UN Global Pulse Annual Report 2017

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UN
GLOBAL
PULSE
ANNUAL
REPORT
2017

2 3UN GLOBAL PULSE ANNUAL REPORT 2017
Harnessing Big Data for Development
and Humanitarian Action
UN
GLOBAL
PULSE
ANNUAL REPORT 2017
Year in Review
Highlights from the Labs
About UN Global Pulse
TRACK ONE: INNOVATION DRIVER
Project List
Data–Driven Innovation Projects
Data–Driven Innovation Tools
TRACK TWO: ECOSYSTEM CATALYST
Lowering Barriers to Innovation
Raising Awareness to Drive Policy Action
Privacy, Data Protection and Digital Ethics
Strengthening the Data Innovation Ecosystem
Innovation Challenges, Conferences and Competitions
Accelerating Public Sector Adoption
Event Highlights
In the Media
Partners and Collaborators
Donors
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CONTENTS

Global Pulse is an innovation initiative of the United Nations working to
harness big data, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies to
support sustainable development and humanitarian action. Global Pulse works
through a network of regional innovation labs, known as Pulse Labs, and with
partners to build and implement innovative solutions and to provide policy
guidance and technical assistance to accelerate adoption of data innovation.
YEAR IN REVIEW
The data revolution is no longer a new topic but a reality trying to catch up with the expectations it
has generated. As a result, big data and artificial intelligence emerged as important issues in 2017, with
the UN driving global discussions on how to harness data and analytics capabilities to achieve the 2030
Agenda. This included the adoption of a Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data that result-
ed from the inaugural UN World Data Forum. And the first AI for Good Global Summit was convened to
ensure that the benefits of artificial intelligence serve humanity and help to accelerate progress towards
the Sustainable Development Goals.
In 2017, Global Pulse pursued opportunities to scale and replicate proven solutions, and to establish
frameworks for responsible data privacy and ethical innovation. This report presents examples of data-driven
solutions that Global Pulse tested and developed with partners in 2017, and outlines activities the Pulse
Labs engaged in to enable a thriving data innovation environment.
Global Pulse implemented over 20 innovation projects and tools, adding to the growing body of evidence
of practical examples of data innovation for sustainable development and humanitarian action. Several of
the applications developed by the Pulse Labs were adopted and mainstreamed by partners. A tool created
by Pulse Lab Jakarta, which analyses the impact of climatic events, was installed in the situation room of
the Executive Office of the President and is being mainstreamed to other countries in Asia.
Additionally, new features were added to a suite of tools developed by Global Pulse. Pulse Lab Jakarta
developed an analytics platform to monitor the onset and effects of cyclones around the world, by building
upon functionalities of an existing crisis analysis tool. Likewise, Pulse Lab Kampala added new languages
to its speech-recognition technology tool.
Throughout 2017, Global Pulse also spearheaded efforts to foster an enabling environment for data
innovation. Global Pulse worked with international experts to develop data privacy and data ethics frame-
works and risk management tools for responsible use of data. A Guidance Note on Big Data for SDGs:
Data Privacy, Data Protection and Ethics was adopted by the United Nations Development Group. This
document is the first policy guidance on big data and privacy endorsed by over 30 UN agencies.
In parallel, Global Pulse raised awareness of the value of data innovation by hosting several high-impact
events. Pulse Lab Jakarta and the Ministry of National Development Planning held the first Data Revolution
for Policymakers Conference in Indonesia. Pulse Lab Kampala engaged African youth through the Data
Science Africa workshop, which will be scaled up to two events in 2018 due to increased participation and
interest. At the UN General Assembly, Global Pulse convened governments, entrepreneurs and CEOs of
leading technology companies to outline a roadmap on innovation for SDGs. The Data for Climate Action
Challenge advanced the practice of data philanthropy by galvanizing a diverse coalition of companies from
different industries and countries. Multiple datasets were made available to research teams around the
world to identify solutions and accelerate action on climate change.
Finally, to support public sector understanding and adoption of data innovation, Global Pulse and its
Pulse Labs held over 25 workshops, presented in 60 regional and international events, and engaged with
130 organizations from the UN, academia, and private sector through over 450 briefings and brainstorm-
ing sessions.
It is evident that the importance of a data revolution to achieve the SDGs is being embraced by in-
stitutions around the world. At the same time, the impact of the data revolution on society has created
a new frontier of ethical and human rights challenges. Looking ahead, Global Pulse will leverage its cu-
mulative expertise and extensive network of partners to advance rights-centric innovation within the UN,
and catalyze global advocacy to ensure a safe and equitable digital future.

11
450
6
200
27
116
60
33
100+
70,000HIGHLIGHTS FROM
THE LABS
THE DATA FOR CLIMATE
ACTION CHALLENGE
Global Pulse, Western Digital
and the Skoll Global Threats
Fund
11 companies donated data
and tools
450 teams of data scientists
from 67 countries
6 winning projects
THE STATE OF MOBILE
DATA FOR SOCIAL GOOD
A publication by Global Pulse
and GSMA
Identifies over 200 projects or
studies leveraging mobile data
for the SDGs
CYCLOMON
Pulse Lab Jakarta
An analytics and visualization
platform to monitor action
before, during and after
cyclones
DATA SCIENCE AFRICA
Pulse Lab Kampala
A workshop with:
116 participants from
60 organizations
33 presentations and panel
discussions held
Participation in
100 + conferences,
events and workshops
Pulse Labs reached
70,000 followers
on social media
A GUIDANCE NOTE ON BIG
DATA FOR SDGS:DATAPRIVACY,
DATA PROTECTION AND ETHICS
Adopted by the United Nations
Development Group
First policy guidance on big data
and privacy endorsed by over
30 UN agencies
27 academic papers
produced by the Pulse Labs
USING BIG DATA TO
STUDY RESCUE PATTERNS
IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
A project published in the Fatal
Journeys Volume 3, an IOM
annual global report

ABOUT UN
GLOBAL PULSE
Global Pulse is a United Nations innovation initiative that was
established to assist the UN to transition development and humanitarian
practice and policy implementation to more agile, adaptive ways of
working that leverage real-time feedback and the power of data analytics.
Global Pulse harnesses the opportunities of big data, AI, and other emerging
technologies for sustainable development and humanitarian action. The Initiative
builds high-impact innovative solutions for UN and Government partners and
provides policy guidance and technical assistance for mainstream adoption
of innovation. Global Pulse works through a network of Pulse Labs in Jakarta,
Indonesia, in Kampala, Uganda, and in New York at the UN Headquarters.
OBJECTIVES
The overarching objectives of Global Pulse are to:
I) achieve a critical mass of high-potential applications of big data and AI
II) lower systemic barriers to adoption and scaling, and
III) strengthen the data innovation ecosystem.
The two-pillar implementation strategy is based on the following roles:
> Work with the UN system, governments,
academia and private sector partners to
discover, build, pilot and evaluate high-potential
applications of big data and AI to achieve
the 2030 Agenda.
> Contribute to global efforts to establish
trusted frameworks for responsible data
practices and ethical innovation.
> Advocate for greater public awareness
and support communities of practice across
disciplines and geographies to accelerate
development of big data and AI applications.
> Provide public sector organisations with
the policy guidance and technical assistance
needed for mainstream adoption of innovation.
TRACK 1
INNOVATION
DRIVER
TRACK 2
ECOSYSTEM
CATALYST

IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES
Global Pulse employs three engagement models for working with partners within the context of data
innovation. These three models are structured to address different project and partner contexts, pre-
serving flexibility while creating greater structure.
Executor
Global Pulse performs analytics and product development tasks in-house and takes responsibility for
all project outputs. UN agency or Member State partners contribute moderate staff resources to support
the project and provide content and subject expertise.
Facilitator
Partners primarily perform data analysis while Global Pulse focuses on project facilitation, building
a bridge between private sector capacity and public sector partners.
Technical advisor
Partners are responsible for the analytics and project outputs and Global Pulse is brought in to pro-
vide technical guidance as an advisor or for specific expertise such as data privacy regulation or data
access policies.
PULSE LABS
Global Pulse brings together governments, UN agencies and partners from academia and the private
sector to test, refine and scale methods for using big data and AI to support the achievement of the
Sustainable Development Goals. Pulse Lab New York, established in 2009, serves as the headquarters
of Global Pulse and is the thought-leadership and knowledge sharing hub for the network of Pulse Labs.
The Labs consist of multidisciplinary teams of data scientists, engineers, designers, social scientists
and lawyers who work together with development and humanitarian experts to prototype and implement
data innovation programmes. The Pulse Labs share knowledge from innovation projects by producing
reports and technical papers as well as project briefs.
PARTNERSHIPS
A network of strategic partners, at both the global and country level, is required to ensure sustainable
access to the resources that drive data innovation at the UN. In particular, partners collaborate with
Global Pulse through contributions of:
Sponsorship:
providing funding
to support Global
Pulse’s Labs, events,
and capacity-building
efforts
Expertise:
making engineers,
data scientists or
researchers available
to collaborate
on projects
Technology:
sharing tools for data
mining and analytics,
or computing
capabilities
Data:
providing access
to data to support
research at the
Pulse Labs

Global Pulse serves as a safe space for innovation and experimentation
with new sources of data and emerging digital technologies. Through its net-
work of Pulse Labs it works with UN agencies, governments, data prac-
titioners in academia, and the private sector to discover, build, pilot and
evaluate data innovation projects and toolkits to help achieve the SDGs.
In 2017, Global Pulse worked on 22 data-driven innovation projects, fit-
for-purpose prototypes and toolkits. This section highlights some of the new-
est explorations from the Pulse Labs, as well as some of the projects that
were adopted by partners, the latter representing an important step to scale.
PROJECT LIST
DATA–DRIVEN
INNOVATION
PROJECTS
DATA–DRIVEN
INNOVATION TOOLS
>
>
>

14 15TRACK 1 – INNOVATION DRIVER
PROJECT LIST
SDGs SDGs
ECONOMIC WELL BEING
HUMANITARIAN ACTION
Innovation Projects UN Partners UN PartnersData Type Location Location
Using utility data (water consumption
records) to measure socioeconomic
indicators
Understanding movement and
perceptions of migrants and refugees
through social media
Using big data to study rescue patterns
in the Mediterranean
Using radio data and machine learning
to accelerate sustainable development
solutions in Uganda
Estimating expenditure and income
diversity at provincial level with mobile
data (call details records and airtime
purchase records)
Using vessel identification systems
data to analyse the maritime transport
network in Indonesia
UN in Uganda
UNHCR
UNHCR
UN in Uganda
Academic
institutions
Billing data
Social media data
Shipping data
Radio data
Mobile data
Port systems data
Uganda
Europe
Mediterranean
Sea
Uganda
Vanuatu
Indonesia
Using data science to understand incentives
and drivers of extremism in Africa
Using mobile and financial transaction
data to support earthquake recovery
efforts in Mexico
Detecting structures in satellite
images with AI during humanitarian
emergencies
UNDP
ECLAC
UNOSAT
Survey data
Mobile data,
Financial data
Remote Sensing
Global
Mexico
Multiple
locations
PUBLIC HEALTH
CLIMATE AND RESILIENCE
REAL-TIME EVALUATION
SDG AGENDA BASELINE
Support monitoring of infectious
diseases with mobile phone data
Exploring ways to optimize public
transport with Twitter data in Indonesia
Conducting public transport
analysis in the Maldives
using social media data
Exploring the potential of using mobile
money transactions to inform policy
Diving into the MDGs datasets
to inform the SDGs
Using advanced analytics to model
and predict risk factors of
Non-Communicable Diseases
Measuring the economic impact
of El Nino in Brazil
Using ambulance GPS data to gauge
the quality of health service delivery
Understanding public perceptions of
Indonesia’s vaccination campaign
focused on vaccinating 70 million
children against measles and rubella
UNICEF
Institute of Statistics,
Jakarta Smart City
UNDP
UN in Uganda
WHO
UNDP
UN in Uganda
UNICEF
Mobile data
Twitter data
Twitter data
Mobile money
Publicly available
MDG data
Social media data,
mobility data,
health data
Climate data,
financial data
GPS data
Twitter data
Global
Indonesia
Maldives
Uganda
Indonesia
Global
Brazil
Uganda
Indonesia
Innovation Projects Data Type

