Pulse Lab Kampala is a data innovation lab run by UN Global Pulse, and was established as an inter-agency initiative under the management of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Uganda. The Lab contributes to the United Nations ‘Delivering as One’ approach while also serving as Global Pulse’s regional innovation hub for Africa.
UN Global Pulse works to implement and
promote opportunities to use big data
innovations for development and humanitarian
action. This report summarizes Global Pulse’s
2016 innovation activities for sustainable development
and humanitarian action.
Proceedings from International Conference on Data Innovation For Policy MakersUN Global Pulse
The International Conference on Data Innovation For Policy Makers was hosted by Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning and organised in partnership with Pulse Lab Jakarta (PLJ), the Knowledge Sector Initiative (KSI) and UNDP Innovation Facility in November 2014. The focus was on how data can be used to provide better services for the public.
Pulse Lab Jakarta is a joint initiative of the United Nations, through Global Pulse, and the Government of Indonesia, through the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas).
For more information, visit: http://www.unglobalpulse.org/blog/data-innovation-policy-makers
Using Machine Learning to Analyse Radio Content in Uganda UN Global Pulse
The report outlines the methodology and processes of the Radio Content Analysis tool, distills the technology behind its creation and presents the lessons learned along the way. It also details the results of several pilot studies that were conducted together with partners from the Government, UN agencies and academia to understand the validity and value of unfiltered public radio discussions for development.
Big Data for Development and Humanitarian Action: Towards Responsible Governa...UN Global Pulse
This report presents a summary of the main topics discussed by the PAG in general, which were mainly summarized during the
2015 PAG meeting. It also describes some of the outcomes that came out of the PAG meeting of 23-24 October 2015.
Social Media and Forced Displacement: Big Data Analytics and Machine Learning...UN Global Pulse
UN Global Pulse and UNHCR Innovation Service, an interdepartmental initiative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) used data from Twitter to monitor protection issues and the safe access to asylum of migrants and refugees in Europe. The experimental project investigated interactions among refugees, between refugees and host communities, and between refugees and service providers along the way into Europe. This paper summarises the initial findings and lessons learned, and describes the results of ten mini-studies that were developed as part of the project. It outlines the process, questions and methodology used to develop the studies, and presents preliminary observations on how aspects of the Europe Refugee Emergency are related on social media.
‘The State of Mobile Data for Social Good’ report is a collaboration between UN Global Pulse and the GSMA, the global mobile telecommunications industry association. The report, which identifies over 200 projects or studies leveraging mobile data for social good, aims to survey the landscape today, assess the current barriers to scale, and make recommendations for a way forward. It details some of the main challenges with using mobile data for social good and provides a set of actions that (i) can spur investment and use, (ii) ensure cohesion of efforts and of customer privacy and data protection frameworks and (iii) build technical capacity.
Pulse Lab Kampala developed the prototype of a tool that can analyze public radio content to reveal a detailed picture of the priorities of Ugandans. The Radio Content Analysis tool works by converting public discussions that take place on radio into text using ‘speech-to-text’ technology. Once converted, the text can be searched by topics of interest related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as health, education or employment. The topics can be further broken down by location and timeline. The new capability afforded by this tool could help policymakers better understand, in real-time, Ugandans’ priorities, as voiced publicly on the radio.
This report summarizes the 2015 achievements of Pulse Lab Kampala and provides a glimpse into the long-term projects and agenda in the field of big data innovation for development and humanitarian action.
UN Global Pulse works to implement and
promote opportunities to use big data
innovations for development and humanitarian
action. This report summarizes Global Pulse’s
2016 innovation activities for sustainable development
and humanitarian action.
Proceedings from International Conference on Data Innovation For Policy MakersUN Global Pulse
The International Conference on Data Innovation For Policy Makers was hosted by Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning and organised in partnership with Pulse Lab Jakarta (PLJ), the Knowledge Sector Initiative (KSI) and UNDP Innovation Facility in November 2014. The focus was on how data can be used to provide better services for the public.
Pulse Lab Jakarta is a joint initiative of the United Nations, through Global Pulse, and the Government of Indonesia, through the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas).
For more information, visit: http://www.unglobalpulse.org/blog/data-innovation-policy-makers
Using Machine Learning to Analyse Radio Content in Uganda UN Global Pulse
The report outlines the methodology and processes of the Radio Content Analysis tool, distills the technology behind its creation and presents the lessons learned along the way. It also details the results of several pilot studies that were conducted together with partners from the Government, UN agencies and academia to understand the validity and value of unfiltered public radio discussions for development.
Big Data for Development and Humanitarian Action: Towards Responsible Governa...UN Global Pulse
This report presents a summary of the main topics discussed by the PAG in general, which were mainly summarized during the
2015 PAG meeting. It also describes some of the outcomes that came out of the PAG meeting of 23-24 October 2015.
Social Media and Forced Displacement: Big Data Analytics and Machine Learning...UN Global Pulse
UN Global Pulse and UNHCR Innovation Service, an interdepartmental initiative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) used data from Twitter to monitor protection issues and the safe access to asylum of migrants and refugees in Europe. The experimental project investigated interactions among refugees, between refugees and host communities, and between refugees and service providers along the way into Europe. This paper summarises the initial findings and lessons learned, and describes the results of ten mini-studies that were developed as part of the project. It outlines the process, questions and methodology used to develop the studies, and presents preliminary observations on how aspects of the Europe Refugee Emergency are related on social media.
‘The State of Mobile Data for Social Good’ report is a collaboration between UN Global Pulse and the GSMA, the global mobile telecommunications industry association. The report, which identifies over 200 projects or studies leveraging mobile data for social good, aims to survey the landscape today, assess the current barriers to scale, and make recommendations for a way forward. It details some of the main challenges with using mobile data for social good and provides a set of actions that (i) can spur investment and use, (ii) ensure cohesion of efforts and of customer privacy and data protection frameworks and (iii) build technical capacity.
Pulse Lab Kampala developed the prototype of a tool that can analyze public radio content to reveal a detailed picture of the priorities of Ugandans. The Radio Content Analysis tool works by converting public discussions that take place on radio into text using ‘speech-to-text’ technology. Once converted, the text can be searched by topics of interest related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as health, education or employment. The topics can be further broken down by location and timeline. The new capability afforded by this tool could help policymakers better understand, in real-time, Ugandans’ priorities, as voiced publicly on the radio.
This report summarizes the 2015 achievements of Pulse Lab Kampala and provides a glimpse into the long-term projects and agenda in the field of big data innovation for development and humanitarian action.
A Guide to Data Innovation for Development - From idea to proof-of-conceptUN Global Pulse
‘A Guide to Data Innovation for Development - From idea to proof-of-concept,’ provides step-by-step guidance for development practitioners to leverage new sources of data. It is a result of a collaboration of UNDP and UN Global Pulse with support from UN Volunteers.
The publication builds on successful case trials of six UNDP offices and on the expertise of data innovators from UNDP and UN Global Pulse who managed the design and development of those projects.
The guide is structured into three sections - (I) Explore the Problem & System, (II) Assemble the Team and (III) Create the Workplan. Each of the sections comprises of a series of tools for completing the steps needed to initiate and design a data innovation project, to engage the right partners and to make sure that adequate privacy and protection mechanisms are applied.
Global Pulse is playing a leading role in helping UN and other development partners adopt more agile processes powered by Big Data to meet the challenges of driving sustainable development in a Post-2015 world. Our initiative has been closely involved in shaping the discussion of a Post-2015 development “data revolution.”
