IATI Plus

Overview

Data informs how projects are planned and managed. Digital public goods (DPGs) play a pivotal role in development cooperation by fostering inclusivity, innovation, and efficiency in various facets of international development. By facilitating access to information, DPGs enable actors such as governments and organizations to make data-driven decisions, improve public service delivery, and enhance transparency and accountability while facilitating cross-border collaboration and knowledge sharing among nations and stakeholders.

However, DPGs have their shortcomings as accessibility, quality, and accuracy issues in data hinder the effectiveness of development programs. Despite their public nature, development data is at times hard to access, and if accessed, hard to interpret, impeding data-driven decision- making for development actors. Furthermore, maintenance of DPGs over the long term can be challenging, as reporting structures hinder interoperability. These shortcomings highlight the need for concerted efforts to facilitate access, enhance data quality and secure the sustainability of DPGs in the pursuit of effective and inclusive development cooperation.

As such, the Development Futures Lab (KU DFL), located within the Global Research Institute (GRI) at the Graduate School of International Studies at Korea University, works to envision, evaluate, and engender future development by predicting how future socioeconomic transformations will impact development and by exploring the potential contributions of emerging technologies. The core mission of the KU DFL is to forge innovative, data-driven policy solutions that significantly improve the efficiency, transparency, and overall impact of global development initiatives.

KU DFL aims to collaborate with UNDP Seoul Policy Centre (USPC) to enhance data analysis for development cooperation by evaluating existing digital public goods (DPG) and their impacts on development initiatives. For example, KU DFL will look at International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) data to identify its strengths, weaknesses, and potentials, as well as to determine how and what insights can be derived from them.

USPC’s contribution to the matter lies in facilitating the provision of development data and fostering meaningful connections with pertinent stakeholders. Through these efforts, USPC is dedicated to enhancing the institutional capacity of the KU DFL and advancing UNDP’s realization of the programmatic and operational objectives outlined in its 2022-2025 Digital Strategy.

The main counterpart in the partnership will be the Development Cooperation Team at USPC. Considering USPC’s mandate to share Korea’s development experience and technical expertise with other countries, the establishment of a strategic partnership with KU DFL presents a unique and valuable opportunity to explore innovative approaches and integrate real-world development insights with Korean academic expertise.

In this context, recognizing that USPC and KU DFL are driven by a shared mission to pioneer digital innovation for sustainable development outcomes, the partnership essentially aims to enhance the impacts of development initiatives through data analysis by developing actionable concepts and blueprints for practical, data-driven digital tools that translate ideas on how to improve development cooperation.

Objectives

Data-Centric Research: The lab makes use of advanced data analytics for conducting in-depth research into various facets of development cooperation.
Conceptual Frameworks: The team conducts the research necessary to 1. analyze challenges faced in the field of development cooperation 2. Propose potential solutions in the form of digital approaches to overcome these challenges and 3. Draft detailed concepts that describe how thesedigital solutions could be built.
USPC Collaboration: The lab partners with USPC for the technical implementation of these concepts, converting concepts into functional digital tools.
Global Policy Impact: The overarching aim of the lab is to enhance the efficiency, transparency, and impact of development cooperation initiatives globally.

IATI Plus

Overview

Objectives

Reports