In spite of policy and media attention and increased search and
rescue efforts, the death toll in the Mediterranean has continued to
rise. Global Pulse worked with the UN High Commissioner for Ref-
ugees (UNHCR) on a project that analyzed new big data sources to
provide a better understanding of the context of search and rescue
operations in the central Mediterranean.
The project used vessel location data (AIS) to determine the route
of rescue ships from Italy and Malta to rescue zones and back, and
combined it with broadcast warning data of distress calls from ships
stranded at sea. The insights were used to construct narratives of
individual rescues and gain a better understanding of collective rescue
activities in the region.
This method provides a comprehensive and quantitative picture
of rescue efforts that can complement current methods of data col-
lection that tend to focus on the most dramatic or severe incidents.
The analysis could be applied to similar events by using predictive
modeling, real-time rescue monitoring and logistics optimization.
The project was featured in the International Organization for
Migration (IOM)’s 2017 global report Fatal Journeys, which identifies
opportunities to improve data collection and data analysis for more
accurate and timely information on missing migrants. Global Pulse
also designed an interactive visualization that shows the magnitude
of rescue operations in the Mediterranean and provides easy access
to the analysis.
http://rescuesignatures.unglobalpulse.net/mediterranean/
https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/fatal_journeys_volume_3_part_1.pdf
THE DATA INNOVATION CYCLE
Global Pulse works with partners to identify sustainable development and humanitarian challenges
that can be addressed through analysis of new data sources. Projects are designed to discover practical
uses of big data, AI, and other emerging technologies to address policy barriers and prototype technology
tools and solutions.
The framework for joint innovation moves through a cycle of consultations, project design and part-
nership engagement to secure data, tools and expertise, followed by a period of investigation and pro-
totyping. Finally, Global Pulse and partners evaluate and share the findings, methodologies, successes
and failures both internally and publicly.
1.
Identify
problem
2.
Discover
method
3.
Build
prototype
4.
Test
approach
5.
Share
findings
PHASES OF A DATA INNOVATION PROJECT
Based on an initial problem
statement provided by partners,
confirm availability of relevant
data sources and adequate
signal strength within that
data. Consult with partners to
understand user requirements
and co-design a simple proof-
of-concept. Ensure availability
of data, tools and expertise
needed to initiate the project.
Work with partners to build
and test analytical software
tools (e.g., dashboards, mobile
applications) to solve the
problem identified in Phase
1. Support partners in piloting
tool prototype within existing
programme. Continuously gather
feedback to make improvements
to quality and design.
Publish results and
methodological paper. Ensure
wide dissemination of lessons
learned and develop plan to
scale up.
PHASEPHASE
Prototype
and
Pilot
Explore
and
Design
PHASE
Communicate
and Share
Findings
DATA–DRIVEN
INNOVATION PROJECTS
USING BIG DATA TO STUDY RESCUE
PATTERNS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
PHASE
Communicate
and Share
Findings

PHASE
Prototype
and
Pilot
UNDERSTANDING MOVEMENT AND
PERCEPTIONS OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
IN EUROPE THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA
USING ADVANCED ANALYTICS TO
MODEL AND PREDICT RISK FACTORS
OF NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
As refugees travel across multiple borders, they encounter increasing protection risks, particularly when
routes change, legal practices evolve and borders close. This forced displacement represents a challenge
for humanitarian organizations working to provide assistance to people fleeing dangerous situations.
This project used data from Twitter to monitor protection issues and the safe access to asylum of
migrants and refugees in Europe. Global Pulse and UNHCR created taxonomies in six languages to explore
interactions and xenophobic sentiment of host communities towards displaced populations. In addition,
to confirm the value of social media data during emergencies, the project conducted ten mini-studies.
Global Pulse and UNHCR produced a White Paper that details the findings and methodologies of the
initial exploration. The paper outlines preliminary observations of how the Europe Refugee emergency
is reported on social media.
Global Pulse and UNHCR are now developing a real-time situational awareness tool to inform opera-
tional responses in support of the Europe Emergency Regional Protection strategy. The tool will enable
UNHCR to continuously monitor and analyse relevant social media feeds.
http://unglobalpulse.org/sites/default/files/White%20Paper%20Social%20Media%203_0.pdf
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic
respiratory diseases are responsible for 70% per cent of all deaths globally, according to the World
Health Organization (WHO). NCDs disproportionately affect people in low- and middle-income countries
where more than three quarters of global NCD deaths – 31 million – occur. There is an opportunity to
use the volume of health, behavioural, socioeconomic and environmental data that are generated today,
to understand risk factors and health outcomes associated with NCDs.
Global Pulse together with WHO and the Clalit Research Institute, an Israeli WHO Collaborating
Centre, published a review of the opportunities of big data for monitoring NCDs in the medical journal
The Lancet. The publication is the result of an ongoing collaboration focused on big data innovation at
WHO Europe.
Based on this work, Global Pulse and the WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on NCDs are de-
veloping an advanced analytics platform. The platform will use machine learning and deep learning
“What’s exciting about our ongoing, global
collaboration with UN Global Pulse is that we can
gain access to real-time information around issues
that affect our constituents, whether these are prosaic
sentiments, or perhaps xenophobic sentiments. In all
instances, our aim is to better understand, to adapt,
and in some cases mitigate. UN Global Pulse are a
key partner, and key to much of what we do in the
Innovation Service at UNHCR.”
CHRISTOPHER EARNEY, HEAD A.I., UNHCR INNOVATION SERVICE

methods to model and predict known and new NCD risk factors - such as tobacco use and alcohol
consumption - as well as NCD health outcomes and behaviours. The objective is to enable timely and
detailed insights into the complexities of the prevalence of NCDs and their impact on policy action. The
project will commence in 2018.
http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/landia/PIIS2213-8587(17)30372-8.pdf
PHASE
Prototype
and
Pilot
Human-
itarian
Action
PHASE
Explore
and
Design
DETECTING STRUCTURES IN
SATELLITE IMAGES WITH AI DURING
HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCIES
Estimating the number and size of forcibly displaced populations is key for allocating resources and
assistance during humanitarian emergencies. Satellite image analysis is one of the most effective means
to provide accurate data to understand the situation on the ground.
The manual analysis of satellite imagery has thus far been the most reliable method of mapping struc-
tures in settlements built to house displaced populations. Although automated methods exist, they have
proven insufficient for the complex high-resolution satellite imagery necessary for mapping structures in
different conditions and locations. When dealing with conflict and humanitarian scenarios, precision in
satellite image analysis is key to supporting critical operations on the ground.
UNOSAT is a technology-intensive programme delivering imagery analysis and satellite solutions to
relief and development organizations. UNOSAT and Global Pulse partnered to apply artificial intelligence
frameworks that can help analysts to identify and count structures within settlements in high-resolution
satellite imagery in a fraction of the time and cost that manual analysis requires. The project developed
multiple deep neural network architectures that were tested in several humanitarian crises in Uganda,
South Sudan, Nigeria and Iraq. Global Pulse and UNOSAT will work in 2018 to refine the algorithm in
order to increase precision and to include it into current operational pipelines.
ESTIMATING SOCIO-ECONOMIC INDICATORS
FROM MOBILE PHONE DATA IN VANUATU
Building on past studies which show that data from mobile phones (in particular from call details
records and airtime credit purchases) can be used to understand socioeconomic conditions, Pulse Lab
Jakarta conducted research into the potential of using mobile phone data to produce a set of proxies for
education and household characteristics.
Using anonymised mobile data from the Pacific island of Vanuatu, proxies for four types of statistical
indicators were extracted from the data provided by a local carrier. These indicators included education,
household assets, household expenditure, and household income.
The findings confirmed a relatively strong correlation between indicators from the mobile dataset and
data from the official statistics provided by the National Statistics Office in Vanuatu. The use of mobile
phone data to estimate socioeconomic indicators advances other considerations that seek to develop
reliable proxies based on such data to measure and achieve the SDGs.
PHASE
Explore
and
Design