Over the past year, we have focused our efforts on advocating for the responsible use of Big Data, building partnerships for access to real-time data sources, cutting edge data mining tools and data science expertise. At the country level, we continued to expand our network of Pulse Labs to strengthen national and regional capacity for using Big Data. We are pleased to have begun operating our first regional innovation hub in the vibrant East African technology scene with the opening of Pulse Lab Kampala in late 2013. In 2013, our portfolio of innovation projects involved more than 25 partner organizations including UNICEF, UN Development Programme (UNDP), World Food Programme (WFP) and World Health Organisation (WHO).
The Annual Report 2013 summarizes this activity and explains how the UN's data science labs operate and innovate.
Gender Equality and Big Data. Making Gender Data Visible UN Global Pulse
This report provides background context on how big data can be used to facilitate and assess progress towards the SDGs, and focuses in particular on SDG 5 – “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. It examines successes and challenges in the use of big data to improve the lives of women and girls, and identifies concrete data innovation projects from across the development sector that have considered the gender dimension.
Experimenting with Big Data and AI to Support Peace and SecurityUN Global Pulse
UN Global Pulse is working with partners to explore how data from social media and radio shows can inform peace and security efforts in Africa. The methodology, case studies, and tools developed as part of these efforts are detailed in this report.
This report was developed by PSFK Labs for the United Nations to help them understand how technology, including social media, could help organizations understand what is happening to their most vulnerable populations in real-time.
We intend for it to be openly shared around the globe between communities, development agencies, academia and other organizations. Its aim is to highlight the opportunities that exist for organizations, large or small. In particular, the “left field” examples of data capture and use are published in hope of showcasing how organizations can leap- frog IT investment and still significantly improve the monitoring capabilities.
For a free download of this report please visit http://www.psfk.com/future-of-real-time
Integrating big data into the monitoring and evaluation of development progra...UN Global Pulse
This report provides guidelines for evaluators, evaluation and programme managers, policy makers
and funding agencies on how to take advantage of the rapidly emerging field of big data in the design
and implementation of systems for monitoring and evaluating development programmes.
The report is organized in two parts. Part I: Development evaluation in the age of big data reviews the data revolution and discusses the promise, and challenges this offers for strengthening development monitoring and evaluation. Part II: Guidelines for integrating big data into the monitoring and evaluation frameworks of development programmes focuses on what a big data inclusive M&E system would look like.
When the Global Pulse initiative was launched by the UN Secretary-General in late 2009, its mission to use real-time and other non- traditional data sources in development and humanitarian action was groundbreaking. 2014 was a landmark year for embracing the importance of data analysis in achieving sustainable development. Throughout the year, the "Post-2015 data revolution" agenda was taken-up in governments, public sector and civil society organisations.
Over the past year, Pulse Labs in New York, Jakarta and Indonesia have supported the growth of a thriving community of practice, redefined the data innovation landscape and demonstrated how real-time data can play a role in supporting decision-makers and shaping public service delivery. With 25 joint data innovation projects implemented over the year, in partnership with 25 UN & Govt innovation project partners, 30 private sector collaborators and academics from 26 institutions, Global Pulse is contrbuting to a body of evidence that demonstrates how big data analysis can complement traditional approaches to development planning and monitoring.
Global Pulse's Annual Report 2014 highlights big data innovation projects carried out over the past year, and new milestones in the evolution of a "big data for development" ecosystem.
The UN Global Pulse 2017 Annual Report details exciting new explorations of big data and A.I. to advance the 2030 Agenda, and presents proven solutions that were mainstreamed and adopted by partners. It also showcases ongoing collaborative efforts to develop data privacy and ethics frameworks for adoption across the UN system. Finally, the report highlights Global Pulse's significant contributions to advancing the innovation ecosystem through capacity building, collaborative research and responsible data partnerships.
Using Data and New Technology for Peacemaking, Preventive Diplomacy, and Peac...UN Global Pulse
This guide offers an overview of e-analytics in the context of peacemaking and preventive diplomacy. It presents a summary of e-analytics tools as well as examples from the peace and security field. It includes a data project planning matrix that aims to help facilitate and motivate data-driven analysis. Part of the guide is a glossary on basic terminology related to new technologies.
The 2018 Annual Report details exploratory research conducted by the Pulse Labs and presents solutions that were mainstreamed with partners.
It summarized the adoption of the first UN Principles for Personal Data Protection and Privacy, and showcases Global Pulse's contributions to develop standards and national strategies for the ethical and privacy protective use of big data and artificial intelligence.
Finally, the report highlights Global Pulse's engagement with the data innovation ecosystem through capacity building, collaborative research, and responsible data partnerships.
This primer - or "Big Data 101" specifically for the international development and humanitarian communities - explains the concepts behind using Big Data for social good in easy-to-understand language. Published by the United Nations' Global Pulse initiative, which is exploring how new, digital data sources and real-time analytics technologies can help policymakers understand human well-being and emerging vulnerabilities in real-time. www.unglobalpulse.org
Data privacy and security in ICT4D - Meeting Report UN Global Pulse
On May 8th, 2015 UN Global Pulse hosted a workshop on data privacy and security in technology-enabled development projects and programmes, as part of a series of events about the Nine Principles for Digital Development. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop. http://unglobalpulse.org/blog/improving-privacy-and-data-security-ict4d-projects
Data Innovation: Generating Climate Solutions EventUN Global Pulse
This high-level event will jump-start proceedings of the Sustainable Innovation Forum with discussions and examples of data-driven innovations to accelerate climate solutions and the Sustainable Development Agenda.
Supporting the Post-2015 Development Agenda Consultations Using U-Report - Pr...UN Global Pulse
A wide range of consultations has taken place in Uganda to review the progress made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and developing the Post-2015 national development agenda. In support of the process, Pulse Lab Kampala has developed a technical toolkit to further incorporate the “voices of the people” into the planning process. Pulse Lab Kampala analysed a dataset comprising 3.1 million messages from UNICEF’s U-report platform to understand the views of Ugandan youth on Post-2015 development topics. The analysis revealed that ‘Better Health Care,’ ‘Good Education’ and ‘Better Job Opportunities’ are top priorities for the youth that participated in the digital surveys conducted by UNICEF.
Cite as: UN Global Pulse, 'Supporting the Post-2015 Development Agenda Consultations Using U-Report ', Global Pulse Project Series, no.12, 2015.
Global Pulse: Mining Indonesian Tweets to Understand Food Price Crises copyUN Global Pulse
Sudden increases in the price of staple foodstuffs like rice can push whole families below the poverty line and cause regional economic instability; these changes can happen rapidly but food price statistics are generally published only monthly or even less frequently.
This project, in collaboration with the Indonesian Ministry of Development Planning, UNICEF and WFP in Indonesia seeks to use social media analysis to provide real-time information from the population that could enable faster responses to food price increases in the form of social protection policies. Global Pulse analysed tweet volumes relevant to food and fuel between March 2011 and April 2013 and found a significant correlation, suggesting that even potential (rather than realised) fuel price rises affect people’s perceptions of food security. Researchers also found a relationship between retrospective official food inflation statistics and the number of tweets referencing food price increases.
http://www.unglobalpulse.org/social-media-social-protection-indonesia
Analysing Social Media Conversations to Understand Public Perceptions of Sani...UN Global Pulse
The United Nations Millennium Campaign and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council partnered to deliver a comprehensive advocacy and communication drive on sanitation. Their efforts were in support of the UN Deputy Secretary General’s Call to Action on Sanitation to increase the number of people with access to better sanitation. Global Pulse provided an analysis of social media in order to provide insight on the baseline of public engagement, and explore ways to monitor a new sanitation campaign. Using a custom keyword taxonomy, English language tweets from January 2011 to December 2013 were extracted, sorted into categories and analysed.
