In essence, the new Global Education Data Portal will be a space where the international community can learn, communicate and unite, with data serving as the gateway to action. It responds to the real and urgent need for robust, cutting-edge data on education based on different sources of information and available in different formats to meet the needs of the global education community.
With an initial grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UIS is preparing to create a central data hub to support collective efforts at the global, regional and national levels to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on education. The portal will:
- break down the silos that currently limit the use of education data by offering a range of data sources, services and tools to help users contextualize and interpret the information;
- provide a ‘one‐stop shop’ to track and monitor progress towards SDG 4; develop a culture of knowledge sharing and a feedback loop to improve data quality by identifying key gaps in statistical information; and
- provide tools that are tailored to meet the needs of different types of users – from governments, development agencies and civil society groups to researchers, media and engaged citizens.
All of these data users require authoritative, credible and cross‐nationally comparable education data. But they may simply not have the skills, time or the resources to crunch the data themselves. Gathering global education data, and backing it up with vital policy information can be time-consuming and expensive. The portal will save both time and money by helping global stakeholders leverage reliable and current data – at speed – to meet their own needs.