ACCELERATING DEVELOPMENT IN UGANDA
WITH SPEECH RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY
In a world of increasing interconnectivity, radio remains a primary source of information for commu-
nities in many parts of the world, including in Uganda. Radio is a widespread medium for community
discussions on subjects from healthcare and education to politics and natural disasters.
Pulse Lab Kampala collaborated with the Stellenbosch University in South Africa to build speech
recognition technology that can convert public discussions on radio broadcasts into text for several lan-
guages spoken in Uganda including English, Luganda, Acholi, Lugbara and Rutooro.
In 2017, the Lab worked with government and UN partners on five projects to validate the usefulness
of insights from radio talk.
PHASE
Communicate
and Share
Findings
This project was conducted with the Ministry of
Health and with guidance from the Gothenburg
University in Sweden. The analysis filtered
radio conversations for four categories related
to the delivery of healthcare services: health
facilities, health sector governance, public
health, and access to medicine. It captured a
large volume of discussions, from complaints
and reports of the poor quality of facilities to
difficulties people face when trying to access
medicine. This suggests insights from radio
data could be used to evaluate and improve
the quality of healthcare services.
GAUGING THE QUALITY OF HEALTH
SERVICE DELIVERY
Malaria is a leading cause of death in
Uganda, accounting for over 27% of deaths
annually. Pulse Lab Kampala mined radio
data to identify the volume of malaria-related
discussions by filtering relevant keywords from
local dialects. The project yielded only a low
number of relevant discussions for the research
period, but revealed opportunities for refining
the radio tool. In addition, the tool captured
early discussions regarding an outbreak of
cholera 10 days before health authorities
officially declared an outbreak.
GAINING INSIGHTS INTO MALARIA OUTBREAKS
International NGO Save the Children ran a
global campaign to promote better access
to healthcare and quality education for all
children. To reach children in remote areas in
Uganda, the campaign used radio and video
messages and produced an original song. The
Lab monitored the frequency with which the
song was played on radio stations in the cities
of Gulu and Kampala. The detection rate of the
software was 68% with zero false alarm rate.
This suggests speech recognition technology
can be an effective monitoring and evaluation
method of radio campaigns.
MONITORING THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF RADIO CAMPAIGNS
First hand testimonials on how natural hazards
impact communities are common in public
radio discussions, especially at the moment
when a community is being affected. The
Lab used the radio tool to extract data on
the impact of small-scale disasters on local
households and communities. The analysis
yielded useful insights regarding the extent
of the damage and the communities’ coping
strategies. The project was conducted in
collaboration with UNDP and the National
Emergency Coordination and Operations Centre
(NECOC) in the Office of the Prime Minister.
DOCUMENTING THE IMPACT OF
SMALL-SCALE, LOCAL DISASTERS
An outbreak of conflict in 2016 caused thousands
of South Sudanese to flee to neighbouring
countries, especially Uganda. Pulse Lab Kampala
was tasked by the UN in Uganda with unearthing
the attitudes and intentions of host communities
towards refugees. The Lab used automated
speech-to-text technology to analyse local radio
content. Findings showed a high degree of
acceptance of refugees among Ugandans at the
time when the influx started. Some concerns
were expressed about the spread of infectious
diseases, the increase in pregnancies and the
right of refugees to farmland.
UNDERSTANDING PERCEPTIONS TO A REFUGEE
INFLUX
Human-
itarian
Action
Report:
Using Machine Learning to Analyse Radio
Content in Uganda - Opportunities for
Sustainable Development and Humanitarian
Action
http://unglobalpulse.org/sites/default/files/
Radio%20Analysis%20Report_Preview%20
%283%29.pdf

EXPLORING WAYS TO OPTIMIZE
PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN INDONESIA
WITH TWITTER DATA
Some estimates for Greater Jakarta put the population at more than 30 million people. Within the
boundaries of the city itself, the transport system carries 1.38 million commuters daily. In collaboration
with Jakarta Smart City and the Indonesian Institute of Statistics, Pulse Lab Jakarta investigated whether
Twitter data could help provide policy makers with regular updates to best optimise public transport.
Origin-destination statistics for the 10 cities in Greater Jakarta were produced from GPS-stamped
tweets, by identifying a subset of people who commute between these areas. The initial results were
calibrated based on the population distribution and Twitter usage distribution, then verified with the
Indonesian Bureau of Statistics’ official commuting records.
The similarity between the official commuter flows and the commuting statistics inferred from Twitter
(visualised in the chord diagram) confirms that geo-tagged tweets can reliably fill existing information
gaps in the official commuting statistics. Additionally, the research team was able to accurately deter-
mine (based on comparison with the Indonesian Institute of Statistics data) the top two destination
cities for people travelling from 8 of the 10 origin cities in Greater Jakarta, decreasing the cost related
to conducting surveys to figure out such commuting patterns. The Institute of Statistics is planning to
use this method to enhance commuting statistics produced by the Government.
PHASE
Explore
and
Design
Creating taxonomies, or sets of keywords, is an important step in analysing social media data. How-
ever, building a taxonomy for less-known languages, including local dialects, jargon and even alphabets,
is often challenging.
In 2017, Pulse Lab Jakarta launched the second pilot of Translator Gator, a gaming platform designed
to crowdsource the translation of disaster-related keywords in almost 30 languages spoken throughout
the 10 ASEAN Member States and Sri Lanka.
Almost 1.8 million activities across four gaming components (translation, evaluation, classification
and synonyms) were recorded within 100 days. The platform is a proof of concept which exhibits how
translations that have been crowdsourced online can help relevant authorities understand the conversa-
tions and behaviours of local communities during a disaster.
DATA–DRIVEN
INNOVATION TOOLS
TRANSLATOR GATOR 2
CHORD DIAGRAM:
official commuter
flows (left) and
commuting
statistics inferred
from Twitter (right)