Cite as: UN Global Pulse, 'Analysing Social Media Conversations to Understand Public Perceptions of Sanitation', Global Pulse Project Series, no.5, 2014.
This document - specifically for the international development and humanitarian communities - is a synthesis of a growing body of research on mobile phone data analysis in development or humanitarian contexts.
Research examples focus on the indicators which can be extracted through analysis of de-identified call detail records (CDRs). In particular: mobility, social interaction and economic activity. Published by the United Nations' Global Pulse initiative, which is exploring how new, digital data sources and real-time analytics technologies can help policymakers understand human well-being and emerging vulnerabilities in real-time. www.unglobalpulse.org
Understanding Immunisation Awareness and Sentiment with Social Media - Projec...UN Global Pulse
This multi-country study aims to track and analyse online conversations related to immunisation on social media and mainstream media in India, Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan. Findings from the study showed that in social media, Nigerian and Pakistani politicians are active and influential in the vaccination debate and the political dimension is often referred to when discussing the failure to eradicate diseases such as polio. However, in Kenya, religious and ideological aspects were more frequently discussed. Twitter activity is primarily driven by sharing of news stories in all countries whereas Facebook focuses on the 'distrust' and 'ideals' categorisation.
Cite as: UN Global Pulse, “Understanding Immunisation Awareness and Sentiment Through Social and Mainstream Media”, Global Pulse Project Series no. 19, 2015.
In 2016-2017, Pulse Lab Kampala worked with various UN agencies and development partners in Uganda and the region to test, explore and develop 17 innovation projects. The Lab also furthered the development of tools and technologies that leverage data sources from radio content, social media, mobile phones and satellite imagery, and created technology toolkits. These toolkits can enhance decision-making by providing real-time situational awareness for project and policy implementation.
A Guide to Data Innovation for Development - From idea to proof-of-conceptUN Global Pulse
‘A Guide to Data Innovation for Development - From idea to proof-of-concept,’ provides step-by-step guidance for development practitioners to leverage new sources of data. It is a result of a collaboration of UNDP and UN Global Pulse with support from UN Volunteers.
The publication builds on successful case trials of six UNDP offices and on the expertise of data innovators from UNDP and UN Global Pulse who managed the design and development of those projects.
The guide is structured into three sections - (I) Explore the Problem & System, (II) Assemble the Team and (III) Create the Workplan. Each of the sections comprises of a series of tools for completing the steps needed to initiate and design a data innovation project, to engage the right partners and to make sure that adequate privacy and protection mechanisms are applied.
Global Pulse is playing a leading role in helping UN and other development partners adopt more agile processes powered by Big Data to meet the challenges of driving sustainable development in a Post-2015 world. Our initiative has been closely involved in shaping the discussion of a Post-2015 development “data revolution.”
Over the past year, we have focused our efforts on advocating for the responsible use of Big Data, building partnerships for access to real-time data sources, cutting edge data mining tools and data science expertise. At the country level, we continued to expand our network of Pulse Labs to strengthen national and regional capacity for using Big Data. We are pleased to have begun operating our first regional innovation hub in the vibrant East African technology scene with the opening of Pulse Lab Kampala in late 2013. In 2013, our portfolio of innovation projects involved more than 25 partner organizations including UNICEF, UN Development Programme (UNDP), World Food Programme (WFP) and World Health Organisation (WHO).
The Annual Report 2013 summarizes this activity and explains how the UN's data science labs operate and innovate.
Gender Equality and Big Data. Making Gender Data Visible UN Global Pulse
This report provides background context on how big data can be used to facilitate and assess progress towards the SDGs, and focuses in particular on SDG 5 – “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. It examines successes and challenges in the use of big data to improve the lives of women and girls, and identifies concrete data innovation projects from across the development sector that have considered the gender dimension.
Experimenting with Big Data and AI to Support Peace and SecurityUN Global Pulse
UN Global Pulse is working with partners to explore how data from social media and radio shows can inform peace and security efforts in Africa. The methodology, case studies, and tools developed as part of these efforts are detailed in this report.
This report was developed by PSFK Labs for the United Nations to help them understand how technology, including social media, could help organizations understand what is happening to their most vulnerable populations in real-time.
We intend for it to be openly shared around the globe between communities, development agencies, academia and other organizations. Its aim is to highlight the opportunities that exist for organizations, large or small. In particular, the “left field” examples of data capture and use are published in hope of showcasing how organizations can leap- frog IT investment and still significantly improve the monitoring capabilities.
For a free download of this report please visit http://www.psfk.com/future-of-real-time
Integrating big data into the monitoring and evaluation of development progra...UN Global Pulse
This report provides guidelines for evaluators, evaluation and programme managers, policy makers
and funding agencies on how to take advantage of the rapidly emerging field of big data in the design
and implementation of systems for monitoring and evaluating development programmes.
The report is organized in two parts. Part I: Development evaluation in the age of big data reviews the data revolution and discusses the promise, and challenges this offers for strengthening development monitoring and evaluation. Part II: Guidelines for integrating big data into the monitoring and evaluation frameworks of development programmes focuses on what a big data inclusive M&E system would look like.
When the Global Pulse initiative was launched by the UN Secretary-General in late 2009, its mission to use real-time and other non- traditional data sources in development and humanitarian action was groundbreaking. 2014 was a landmark year for embracing the importance of data analysis in achieving sustainable development. Throughout the year, the "Post-2015 data revolution" agenda was taken-up in governments, public sector and civil society organisations.
Over the past year, Pulse Labs in New York, Jakarta and Indonesia have supported the growth of a thriving community of practice, redefined the data innovation landscape and demonstrated how real-time data can play a role in supporting decision-makers and shaping public service delivery. With 25 joint data innovation projects implemented over the year, in partnership with 25 UN & Govt innovation project partners, 30 private sector collaborators and academics from 26 institutions, Global Pulse is contrbuting to a body of evidence that demonstrates how big data analysis can complement traditional approaches to development planning and monitoring.
Global Pulse's Annual Report 2014 highlights big data innovation projects carried out over the past year, and new milestones in the evolution of a "big data for development" ecosystem.
The UN Global Pulse 2017 Annual Report details exciting new explorations of big data and A.I. to advance the 2030 Agenda, and presents proven solutions that were mainstreamed and adopted by partners. It also showcases ongoing collaborative efforts to develop data privacy and ethics frameworks for adoption across the UN system. Finally, the report highlights Global Pulse's significant contributions to advancing the innovation ecosystem through capacity building, collaborative research and responsible data partnerships.
Using Data and New Technology for Peacemaking, Preventive Diplomacy, and Peac...UN Global Pulse
This guide offers an overview of e-analytics in the context of peacemaking and preventive diplomacy. It presents a summary of e-analytics tools as well as examples from the peace and security field. It includes a data project planning matrix that aims to help facilitate and motivate data-driven analysis. Part of the guide is a glossary on basic terminology related to new technologies.
The 2018 Annual Report details exploratory research conducted by the Pulse Labs and presents solutions that were mainstreamed with partners.
It summarized the adoption of the first UN Principles for Personal Data Protection and Privacy, and showcases Global Pulse's contributions to develop standards and national strategies for the ethical and privacy protective use of big data and artificial intelligence.
Finally, the report highlights Global Pulse's engagement with the data innovation ecosystem through capacity building, collaborative research, and responsible data partnerships.
