUST (Transparency, Responsibility, User focus, Sustainability and Technology), and CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics). Improving data interoperability nationally and internationally may both enhance monitoring, as well as help to enable and support progress towards achieving the SDGs.
The RDA for Sustainable Development Goals IG aims to support advancements in managing and sharing SDG indicator data through implementation and adaptation of RDA outputs and activities.
Objectives and scope of the Interest group activities will fall into two broad categories:
a) Improve data management/sharing of SDG indicator data, based on implementation and adaptation of RDA outputs within workflows surrounding the SDGs and NGO development space more broadly to increase alignment with FAIR and TRUST principles.
b) Assess the impact of data infrastructure and data management practices, and associated quality and limitations thereof, as a component of sustainable development. Defining the value and importance of data infrastructure and management within sustainable development overlaps directly with the infrastructure-related SDG indicators. More broadly, defining and justifying the importance of data infrastructure will clarify this need to funders supporting development initiatives, researchers and admins supporting the work of development monitoring, and future policy development.
We would greatly appreciate your attendance during our session so that we could engage your feedback regarding our current activities as well as support your input for mapping activities across the RDA in alignment with the SDGs.
Thank you and best wishes,
The co-chairs of the RDA for the Sustainable Development Goals IG