VAMPIRE – VULNERABILITY
MONITORING PLATFORM FOR
IMPACT OF REGIONAL EVENTS
CYCLOMON
Natural climatic events, such as El Niño, create irregular weather patterns that cause suffering to
many farmers and their families. In response to the effects of the 2015 El Niño, Pulse Lab Jakarta
teamed up with the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation to develop an
integrated, multi-tier tool that provides near real-time analysis of the impact.
The Vulnerability Analysis Monitoring Platform for Impact of Regional Events (VAMPIRE) brings
different data streams into a single interactive map, showing the extent of drought affected areas, the
impacts on markets, and the coping strategies and resilience of affected populations. The streams
include population data, national socio-economic data, household food security data, rainfall anomaly
data, standardised precipitation index and vegetation health index.
The platform was adopted by the Executive Office of the President to be used in their situation room.
In 2017, the platform was further developed to estimate the impact of government programmes as part
of their regular monitoring and oversight.
VAMPIRE was also scaled up and implemented in Sri Lanka. Beyond a one-way transfer of technology,
it was contextualised to the country with improvements to aid the efforts of the Sri Lankan Ministry of
Disaster Management. VAMPIRE was one of the winners of the 2017 WFP Innovation Challenge.
Big data can play a pivotal role in helping disaster authorities to enhance preparedness, including their
ability to monitor and respond to natural disasters like cyclones. In 2017, Pulse Lab Jakarta developed
CycloMon, an analytics and visualisation platform with capabilities to monitor action before, during and
after cyclones across the world.
Its basic functions rely on a series of automatic processes that collect, analyse and visualise infor-
mation from weather satellites on the path of a cyclone, combined with insights from social media and
baseline information on the preparation for and impact of the cyclone on communities. CycloMon allows
for the exploration of rich, country-specific information mined from various sources of social media, such
as text-, image-, and video-based content.
To demonstrate how the platform can help cyclone management units in the region, it was tested
during Tropical Cyclone Winston, which occured in the Pacific. Pulse Lab Jakarta will work with organi-
zations in the region to further develop the tool in 2018.

Global Pulse works on a programme of catalytic activities designed to foster an
enabling environment for greater uptake of big data and AI in development and
humanitarian contexts. These activities include:
I) lowering barriers
to scale,
by contributing to global
efforts to establish
trusted frameworks
for responsible
data practices and
ethical innovation
II) strengthening the
innovation ecosystem,
by connecting
communities of practice
across disciplines
and geographies to
accelerate the rate
of discovery of high-
potential applications
of data science
III) enabling institutional
adoption,
by providing public sector
organizations with the
policy guidance and
technical assistance
needed for mainstream
adoption of innovation
LOWERING BARRIERS
TO INNOVATION
STRENGTHENING THE
DATA INNOVATION
ECOSYSTEM
ACCELERATING PUBLIC
SECTOR ADOPTION
>
>
>

30 31TRACK 2 – ECOSYSTEM CATALYST
The Inaugural UN World Data Forum
The inaugural UN World Data Forum, hosted in January in Cape Town, South Africa, gathered more
than 2,000 participants for 73 wide-ranging plenary and breakout sessions. The Forum launched the
Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data in response to a call for modernizing national
statistical offices in order to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
Global Pulse played a key role in organizing the Forum and hosted three events, including a plena-
ry session on Big Data Innovations for Sustainable Development. The plenary featured a wide array of
examples of data innovation projects and initiatives from across the UN and private sector. A panel of
experts from the Office of the President of Indonesia, the United Parcel Service (USA), Spanish bank
BBVA, and the UN World Food Programme discussed opportunities and challenges of leveraging big data
for public good, emphasizing the importance of public-private partnerships, without which innovation
efforts cannot be realized and scaled.
Global Pulse was elected as a member of the Programme Committee, which will be responsible for
guiding and designing the 2018 World Data Forum to take place in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
The Data Revolution for Policy Makers Conference in Indonesia
This two-day conference was hosted in February by Pulse Lab Jakarta, the Indonesian Ministry of
National Development Planning, and the Knowledge Sector Initiative (KSI) under the theme Expanding
the Evidence Base: Government Demand for Advanced Data Analytics in Indonesia. The event brought
together 300 Indonesian and international experts and practitioners, including senior government and
UN officials, to discuss new ways of analysing and sourcing data in order to provide better services for
the public.
The conference featured several plenary sessions on issues related to big data and real-time analysis
techniques for planning, monitoring and evaluating social development policies. It included interactive
LOWERING BARRIERS
TO INNOVATION
RAISING AWARENESS
TO DRIVE POLICY ACTION displays of citizen data collection, data visualisations, data analysis and hands-on data innovation ses-
sions facilitated by field experts.
http://unglobalpulse.org/sites/default/files/Conference%20Proceedings.pdf
“Timely and quality data is essential, it gives government the opportunity
to make the right decisions especially in challenging situations. Data can
provide insight and should be accessible wherever, whenever it is needed.”
DOUGLAS BRODERICK, UN RESIDENT COORDINATOR IN INDONESIA
High-Level Technology and Innovation Event at the UN General Assembly
UN Global Pulse and the SDG Action Campaign hosted a high-level technology and innovation event
during the UN General Assembly week in September. The event convened governments, CEOs of leading
technology companies and innovators to identify opportunities and challenges in accelerating innovation
for sustainable development and humanitarian solutions.
The event was opened by the President of the UN General Assembly, followed by presentations from
the founder of social networking service LinkedIn, the CEO of cloud computing company Salesforce, and
the founder of Mara Group, a Pan-African multi-sector business services company. It continued with a
panel discussion with the President of Estonia, the Prime Minister of Denmark and executives from Mo-
zilla, Dangote Group, Bharti Enterprises and Wikipedia. The panel identified public-private partnerships
as instrumental in accelerating adoption of the opportunities presented by the data revolution.
Government representatives present at the event then made interventions that were focused on the
importance of accountability for responsible use of data and the need for strong privacy and data pro-
tection frameworks.