This primer - or "Big Data 101" specifically for the international development and humanitarian communities - explains the concepts behind using Big Data for social good in easy-to-understand language. Published by the United Nations' Global Pulse initiative, which is exploring how new, digital data sources and real-time analytics technologies can help policymakers understand human well-being and emerging vulnerabilities in real-time. www.unglobalpulse.org
Data privacy and security in ICT4D - Meeting Report UN Global Pulse
On May 8th, 2015 UN Global Pulse hosted a workshop on data privacy and security in technology-enabled development projects and programmes, as part of a series of events about the Nine Principles for Digital Development. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop. http://unglobalpulse.org/blog/improving-privacy-and-data-security-ict4d-projects
Data Innovation: Generating Climate Solutions EventUN Global Pulse
This high-level event will jump-start proceedings of the Sustainable Innovation Forum with discussions and examples of data-driven innovations to accelerate climate solutions and the Sustainable Development Agenda.
Supporting the Post-2015 Development Agenda Consultations Using U-Report - Pr...UN Global Pulse
A wide range of consultations has taken place in Uganda to review the progress made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and developing the Post-2015 national development agenda. In support of the process, Pulse Lab Kampala has developed a technical toolkit to further incorporate the “voices of the people” into the planning process. Pulse Lab Kampala analysed a dataset comprising 3.1 million messages from UNICEF’s U-report platform to understand the views of Ugandan youth on Post-2015 development topics. The analysis revealed that ‘Better Health Care,’ ‘Good Education’ and ‘Better Job Opportunities’ are top priorities for the youth that participated in the digital surveys conducted by UNICEF.
Cite as: UN Global Pulse, 'Supporting the Post-2015 Development Agenda Consultations Using U-Report ', Global Pulse Project Series, no.12, 2015.
Global Pulse: Mining Indonesian Tweets to Understand Food Price Crises copyUN Global Pulse
Sudden increases in the price of staple foodstuffs like rice can push whole families below the poverty line and cause regional economic instability; these changes can happen rapidly but food price statistics are generally published only monthly or even less frequently.
This project, in collaboration with the Indonesian Ministry of Development Planning, UNICEF and WFP in Indonesia seeks to use social media analysis to provide real-time information from the population that could enable faster responses to food price increases in the form of social protection policies. Global Pulse analysed tweet volumes relevant to food and fuel between March 2011 and April 2013 and found a significant correlation, suggesting that even potential (rather than realised) fuel price rises affect people’s perceptions of food security. Researchers also found a relationship between retrospective official food inflation statistics and the number of tweets referencing food price increases.
http://www.unglobalpulse.org/social-media-social-protection-indonesia
Analysing Social Media Conversations to Understand Public Perceptions of Sani...UN Global Pulse
The United Nations Millennium Campaign and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council partnered to deliver a comprehensive advocacy and communication drive on sanitation. Their efforts were in support of the UN Deputy Secretary General’s Call to Action on Sanitation to increase the number of people with access to better sanitation. Global Pulse provided an analysis of social media in order to provide insight on the baseline of public engagement, and explore ways to monitor a new sanitation campaign. Using a custom keyword taxonomy, English language tweets from January 2011 to December 2013 were extracted, sorted into categories and analysed.
Cite as: UN Global Pulse, 'Analysing Social Media Conversations to Understand Public Perceptions of Sanitation', Global Pulse Project Series, no.5, 2014.
This document - specifically for the international development and humanitarian communities - is a synthesis of a growing body of research on mobile phone data analysis in development or humanitarian contexts.
Research examples focus on the indicators which can be extracted through analysis of de-identified call detail records (CDRs). In particular: mobility, social interaction and economic activity. Published by the United Nations' Global Pulse initiative, which is exploring how new, digital data sources and real-time analytics technologies can help policymakers understand human well-being and emerging vulnerabilities in real-time. www.unglobalpulse.org
Understanding Immunisation Awareness and Sentiment with Social Media - Projec...UN Global Pulse
This multi-country study aims to track and analyse online conversations related to immunisation on social media and mainstream media in India, Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan. Findings from the study showed that in social media, Nigerian and Pakistani politicians are active and influential in the vaccination debate and the political dimension is often referred to when discussing the failure to eradicate diseases such as polio. However, in Kenya, religious and ideological aspects were more frequently discussed. Twitter activity is primarily driven by sharing of news stories in all countries whereas Facebook focuses on the 'distrust' and 'ideals' categorisation.
Cite as: UN Global Pulse, “Understanding Immunisation Awareness and Sentiment Through Social and Mainstream Media”, Global Pulse Project Series no. 19, 2015.
In 2016-2017, Pulse Lab Kampala worked with various UN agencies and development partners in Uganda and the region to test, explore and develop 17 innovation projects. The Lab also furthered the development of tools and technologies that leverage data sources from radio content, social media, mobile phones and satellite imagery, and created technology toolkits. These toolkits can enhance decision-making by providing real-time situational awareness for project and policy implementation.
High-level Meeting & Workshop on Environmental and Scientific Open Data for Sustainable Development Goals in Developing Countries. Madagascar, 4-6 December 2017
Presentation during the 14th Association of African Universities (AAU) Conference and African Open Science Platform (AOSP)/Research Data Alliance (RDA) Workshop in Accra, Ghana, 7-8 June 2017.
High-level Meeting & Workshop on Environmental and Scientific Open Data for Sustainable Development Goals in Developing Countries. Madagascar, 4-6 December 2017
Step 2: Due Diligence Questionnaire for Prospective PartnersUN Global Pulse
UN Global Pulse has developed a two-part Due Diligence Tool for Working with Prospective Technology Partners. The questionnaire should be filled out by the prospective partner prior to any commitment to collaborate.
Step 1: Due Diligence Checklist for Prospective Partners UN Global Pulse
UN Global Pulse has developed a two-part Due Diligence Tool for Working with Prospective Technology Partners. The checklist should be completed by the UN organization and encourages research about the corporate and social nature of the prospective partner, including their data related practices, prior to any commitment to collaborate.
Risks, Harms and Benefits Assessment Tool (Updated as of Jan 2019)UN Global Pulse
The Data Innovation Risk Assessment Tool is an initial assessment of potential risks for data use that includes seven guiding checkpoints to understand: the "Data Type" involved in the data analytics process, the "Risks and Harms" of data use, the mode and legitimacy of "Data Access", the "Data Use", the adequacy of "Data Security", the adequate level of "Communication and Transparency" and the due diligence on engagement of "Third Parties". The Assessment contains guiding comments for each checkpoint and its questions are grounded in the key international data privacy and data protection principles and concepts such as Purpose Specification, Purpose Compatibility, Data Minimization, Consent Legitimacy, Lawfulness and Fairness of data access and use.
2015 was an eventful year for Pulse Lab Jakarta. The broader data innovation ecosystem within which the Lab operates has grown from a specialist network to include a broader range of public, social, and private sector actors who are interested in exploring insights from new data sources as well as learning how data innovation can complement existing datasets and operations. This report provides an overview of the work of Pulse Lab Jakarta in 2015, including the foundation blocks that will lead to an impactful 2016.
Embracing Innovation: How a Social Lab can Support the Innovation Agenda in S...UN Global Pulse
Pulse Lab Jakarta extended their support to UNDP Sri Lanka through a scoping mission to assess Sri Lanka's readiness to establish an Innovation Lab. This report presents the findings and outlines the suggested approaches for creating an innovation lab, and how to expand it in the years following its inception.
