1 1 The Global Project on Measuring the Progress of Societies OECD World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge and Policy Jon Hall, World Forum Project Leader, OECD

2 2 Is life getting better? In which ways are societies progressing? Where is there cause for concern, and where is they reason for optimism? Indeed, what does progress mean in the 21 st century? Introduction

3 3 Around the world, societies are increasingly concerned with their quality of life and a consensus is growing around the need to develop a more comprehensive view of progress rather than focussing on the economic one (GDP). Mistrust in national governments (and therefore in national statistical offices). Growing number of “agents” in the society (NGOs, etc.). Individuals are asked to take decisions that in the past were taken by the government (pensions, school, etc.). In an age of unprecedented, and overwhelming, information flows, the common understanding necessary for informed public discourse is often inadequate. Some “megatrends”

people from 130 countries Presidents, ministers, leading academics and civil societarians, private sector and media What is Progress? What information do we need to assess progress in key global concerns? From outputs to outcomes - how can we get measures used by a broad audience? The Istanbul World Forum

5 5 A culture of evidence-based decision making has to be promoted at all levels of government, to increase the welfare of societies. We affirm our commitment to measuring and fostering the progress of societies in all their dimensions and to supporting initiatives at the country level. We urge statistical offices, public and private organisations, and academic experts to work alongside representatives of their communities to produce high-quality, facts-based information that can be used by all of society to form a shared view of societal well-being and its evolution over time. The Istanbul Declaration

6 6 –encourage communities to consider for themselves what “progress” means; –share best practices and increase the awareness of the need to do so using sound and reliable methodologies; –stimulate international debate, based on solid statistical data and indicators, on both global issues of societal progress and comparisons of such progress;

7 7 The Istanbul Declaration –produce a broader, shared, public understanding of changing conditions, while highlighting areas of significant change or inadequate knowledge; –advocate appropriate investment in building statistical capacity, especially in developing countries, to improve the availability of data and indicators needed to guide development programs and report on progress toward international goals, such as the MDGs.

8 8 The Istanbul Declaration –produce a broader, shared, public understanding of changing conditions, while highlighting areas of significant change or inadequate knowledge; –advocate appropriate investment in building statistical capacity, especially in developing countries, to improve the availability of data and indicators needed to guide development programs and report on progress toward international goals, such as the MDGs. Please sign it –

9 9 Advocate for more initiatives that measure progress Assist those wanting to measure progress – through developing best practice and providing support Achieve results – through improving the effectiveness and use of sets of progress measures A network of networks We want every society to develop its own set of progress measures and use them – through National Roundtables The Global Project

10 Towards a Global Project on “Measuring the Progress of Societies” (1) Meet the demand coming from our societies: –Measure what matters –Help citizens to focus on key shared facts –Reduce information asymmetries between who knows and who does not know, a key divide in the information age –Make politicians accountable –Show where the world/countries/regions/communities are going Build a global partnership with international organisations, national and local public institutions, foundations, NGOs, media partners, academic networks, corporations, etc.

11 Key deliverables (1) Statistical research –Recommendations on how to measure the progress of societies using different approaches; –Development of recommendations on how to measure specific phenomena;

12 Key deliverables (2) ICT tools to transform statistics into knowledge –Development of innovative software to improve users’ capacity to visualise and analyse statistical indicators; –Development of partnerships with national and global media to improve the dissemination of statistical information to citizens;

13 Key deliverables (3) Advocacy and institutional building –Recommendations on how to build initiatives aimed to measure the societal progress through the involvement of different components of the society (government, opposition, civil society, etc.); –Organisation of working groups in the different regions of the world, where experience on these issues can be shared and discussed, good practices identified, etc.; –Support to countries and regions who want to establish initiatives to measure progress, providing training courses, scientific advice, software to present indicators, etc.

14 Key deliverables (4) Global infrastructures to measure and foster world progress: WIKIPROGRESS –A global 2.0 web-based technical infrastructure where: Progress indicators would be made accessible to citizens all over the world; Users could interact with indicators using attractive graphical interfaces and other analytical tools, and launch global conversations based on solid and comparable statistical information, etc. –World and regional events: To stimulate statistical and policy discussions on societal progress; To promote the development and use of progress indicators.

15 Global Leadership Consider moving over the long term to promoting a common framework for measuring the World’s Progress Considering developing a set of criteria to judge whether measuring progress initiatives would be ratified by the OECD project But would this work?

16 In conclusion, the Project aims to: Change culture, helping citizens and policy makers to pay attention to all dimensions of progress Develop new statistics in emerging domains Improve citizens’ numeracy, strengthening people’s capacity of understanding the reality in which they live Improve citizens’ knowledge, becoming more aware of risks and challenges of today world Improve national policy making, through a better measurement of policy and societal outcomes Improve international policy making, through the a world progress monitoring system, covering all countries Improve statistical capacity in each and every country Strengthen democracy respecting historical and cultural differences Foster a global and open conversation about the state and the progress of the world IMPROVE WELFARE

17 Some Questions for Discussion Do you support the Global Project’s ideals? What are your priorities? How can we make it work? Can you contribute and can we help?