The AI for Good Global Summit
The AI for Good Global Summit was organized in June in Geneva, Switzerland, by the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the XPRIZE Foundation, in partnership with 20 UN agencies and
offices, including Global Pulse. The Summit sought to speed the development of, and access to, AI
solutions to address humanity’s most enduring problems, such as poverty, malnutrition and inequality.
Global Pulse worked with ITU to shape the overall programme of the Summit and leveraged its net-
work of partners to identify expert panelists. In addition, the Pulse Labs spearheaded two workshops on
Data Ethics and Data Privacy and Security that framed discussions around best practices for enhancing
responsible design and use of AI.
A workshop on Data for Social Good co-hosted with the UN Department of Economic and Social
Affairs (UN DESA), reviewed current and future opportunities of AI and proposed solutions to challenges
in implementing AI for social good projects. Global Pulse spoke in a number of other events including
an address during the Summit’s opening plenary.
https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/AI/Documents/Report/AI_for_Good_Global_Summit_Report_2017.pdf
PRIVACY, DATA PROTECTION
AND DIGITAL ETHICS
Big data and emerging technologies have the potential to revolutionise development and humanitar-
ian practice. At the same time, legitimate concerns about data privacy, the complexity of self-learning
algorithms, and a fragmented regulatory landscape make the development of standardized, scalable
approaches to data-use challenging. Global Pulse continued to actively participate in developing data
privacy frameworks and raising awareness on the responsible use of data and technology for sustainable
development and humanitarian action.
Global Pulse developed a Risk Assessment Tool, which is a mechanism for understanding and managing
risks, harms and benefits associated with big data use. The tool incorporates a rights-based approach
to data to ensure that the right to privacy is assessed in conjunction with all other rights that data use
or non-use may affect. The tool has been integrated in Global Pulse’s operations and has been used by
a variety of partner organizations. In 2017, Global Pulse continued to work with UN partners to further
refine the tool and built a user-friendly online application.
The Data Privacy Advisory Group (PAG), a forum of experts from public and private sector, academia
and civil society, continued its deliberations on data privacy and digital ethics throughout 2017. The
PAG held its annual meeting at the UN headquarters in New York as well as regional side meetings and
calls. The Group contributed to the development of data protection instruments at the UN, including a
Guidance Note on Data Privacy, Ethics and Protection of big data to achieve the 2030 Agenda.
Global Pulse and the UN Office of Information and Communication Technology established a UN
Data Privacy Policy Group (PPG) in 2016 to work towards a common approach to digital privacy and
protection across the UN. The PPG grew in 2017 to include over 25 UN agencies, funds and programmes
and held regular meetings.
Global Pulse continued to contribute to the developing space of data privacy and data protection
within and outside the UN system, by taking part in various expert forums. Global Pulse is a member of
the International Data Responsibility Group (IDRG) and contributed to producing the IDRG’s first annual
report, which was launched during the Group’s annual meeting in the Hague. In addition, together with
the International Association of Privacy Professionals, Global Pulse hosted a meeting of privacy experts
on Building a Strong Data Privacy and Ethics Programme with participation from WFP, UNDP, UNICEF,
UNHCR, MasterCard, Nielsen and IBM among others. At the 2017 Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
in Geneva, Global Pulse participated in two sessions that explored Privacy in International Humanitarian
Action and Implications of Big Data and AI for Building Inclusive Knowledge Societies.
https://www.humanityx.nl/news/data-responsibility-annual-report-2017/
https://www.unglobalpulse.org/data-privacy-advisory-group
https://www.unglobalpulse.org/privacy/tools

DATA PRIVACY, ETHICS AND PROTECTION
A guidance note on big data for
achievement of the 2030 Agenda
The Guidance Note sets out a general framework on data privacy, data protection and data ethics
for the United Nations Development Group concerning the use of big data. It is designed to:
> Establish common principles across UNDG for operational use of big data
to support the achievement of the SDGs;
> Serve as a risk-management tool taking into account fundamental human rights; and
> Set principles for quality control as well as access, retention, or other
use of data received from private sector.
* This is a modified version of the Note. Complete text can be found at:
https://undg.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/UNDG_BigData_final_web.pdf
1. 5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
2.
3.
4.
LAWFUL, LEGITIMATE AND FAIR USE
Data should be obtained, collected, analysed or
otherwise used through lawful, legitimate and fair
means, taking into account the interests of those
individuals whose data is being used.
DATA SECURITY
Robust technical and organizational safeguards
and procedures should be implemented to ensure
data management throughout the data lifecycle
and prevent any unauthorized use, disclosure or
breach of personal data.
DATA RETENTION AND DATA MINIMIZATION
Data access, analysis or other use should be kept
to the minimum amount necessary to fulfill the
purpose of data use.
DATA QUALITY
All data-related activities should be designed,
carried out, reported and documented with an
adequate level of quality and transparency.
OPEN DATA, TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Appropriate governance and accountability
mechanisms should be established to monitor
compliance with relevant law, including privacy
laws and the highest standards of confidentiality,
moral and ethical conduct with regard to data use.
DUE DILIGENCE FOR THIRD PARTY COLLABORATORS
Third party collaborators engaging in data use should
act in compliance with relevant laws, including
privacy laws as well as the highest standards of
confidentiality and moral and ethical conduct.
PURPOSE SPECIFICATION, USE LIMITATION AND
PURPOSE COMPATIBILITY
Any data use must be compatible or otherwise
relevant, and not excessive in relation to the
purposes for which it was obtained.
RISK MITIGATION AND RISKS, HARMS AND
BENEFITS ASSESSMENT
A risks, harms and benefits assessment that
accounts for data protection and data privacy as
well as ethics of data use should be conducted
before a new or substantially changed use of data
(including its purpose) is undertaken.
SENSITIVE DATA AND SENSITIVE CONTEXTS
Stricter standards of data protection should be
employed while obtaining, accessing, collecting,
analysing or otherwise using data on vulnerable
populations and persons at risk, children and
young people or any other data used in sensitive
contexts.

Data Science Africa 2017
Participants from 60 organizations came together for the Data Science Africa event, which was held
in Arusha, Tanzania. Pulse Lab Kampala played a key role in organizing the event, which comprised of
a three-day school and a two-day workshop. The Lab organized a session on the radio tool, which it de-
veloped to extract relevant data from radio conversations, and hosted several panel discussions. Thanks
to growing support and interest, Data Science Africa will continue in 2018 with two separate events in
Nyeri, Kenya and Abuja, Nigeria.
Big Ideas Competition: Combating Climate Change
Pulse Lab Jakarta and the Government of the Republic of Korea hosted the Big Ideas Competition
under the theme Combating Climate Change. Over 160 proposals were received from applicants through-
out ASEAN Member States, Sri Lanka and the Republic of Korea. The competition shortlisted 11 teams,
with the grand prize going to a team from Myanmar for an app to monitor and assist with the reduction of
methane emissions. The challenge spurred inspiration and facilitated connections between communities
of data and technology innovators across the region.
STRENGTHENING THE DATA
INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM
INNOVATION CHALLENGES,
CONFERENCES AND COMPETITIONS