This toolkit provides the methodology for focusing the data-gathering power of existing communities, increasing their capacity to work together and building awareness of the potential of the data created by this work. It aims to help citizens identify and articulate their own problems using the supplementing data in their communities.
Navigating the Terrain: A Toolkit for Conceptualising Service Design ProjectsUN Global Pulse
Pulse Lab Jakarta participated in a service design initiative to develop a citizen-centric public transportation service in Makassar, Indonesia. Following the initiative, which was undertaken along with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Bursa Pengetahuan Kawasan Timur Indonesia (BaKTI), we chronicled our learnings on taking an idea from a design sprint to a ready-to-test prototype. Contextualised to help inform stakeholders working with or within the public sector, this resulting toolkit is useful for developing and delivering similar services.
Banking on Fintech: Financial inclusion for micro enterprises in IndonesiaUN Global Pulse
The Banking on Fintech: Financial Inclusion for Micro Enterprises
in Indonesia research was conducted by Pulse Lab Jakarta,
with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
(DFAT) Australia and the Indonesia Fintech Association (AFTECH). It presents successful practices from early adopters and attempts to translate them into opportunities for other unbanked populations.
Pulse Lab Jakarta, in collaboration with the Government of Indonesia, developed ‘Haze Gazer,’ a crisis analysis tool that provides real-time situational information from various data sources to enhance disaster management efforts. The prototype uses advanced data analysis of sources including: satellite imagery, information on population density and distribution from government databases, citizen-generated data and real-time data from social media. The capability afforded by the tool can
enhance disaster risk management efforts to protect vulnerable populations as well as the environment.
Cite as: UN Global Pulse, “Haze Gazer: A crisis analysis tool,” Tool Series, no. 2, 2016.
Building Proxy Indicators of National Wellbeing with Postal Data - Project Ov...UN Global Pulse
This study investigated for the first time the potential of using the network of international postal flows to approximate socioeconomic indicators typically used to benchmark national wellbeing. The research used aggregated electronic postal records from 187 countries collected by the Universal Postal Union from 2010 to 2014 as a proxy indicator for real-world conditions.
Cite as: “Building Proxy Indicators of National Wellbeing with Postal Data”, Global Pulse Project Series, no. 22, 2016
Sex Disaggregation of Social Media Posts - Tool OverviewUN Global Pulse
Global Pulse collaborated with Data2X and the University of Leiden to develop and prototype a tool to infer the sex of users. The tool automates the process of looking up public information from Twitter profiles, in particular the user name and profile picture. Using open source software, the tool analyses user names from a built-in database of predefined names (from sources such as official statistics) that contain gender information.
Cite as: UN Global Pulse, 'Sex-Disaggregation of Social Media Posts,' Big Data Tools Series, no. 3, 2016
Using Big data Analytics for Improved Public Transport UN Global Pulse
Pulse Lab Jakarta collaborated with Jakarta Smart City on a project to enhance transport planning and operational decision-making through real-time data analytics. Using data from TransJakarta – the city’s rapid bus transit system – buses and passenger stations, the project mapped origin-destination trends and identified bottleneck locations, information which can be used to identify whether new routes are needed. The project also explored the possibility of using real-time data to determine passenger-waiting times in order to enhance the efficiency of the bus dispatching system.
Cite as: UN Global Pulse, ‘Using Big Data Analytics for Improved
Public Transport,’ Project Series, no. 25, 2017.
Pulse Lab Jakarta developed Translator Gator, a people-powered language game that creates dictionaries for recognising sustainable development-related conversations in Indonesia. The game builds taxonomies, i.e. sets of relevant keywords, by incentivising players to translate words from English into different Indonesian languages, including Bahasa Indonesia, Jawa, Sunda, Minang, Bugis and Melayu.
Cite as: UN Global Pulse, 'Translator Gator: Crowdsourcing
Translation of Development Keywords in Indonesia’, Tool
Series no. 4, 2017.
Big Data for Financial Inclusion, Examining the Customer Journey - Project Ov...UN Global Pulse
Pulse Lab Jakarta collaborated with the UNCDF Shaping Inclusive Finance Transformations (SHIFT) programme to undertake an
analysis of financial services usage, particularly among women in the ASEAN region. The project analysed customer savings and loan data from four Financial Service Providers (FSPs) in Cambodia to understand the factors that affect savings and loans mobilisation, as well as how usage of these products explains economic issues in Cambodia.
Cite as: UN Global Pulse, 'Big Data for Financial Inclusion, Examining The Customer Journey', Project Series, no. 27, 2017.
Understanding Perceptions of Migrants and Refugees with Social Media - Projec...UN Global Pulse
This project used data from Twitter to monitor protection issues and the safe access to asylum of migrants and refugees in Europe. In collaboration with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Global Pulse created taxonomies that were used to explore interactions among refugees and between them and service providers, as well as xenophobic sentiment of host communities towards the displaced populations. Specifically, the study focused on how refugees and migrants were perceived in reaction to a series of terrorist attacks that took place in Europe in 2016. The results were used to develop a standardized information product to improve UNHCR’s ability to monitor and analyse relevant social media feeds in near real-time.
Cite as: UN Global Pulse, “Understanding Movement and Perceptions of Migrants and Refugees with Social Media,” Project Series, no. 28, 2017.
Using vessel data to study rescue patterns in the mediterranean - Project Ove...UN Global Pulse
Despite policy and media attention and a significant increase in search and rescue efforts, the number of deaths of refugees and
migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea hit record numbers in 2016. UN Global Pulse worked with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on a project that analyzed new big data sources to provide a better understanding of the context of search and rescue operations. 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.
Cite as: UN Global Pulse, “Using Big Data to Study Rescue Patterns in the Mediterranean” Project Series, no. 29, 2017.
Improving Professional Training in Indonesia with Gaming Data - Project OverviewUN Global Pulse
UN Global Pulse lab in Jakarta - Pulse Lab Jakarta- partnered with Kompak, a partnership of the Governments of Australia and Indonesia to reduce poverty, to create a mobile simulation game to measure the results of training conducted by the Government to village representatives in Indonesia. A total of 1,264 users in 88 districts and 22 provinces in Indonesia played the game, generating data that was used to improve training curricula, targeting and delivery. The game, entitled Sekolah Desa, demonstrated the potential for using gamification as a capacity
building and evaluation tool.
Cite as: UN Global Pulse, 'Improving Professional Training in
Indonesia with Gaming Data,' Project Series no. 26, 2017.
Ambulance Tracking Tool Helps Improve Coordination of Emergency Service Vehic...UN Global Pulse
To understand how these ambulances are being used and what other steps could be taken to improve emergency service delivery, Pulse Lab Kampala developed a digital application called Cheetah Tracker. The tool, implemented with the Ministry of Health and Enabel, Belgium’s Development Agency, uses Global Positioning Systems (GPS) data to provide analytics on transport-related aspects of health service delivery through a user-friendly dashboard and SMS/email alerts.
Radio Content Analysis Tool for Improving Public Service Delivery in Uganda UN Global Pulse
Public opinions expressed over radio can help policy makers identify gaps, get qualitative insights, and determine emerging issues. Pulse Lab Kampala developed the Radio Content
Analysis Tool, a speech recognition technology that converts discussions into text, and then analyses the data to inform on issues relevant to the SDGs.
Data Privacy, Ethics and Protection. A Guidance Note on Big Data for Achievem...UN Global Pulse
This document was developed by UN Global Pulse for the United Nations Development Group. It sets out general guidance on data privacy, data protection and data ethics for the UNDG concerning the use of big data, collected in real time by private sector entities as part of their business offerings, and shared with UNDG
members for the purposes of strengthening operational
implementation of their programmes to support the
achievement of the 2030 Agenda.