THE DATA FOR CLIMATE ACTION CHALLENGE
“Data innovation is key to achieving
the 2030 Agenda. The Data for
Climate Action challenge is a brilliant
example of data philanthropy. We
must replicate this at global scale
and share commitment to use data
to address climate change.”
ROBERT C. ORR, SPECIAL ADVISOR TO THE UN
SECRETARY-GENERAL ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Data for Climate Action is an innovation challenge harnessing data science to accelerate climate
solutions. The competition was launched by UN Global Pulse, in collaboration with Western Digital and
the Skoll Global Threats Fund, and called on innovators, scientists and climate experts to help fight
climate change with data and analytics.
The challenge ran in 2017 and received hundreds of applications from all over the world. Ninety-seven
teams were selected to work on innovation projects in three thematic areas: Climate Mitigation, Climate
Adaptation, and Climate & the SDGs. Teams were asked to create data visualizations, apps and dash-
boards or to prepare research papers and posters with their results.
The challenge winners were announced during an event at the UN’s annual Climate Change Confer-
ence, COP23, in Bonn, Germany. Six teams received awards, including a grand prize, three awards for
the best thematic projects and two awards for the best data visualizations.
THE WINNERS OF THE DATA FOR CLIMATE ACTION CHALLENGE
A team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and the Instituto Nacional de
Ecología y Cambio Climático in Mexico won the challenge Grand Prize. Their project, Electro-mobility:
Cleaning Mexico City’s Air with Big Data and Climate Policy, analyzed data from Waze, a GPS navigation
software, to evaluate different transportation electrification policies in order to reduce air pollution and
greenhouse gas emissions in Mexico City.
Three teams won the thematic awards in Climate Mitigation, Climate Adaptation, and Climate &
Other SDGs.
A team from the University of Cape Town, in South Africa, and the University of Buffalo, in the
United States, developed a platform using Planet satellite data to predict and monitor, in near real-time,
the impact of forest fires in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. Their project, entitled Ecosystem
Monitoring for Management Application (EMMA) won the thematic award for Climate Mitigation.
Using data from mobile operator Orange, a team from the Georgia Institute of Technology in the Unit-
ed States received the thematic award for Climate Adaptation for a project on Predicting and Alleviating
Road Flooding for Climate Mitigation. The team developed a framework for improving the resilience of
road networks in Senegal to flooding, including recommendations on how to prioritize road improvements
given a limited budget.
A team from Yale University in the United States received the Climate & Other SDGs award for their
project Air Pollution Induced Micro-migrations: Impacts on Consumer Spending. The project evaluated
shifts in spending patterns related to changes in air quality in Spain, using financial transaction data
from BBVA Data and Analytics and weather data from Earth Networks.
Two teams received awards for best data visualizations.
A team from the New York University in the United States created a dashboard that incorporates a
high-resolution hourly model of urban carbon emissions to help support decision-making by urban pol-
icymakers. The dashboard was developed using data from Crimson Hexagon, Plume Labs and multiple
other sources. Thanks to the support of the New York Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and the National
Science Foundation, the project is being expanded with the goal of operationalizing the tool in New York
and other urban areas.
Using weather data from Earth Networks and Schneider Electric/DTN, a team developed a framework
to determine the best winter seeding date for wheat in the context of climate adaptation, which was then
visualized using tools from Tableau.
www.dataforclimateaction.org

“This challenge is just one example of how we
can capture, preserve, access and transform
all types of data to unlock solutions to help
our communities and our planet to thrive.”
DAVE TANG, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CORPORATE
MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS, WESTERN DIGITAL
DATA PHILANTHROPY: FACILITATING PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD
To ensure that access to insights from big data across many industries is widely available, Global
Pulse is working with the private sector to operationalize the concept of data philanthropy, where com-
panies’ data can be safely and responsibly used for sustainable development and humanitarian action.
The Data for Climate Action Challenge advanced the practice of data philanthropy by galvanizing
a diverse coalition of companies from different industries and countries. Nine companies contributed
anonymized datasets: BBVA, Crimson Hexagon, Earth Networks, Nielsen, Orange, Planet, Plume Labs,
Schneider Electric and Waze; and two companies Microsoft and Tableau, contributed tools that assisted
teams in deriving their solutions.
Working with Big Data and New Data Sources
Global Pulse and ESRI, an international supplier of GIS software,
organized a session at the UN World Data Forum to showcase suc-
cessful data innovation projects and applications for the advancement
of the SDGs. The session gathered more than 130 participants who
interacted with data scientists from Global Pulse and ESRI and tested
some of the presented projects. Participants also shared ideas and
lessons learned from their own organizations and worked to identify
the steps needed to jump-start big data innovation projects.
Global Pulse provided technical advice and expertise to UN agencies, hosted 25
workshops, and presented in over 60 conferences, events and international forums.
The Pulse Labs engaged with 130 organizations from the UN, academia, and private
sector through over 450 briefings and brainstorming sessions. Global Pulse contrib-
uted 20 articles as guest posts in national and international media outlets, including
a series of WIRED Insider articles featuring the Data for Climate Action challenge.
In addition, the Pulse Labs were referenced in over 70 articles in English, Span-
ish, German and Bahasa Indonesia and in more than 100 academic publications.
ACCELERATING PUBLIC
SECTOR ADOPTION
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

UN Data Innovation Lab
Global Pulse and the World Food Programme hosted the third Data Innovation Lab workshop in Cape
Town, South Africa. This workshop is part of the UN Data Innovation Lab series, an initiative estab-
lished by the UN System Chief Executives Board (CEB) in October 2015. Exploring the theme of data
partnerships and data collaboratives, the event gathered participants from 14 UN agencies to engage in
discussions around best practices for public-private sector collaborations. Using the NYU GovLabs’ Data
Collaboratives Guide - a methodology to identify and structure partnerships to fill data gaps - participants
then brainstormed potential partnerships for specific data innovation projects.
Research Dive “Statistics for the SDGs”
Pulse Lab Jakarta hosted a research dive - a hackathon-style event - that brought together researchers
and statisticians from Indonesia to analyse data from the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) in order
to support implementation of the SDGs. During the event, the researchers analysed publicly available data
on the MDGs across 34 provinces in Indonesia. The teams engaged in lively debates about the best-fit
statistical methods and worked to develop insights for proxy indicators for the SDGs, data disaggregation,
and data quality and analysis.
Building a Strong Privacy and Data Ethics Programme: From Theory to Practice
Experts in data privacy and data ethics joined Global Pulse and the International Association of Privacy
Professionals to discuss best practices in implementing privacy and data ethics in international organi-
zations. The meeting engaged participants in discussions around four topics: managing personal data in
organizations; ensuring ethics and human rights approaches in data innovations; employing privacy and
data protection principles; and sharing data in humanitarian crises. The meeting featured presentations
by expert speakers and data privacy regulators from IBM, Apple, NASA, UN agencies, the International
Committee of the Red Cross, MIT, MasterCard and others.
Data Science Seminars with Makerere University
Pulse Lab Kampala continued the collaboration with Makerere University’s Artificial Intelligence Re-
search Group (AIR Lab) that specializes in the application of AI and data science to challenges common
in the developing world. The Lab and Makerere co-hosted weekly seminars together with the AIR Lab.
Once a month, the seminars were held at Pulse Lab Kampala, welcoming 40 enthusiastic students to
present and share their research and ideas, and to brainstorm on cutting edge tools and technologies.