Adjusting primitives for graph : SHORT REPORT / NOTESSubhajit Sahu
Graph algorithms, like PageRank Compressed Sparse Row (CSR) is an adjacency-list based graph representation that is
Multiply with different modes (map)
1. Performance of sequential execution based vs OpenMP based vector multiply.
2. Comparing various launch configs for CUDA based vector multiply.
Sum with different storage types (reduce)
1. Performance of vector element sum using float vs bfloat16 as the storage type.
Sum with different modes (reduce)
1. Performance of sequential execution based vs OpenMP based vector element sum.
2. Performance of memcpy vs in-place based CUDA based vector element sum.
3. Comparing various launch configs for CUDA based vector element sum (memcpy).
4. Comparing various launch configs for CUDA based vector element sum (in-place).
Sum with in-place strategies of CUDA mode (reduce)
1. Comparing various launch configs for CUDA based vector element sum (in-place).
06-04-2024 - NYC Tech Week - Discussion on Vector Databases, Unstructured Data and AI
Discussion on Vector Databases, Unstructured Data and AI
https://www.meetup.com/unstructured-data-meetup-new-york/
This meetup is for people working in unstructured data. Speakers will come present about related topics such as vector databases, LLMs, and managing data at scale. The intended audience of this group includes roles like machine learning engineers, data scientists, data engineers, software engineers, and PMs.This meetup was formerly Milvus Meetup, and is sponsored by Zilliz maintainers of Milvus.
Show drafts
volume_up
Empowering the Data Analytics Ecosystem: A Laser Focus on Value
The data analytics ecosystem thrives when every component functions at its peak, unlocking the true potential of data. Here's a laser focus on key areas for an empowered ecosystem:
1. Democratize Access, Not Data:
Granular Access Controls: Provide users with self-service tools tailored to their specific needs, preventing data overload and misuse.
Data Catalogs: Implement robust data catalogs for easy discovery and understanding of available data sources.
2. Foster Collaboration with Clear Roles:
Data Mesh Architecture: Break down data silos by creating a distributed data ownership model with clear ownership and responsibilities.
Collaborative Workspaces: Utilize interactive platforms where data scientists, analysts, and domain experts can work seamlessly together.
3. Leverage Advanced Analytics Strategically:
AI-powered Automation: Automate repetitive tasks like data cleaning and feature engineering, freeing up data talent for higher-level analysis.
Right-Tool Selection: Strategically choose the most effective advanced analytics techniques (e.g., AI, ML) based on specific business problems.
4. Prioritize Data Quality with Automation:
Automated Data Validation: Implement automated data quality checks to identify and rectify errors at the source, minimizing downstream issues.
Data Lineage Tracking: Track the flow of data throughout the ecosystem, ensuring transparency and facilitating root cause analysis for errors.
5. Cultivate a Data-Driven Mindset:
Metrics-Driven Performance Management: Align KPIs and performance metrics with data-driven insights to ensure actionable decision making.
Data Storytelling Workshops: Equip stakeholders with the skills to translate complex data findings into compelling narratives that drive action.
Benefits of a Precise Ecosystem:
Sharpened Focus: Precise access and clear roles ensure everyone works with the most relevant data, maximizing efficiency.
Actionable Insights: Strategic analytics and automated quality checks lead to more reliable and actionable data insights.
Continuous Improvement: Data-driven performance management fosters a culture of learning and continuous improvement.
Sustainable Growth: Empowered by data, organizations can make informed decisions to drive sustainable growth and innovation.
By focusing on these precise actions, organizations can create an empowered data analytics ecosystem that delivers real value by driving data-driven decisions and maximizing the return on their data investment.
Data Centers - Striving Within A Narrow Range - Research Report - MCG - May 2...pchutichetpong
M Capital Group (“MCG”) expects to see demand and the changing evolution of supply, facilitated through institutional investment rotation out of offices and into work from home (“WFH”), while the ever-expanding need for data storage as global internet usage expands, with experts predicting 5.3 billion users by 2023. These market factors will be underpinned by technological changes, such as progressing cloud services and edge sites, allowing the industry to see strong expected annual growth of 13% over the next 4 years.
Whilst competitive headwinds remain, represented through the recent second bankruptcy filing of Sungard, which blames “COVID-19 and other macroeconomic trends including delayed customer spending decisions, insourcing and reductions in IT spending, energy inflation and reduction in demand for certain services”, the industry has seen key adjustments, where MCG believes that engineering cost management and technological innovation will be paramount to success.
MCG reports that the more favorable market conditions expected over the next few years, helped by the winding down of pandemic restrictions and a hybrid working environment will be driving market momentum forward. The continuous injection of capital by alternative investment firms, as well as the growing infrastructural investment from cloud service providers and social media companies, whose revenues are expected to grow over 3.6x larger by value in 2026, will likely help propel center provision and innovation. These factors paint a promising picture for the industry players that offset rising input costs and adapt to new technologies.
According to M Capital Group: “Specifically, the long-term cost-saving opportunities available from the rise of remote managing will likely aid value growth for the industry. Through margin optimization and further availability of capital for reinvestment, strong players will maintain their competitive foothold, while weaker players exit the market to balance supply and demand.”
1. CATALYZING A RESPONSIBLE ‘BIG DATA FOR
DEVELOPMENT ECOSYSTEM’
P R O G R E S S R E P O R T
J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 5 - O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6
2. BACKGROUND
Pulse Lab Kampala is a data innovation lab run by UN Global Pulse, and was established as an inter-agency initiative
under the management of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Uganda. The Lab contributes to the United
Nations ‘Delivering as One’ approach while also serving as Global Pulse’s regional innovation hub for Africa.
1
2. ECOSYSTEM CATALYST
Contribute to the development
of regulatory frameworks and
technical standards to address
data sharing and privacy pro-
tection challenges; engage key
stakeholders on a priority in-
novation agenda; and provide
public sector organisations
with policy guidance and technical assistance
to strengthen their capacity for integrating re-
al-time insights into operations.
1. INNOVATION DRIVER
Implement data innovation
programmes across a net-
work of Pulse Labs to provide
UN system and development
partners with access to the
data, tools and expertise re-
quired to discover high-po-
tential applications of big
data; develop innovative open source appli-
cations and platforms to improve data-driven
decision making and support pilot-based eval-
uation of promising solutions.
A TWO-TRACK STRATEGY
Pulse Lab Kampala has three primary objectives:
1. To achieve a critical mass of implemented data innovations
2. To lower barriers to adoption and scaling
3. To Strenghten the big data innovation ecosystem
Global Pulse’s two-pillar implementation strategy is based on the following roles:
Although Pulse Lab Kampala has been operating in Uganda since 2013, it was officially opened in 2015 by the Prime
Minister of Uganda. The Lab has been working to build a community of practice in the region by bringing together UN
agencies, academia, private sector and regulators to coordinate and drive action. In addition, the Lab has worked to
channel stakeholder attention towards emerging and high priority topics (such as ‘data privacy and data protection’
and ‘data philanthropy,’) and to share knowledge and drive research in the region and at country level through con-
ferences, workshops and data innovation events.