The State of Mobile Data for Social Good
Global Pulse continued to partner with mobile industry leaders like Telefonica, Airtel and Orange on
innovation projects and advocacy efforts. Global Pulse joined the advisory panel on Big Data for Social
Good, an initiative launched by the GSM Association to leverage mobile operators’ big data capabilities
to advance the SDGs. The advisory panel, which includes leading data experts from UN agencies and
public sector, provides guidance to the Initiative as well as coordination and integration with the broader
ecosystem.
Global Pulse and the GSMA, with support from the Vodafone Americas Foundation, hosted an event
in New York that gathered 60 data science and privacy experts, mobile operators and UN agencies. The
event celebrated the release of the Mobile Data for Social Good report, a comprehensive study aiming to
expand awareness and knowledge of the value of responsibly harnessing mobile phone data to support
sustainable development and humanitarian efforts.
The report identifies over 200 projects or studies leveraging mobile data for social good. It surveys
the current mobile data landscape, identifies barriers to scale and makes recommendations for the way
forward. It also details some of the main challenges with using mobile data for social good and provides
a set of actions to spur investment, ensure cohesion of efforts and of customer data privacy and data
protection frameworks, and build technical capacity.
https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/programme/digital-identity/mobile-data-for-social-good/
Data Playground 2017
UN Global Pulse, Microsoft and the SDG Action Campaign organized the Data Playground during the
UN General Assembly, an interactive event that brings together UN, academia and private sector partners
to showcase their latest work around innovation for the SDGs. The event attracted participants from
Member States gathered for the General Assembly who took part in short presentations on data analytics
and innovations in data collection, practical tools and tips for data innovation, and data visualizations.

IN THE MEDIA
UN INNOVATION PARTNERS
JANUARY
Cómo usar los datos para que
nadie se quede atrás
El Pais, Spain,
17 January 2017
MAY
How Governments Around The
World Are Turning To Data
Innovation Enterprise,
United States, 10 May 2017
OCTOBER
Postal Big Data Offers Key to
Nations’ Wellbeing
International Finance
Magazine, United Kingdom,
4 October 2017
Die stille Modernisierung einer
Weltorganisation
Deutschlandradio,
Germany, 13 October 2017
FEBRUARY
BAPPENAS Supports Data
Revolution for Policy-Making
Berita Satu Media, Indonesia,
22 February 2017
JUNE
Big Data for Gender
Data Driven Journalism,
The Netherlands, 21 June 2017
NOVEMBER
Sustainable Eating and Climate
Change
The Jakarta Post, Indonesia,
21 November 2017
Data philanthropy will drive
climate resilient development
United Nations Development
Programme, 22 November 2017
UN Global Pulse and Western
Digital Announce ‘Data for
Climate Action’ Challenge Now
Open for Entries
Business Wire, United States,
29 November 2017
APRIL
Harnessing Big Data for
Development and Humanitarian
Action
Harvard University,
United States, 17 April 2017
JULY
Wildfire prevention and risk
reduction for children’s health
and wellbeing (part 2)
UN Redd Programme,
12 July 2017
DECEMBER
Designing Conversations on
Public Service Delivery
Open Government Indonesia,
27 December 2017
PARTNERS AND
COLLABORATORS
Global Pulse works with a large network of partners and collaborators from gov-
ernment, the UN, academia, think-tanks, companies and grassroots expert networks
from around the world. Partnerships include scoping out and developing data innova-
tion mechanisms to support achievement of the SDGs as well as engagement to create
frameworks and standards for the responsible and ethical use of big data. Global Pulse
and partners also organize workshops and training sessions and produce knowledge
sharing products to enable broader public adoption of data innovations for public good.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
International Organizations for Migration (IOM)
International Labour Organization (ILO)
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS)
Operational Satellite Applications Programme
(UNOSAT) of the United Nations Institute for
Training and Research
United Nations Capital Development Fund
(UNCDF)
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
UN Country Team Papua New Guinea
United Nations Department of Economic and
Social Affairs (UN DESA)
United Nations Development Operations
Coordination Office (UN DOCO)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR)
United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA)
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
United Nations Volunteers (UNV)
World Health Organization (WHO)
World Food Programme (WFP)
The World Bank Group

48 49PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS
GOVERNMENT PARTNERS ACADEMIA AND NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES AND NETWORKS
Pulse Lab Kampala:
Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development
Ministry of Health of Uganda
National Planning Authority (NPA)
National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC)
Office of the Prime Minister (OPM)
The Government of Zimbabwe
Airtel
Africell
BBVA
Crimson Hexagon
DataSift
Digicel Earth Networks
GovInsider
Gyroid
IBM Research Africa
Indonesian Fintech Association
(AFTECH)
Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB)
in Indonesia
Bogor Agricultural University (IBP) in Indonesia
Brawijaya University in Indonesia
Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS) in the United States
Dedan Kimathi University of Technology in Kenya
Diponegoro University in Indonesia
Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Indonesia
Harvard University in the United States
Indonesian Institute of Statistics (STIS)
Institute of Resource Governance and Social
Change in Indonesia
Makerere University in Uganda
Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science
and Technology in Tanzania
Plan International
Politecnica University of Madrid in Spain
Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI)
Save the Children
Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS)
in Indonesia
University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom
University of Indonesia
University of Oxford in the United Kingdom
University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom
University of Stellenbosch in South Africa
World Resource Institute
Kudu
Nielsen
Maldives Housing Development
Corporation
Microsoft
OLX Indonesia
Orange
Palladium
Planet
Plume Labs
PT Transportasi Jakarta
Rappler Solidaritas
Schneider Electric
Tableau
Thinvoid
TransJakarta
Twitter
Vodafone Americas
XL Axiata
Waze
Western Digital
Pulse Lab Jakarta:
Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS)
City Government of Makassar
City Government of Bandung
City Government of Surabaya
Executive Office of the President (Kantor Staf Presiden)
Jakarta Smart City
Indonesian Institute of Statistics
Indonesian Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS)
Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN)
Ministry of Trade
Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea
Sri Lanka Ministry of Disaster Management

50 51DONORS
DONORS
Australian Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade
Government
of The Netherlands
United Nations Development
Operations Coordination Office
Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation
Government
of Sweden
Government
of Belgium
William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation

www.unglobalpulse.org
@UNGlobalPulse

UN Global Pulse Annual Report 2017

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UN Global Pulse Annual Report 2017