The activities and results of Pulse Lab Kampala as an ecosystem catalyst are summarized in this report and
structured under the following sections:
DEVELOPING RESPONSIBLE
DATA PRIVACY AND DATA PRO-
TECTION FRAMEWORKS
SUPPORTING BIG DATA FOR
OFFICIAL STATISTICS
STRENGTHENING THE INNOVA-
TION ECOSYSTEM
PROMOTING PARTNERSHIPS
AND ENCOURAGING A GROW-
ING COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
3. 2
DEVELOPING RESPONSIBLE DATA PRIVACY AND DATA PROTECTION FRAME-
WORKS
• Technical expertise and recommendations to the Data Privacy Advisory Group,
• Recommendations for the development of UN Global Pulse’s Big Data Impact Assessment Tool,
• Knowledge sharing and thought leadership on data privacy during four events hosted by the Lab, and
• Technical support to the Government of Uganda on a draft Data Privacy and Protection Bill.
As part of its advocacy and policy work, Global Pulse established a Data Privacy Advisory Group in 2014 that brings
together data protection regulators, experts from the public and private sectors, civil society and academia. The Group
serves as a platform for improving Global Pulse’s privacy practices, guidelines and tools as well as building capacity
and trust within the privacy and data analytics ecosystem. Dr. Okori G. Washington, Legal Specialist at MTN Uganda,
and Dr. Bitange Ndemo, professor at the University of Nairobi’s Business School, represent Kenya, East Africa in the
Group. Other members of the Group from the region include: Mr. Lahoussine Aniss - General Secretary, Moroccon
Data Protection Authority, Mr. Ridwaan Boday - Director, Head of TMT Law unit at ENSafrica in South Africa, Dr.
Mouhamadou – Chairman of Personal Data Protection Comission in Senegal, Mrs. Drudeisha Madhub, Data Protec-
tion Commissioner, Prime Minister’s Office in the Republic of Mauritius, Mrs. Hela Ben Miled – Commissioner in the
Tunisian Data Protection Authority and Magistrate in the Tunisian Administrative Court of Justice.
Pulse Lab Kampala actively participated in the Data Privacy Advisory Group discussions and some of the projects
pioneered by the Lab have been used as case studies to advance discussions on data privacy.
Pulse Lab Kampala also contributed to the development and testing of a Big Data Impact Assessment Tool,
designed to help users consider both the risks and benefits of undertaking a data innovation project. The Big Data
Impact Assessment Tool is currently being refined by Global Pulse and will be used for all data innovation projects.
Pulse Lab Kampala discussed data protection and data privacy issues during four events hosted by the Lab, including
the ‘Two Way Talk: How Radio Content Can Support the Monitoring and Achievement of the Global Goals.’
Finally, Pulse Lab Kampala worked with the Research Group of the Ugandan Parliament to support the formulation
of the Data Privacy and Protection Bill for Uganda.
4. 3
STRENGTHENING THE INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM
During the reporting period, Pulse Lab Kampala responded to a growing demand for knowledge sharing and
capacity building around big data for development from a diverse group of partners. The Lab regularly participated
in international and national conferences sharing knowledge on the latest innovative applications developed with
partners. Some of these events are highlighted below:
RAISING AWARENESS TO DRIVE POLICY ACTION
• The ‘Why Data? Why all development actors should be part of the Data Revolution’ conference organized by the
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency in Stockholm in 2015. The Lab delivered a keynote
address and joined several panel discussions where it shared new innovative ways of measuring progress
for sustainable development.
• A high-Level Conference on the ‘Data Revolution in Africa.’ organized by the African Union, the UN Economic
Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank and UNDP in Addis Ababa where Pulse Lab Kampala
discussed its data innovation work.
• The ‘Open and big data: Update on Uganda’s Data Revolution’ event organized by the Mobile Monday initiative
in Kampala. The Lab provided a keynote address and contributed to discussions on the importance of public/
private partnerships for using big data in sustainable development.
• A ‘High-level conference ‘Sustainable Development Goals in middle income and small islands developing states:
a perspective from Africa’ organized by the Government of Cape Verde and UNDP Regional Centre for Africa in
2015. Pulse Lab Kampala delivered a presentation on how data innovation projects can support achieving the
SDGs the African region.
• Pulse Lab Kampala delivered presentations during the third conference on ‘Advances in Geomatics’ organized
by Makerere University in Kampala. The Conference, themed “Celebrating 25 years of Geomatics Education:
Building for the Future” brought together academics and students from different parts of the world to share
research findings about advances in Geomatics.
• At the ‘Use of mobile technology for statistical processes’ conference organized by the UN Economic Commission
for Africa in Addis Ababa, Pulse Lab Kampala illustrated how big data and mobile technology can be leveraged
for official statistics.
• In 2016, Pulse Lab Kampala held panel discussions on ‘Big Data: Responsible Use’ as part of the ‘Big Data
Solutions for Development’ meeting organized by the World Bank Group and the Korea National Information
Society Agency (NIA). The event brought together participants from fifteen developing countries to explore how
big data can help address specific development challenges that each of the countries put forth.
• Pulse Lab Kampala delivered a presentation on ‘Making SMART decisions, the role of data access in pursuing
evidence based decision making cities’ at the ‘East and Central African cities development forum’ organized
earlier this year by the Kampala Capital City Authority.
5. DATA INNOVATION INITIATIVES
4
As Global Pulse’s innovation hub for the region, Pulse Lab Kampala supports the growing ecosystem of data innovation
initiatives and shares knowledge and experiences with a growing number of data initiatives around the continent.
Some highlights are:
• Presented in the ‘Big Data Innovations for Agriculture’ conference organized by the World Bank’s innovations lab
in Kampala.
• Held knowledge-sharing sessions with the OCHA’s Humanitarian Data Exchange, Kenya Open Data Portal and
IBM Research Lab.
• Engaged in continuous knowledge exchange and mutual support in ongoing activities with the Resilient Network
Africa (RAN) Lab.
• Delivered a presentation during the Quantified Planet ‘Global Goals Lab’ launching event in Stockholm.
• Presentation to the UNHCR Humanitarian Innovations Jam in Kampala.
• Presented during an event on ‘Big Data for Development’ at an ‘Entrepreneurs Forum’ organized by iHub in
Naroibi.
• Showcased the work of the Lab in the DFID ‘Humanitarian Marketplace’ in Kampala.
DATA VALIDATION WORKSHOPS
Pulse Lab Kampala organized several workshops with stakeholders and partners to validate its latest data innovation
projects. Participants provided user feedback on applications and new digital data. Such events allow the Lab to better
understand the potential use of data innovations to advance sustainable development and support humanitarian
practice in the region. They also guide the Lab to fine-tune applications and data analysis or to discard them if the
work is not relevant. Participants included representatives from government, the UN, civil society, academia, private
sector and innovation initiatives. Pulse Lab Kampala organized the following sessions:
‘What can Airtime Purchase Data Tell us About Vulnerability to Poverty’
Partners: Airtel, Private Sector Analytics Providers
Participants: 102
‘How Radio Content Can Support Monitoring and Achievement of the Global Goals’
Partners: Embassy of Sweden
Participants: 75
‘How can Real-Time Analytics and Data Visualisation Help Monitor Public Service Delivery?’
Partners: UNAIDS, Ministry of Health
Participants: 60
‘How can Real-Time Analytics and Data Visualisation Help Monitor Public Service Delivery?’
Partners: UN Agencies
Participants: 80
6. BRIEFINGS AND BRAINSTORMING SESSIONS
Pulse Lab Kampala delivers ‘in house’ presentations on a regular basis showcasing ongoing work under Global Pulse’s
two-pillar implementation strategy to respond to partners’ demand for knowledge sharing. In the first ten months of
2016 Pulse Lab Kampala has delivered 160 briefings and brainstorming sessions with a wide range of stakeholders:
• 47 of these meetings were with the private sector
• 42 were with government institutions
• 53 were with UN Agencies
• 28 with innovations hubs and civil society
FIGURE 1. The figure represents the number of briefings and brainstorming sessions conducted by the Lab in 2016. The rings
represent the number of interactions by category of stakeholders.
5
7. High level officials who toured the Lab to get a first-hand view of its data innovation work:
Mr Nick Hurd - Minister of State, United Kingdom, Mr. Filipo Grandi - High Commissioner for Refugees, Ms. Izumi
Nakamitsu - Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Assistant Administrator for Crisis Response, Mr. Gunter Nooke -
Personal Representative of the German Chancellor for Africa, Mr. Lamin Manneh - UN Resident Coordinator for
Rwanda.
Government counterparts:
OPTION B+ taskforce, the technical group on AIDS Programme in Uganda, the Uganda Bureau Of Statistics (UBOS),
the National Water and Sewerage Company of Uganda, the National Planning Authority, the Delivery Unit in the Office
of the Prime Minister, the Parliament of Uganda.
Development partners:
the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Swedish Embassy, the Norwegian Embassy, the Belgium Tech-
nical Cooperation and the Belgium Embassy in Kampala, the Department for International Development (DFID), the
Hewlett Foundation, the World Bank.
Civil society organisations and initiatives:
the International Growth Centre, Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa), Hivos International (HIVOS), Plan
International, Montrosse, Resilient Africa Network Lab (RanLab), Joseph Foumbi Westchester International Develop-
ment Consulting Group.
UN partners:
UNHCR, IOM, UNAIDS, UNDP Uganda, UNICEF Innovations Lab, UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa, UN
Development Operations Coordination Office (DOCO), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
(UNDESA), the UN Uganda Town Hall, the Information System unit from UN Peacekeeping, OCHA’s HDX Data Lab.
CREATING KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTS
The Labs in the UN Global Pulse Network regularly contribute to the development of knowledge products that can
accelerate the uptake of big data innovation projects by others. Pulse Lab Kampala has developed a toolkit for the
technical deployment of the Radio Content Analysis tool, which will be launched in the coming months.
SUPPORTING BIG DATA FOR OFFICIAL STATISTICS
Pulse Lab Kampala organized an event entitled ‘Uganda’s Data Revolution: Mobile Data to Support Statistics’ for the
mobile industry and the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (November 2015) -- http://www.unglobalpulse.org/events/ugan-
da%E2%80%99s-data-revolution-mobile-data-support-statistics
The Lab is in discussion with the Ugandan Bureau of Statistics on piloting initiatives to tap into new digital data that
can help strengthen national statistical systems.
As part of these efforts, the Lab developed a prototype that can be used as a proxy to track poverty trends. In North-
ern Uganda, where poverty levels are high and the majority of the population lives in rural areas, a proxy indicator of
poverty is roofing material. As the household economy improves, families often upgrade their dwelling by changing
from traditional grass thatch to iron sheets. Pulse Lab Kampala has developed an image processing software that uses
satellite imagery to count roofs and identify the type of material they are constructed from. The tool and methodology
complement existing statistical tools that use surveys and primary data collection to assess poverty levels. Read more:
http://unglobalpulse.org/projects/measuring-poverty-machine-roof-counting
More about the Lab’s view on big data for official statistics can be found at: http://www.unglobalpulse.org/blog/how-
big-data-can-strengthen-official-statistics-africa-view-pulse-lab-kampala
6
8. PROMOTING PARTNERSHIPS
Pulse Lab Kampala continued to grow its networks of partners to provide secure access to anonymized big data, an-
alytical tools and technical support.
ENGAGING WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR
Pulse Lab Kampala strengthened its relations with mobile network operators (MNOs) in the region. While the process
of formalising partnerships with MNOs has been challenging, there have been promising results.
In partnership with the Ugandan Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), the Lab showcased
examples of how data from telecom companies can be used to enhance response to disease outbreaks. See some
examples here: http://pulselabkampala.ug/diseasemapping, http://diseaseoutbreak.unglobalpulse.net/uganda/.
Pulse Lab Kampala participated in the 2015 Data for Development (D4D) challenge organized by the MNO Orange
and its partners. The Lab received an award for its project “Mobility profiles and calendars for food security and live-
lihoods analysis” conducted with WFP Senegal and with the Politécnica University of Madrid. Project information is
available at: http://pulselabkampala.ug/d4d-senegal/d4d-senegal-poster.pdf
The Lab is an active participant in the industry forum Mobile Monday, a community of mobile industry visionaries and
developers fostering cooperation and cross-border business development through events, best practices and trends
from global markets.
As such, the Lab has hosted several of the Forum’s sessions at the Lab and organized, together with partners, an
event entitled ‘Uganda’s Data Revolution: Mobile Data to Support Statistics. The event highlighted innovative pilots
conducted using mobile data to generate national statistics and gathered 70 participants linked to the mobile industry.
Pulse Lab Kampala engaged with start-up companies in Uganda to explore the use of digital data to advance the
Global Goals. In 2015, with support from the Lab, data from a supermarket chain was used at a DATA4FOOD
Hackathon organized by the Leiden University.
PARTNERING WITH UN AGENCIES
Pulse Lab Kampala deepened its institutional engagement within the UN. The key partners in data innovation projects
in 2015 - 2016 include: the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and
the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
7
9. 8
ENCOURAGING A GROWING COMMUNITY OF PRACTISE
Since it opened its doors in 2015, Pulse Lab Kampala has sought collaborations with academic groups in Africa aimed
at applying data science to address humanitarian and development challenges. Collaborations have been undertaken
with the following universities:
• Makerere University Kampala, Uganda
• Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Kenya
• Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology, Tanzania
• Stellenbosch University, South Africa
• University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
• Sheffield University, United Kingdom
• University of Gothenburg, Sweden
• Politectica University of Madrid
Pulse Lab Kampala organized the second ‘Data Science in Africa’ initiative in 2016 together with partners from Makerere
University (Uganda), the Dedan Kimathi University (Kenya), IBM Research Africa, the Uganda Communications
Commission, the University of Sheffield (UK), Facebook and Google. The event’s over 150 participants attended a
three-day course at Makerere University, which brought them up to speed with what is happening in data science
in Africa. Some of the lecture topics included: “From raw data to meaningful features,” “Working with Spatial Data”,
“Data Exploration & Visualization” and “Text Mining.” This was followed by a two-day workshop at Pulse Lab Kampala
offices to discuss how data science can be used for development and humanitarian action and be best applied to
help support and achieve the Global Goals. Read more: http://unglobalpulse.org/news/data-science-in-africa-2016
One of the Lab’s long-standing collaborations is with Makerere University’s Artificial Intelligence Research Group (AI
Research Group), that specializes in the application of artificial intelligence and data science to challenges common
in the developing world. Aimed at supporting the growth of the community of young data scientists in Kampala, Pulse
Lab and the AI Research Group, organizes weekly seminars on data science and hosts them once a month at the
Lab Read more about the Lab’s work in this area at: http://www.unglobalpulse.org/news/building-fertile-ground-data-
science-uganda.
As a regional hub for innovation, Pulse Lab Kampala encourages learning and development by welcoming young
graduates to join the Lab for a period of 2-3 months. To date, the Lab has hosted graduates from Makerere University,
Egypt’s Information Technology Institute, the Uganda Technology and Management University and the University of
California in the US.
ACCELERATING PUBLIC SECTOR ADOPTION
In the last two years Pulse Lab Kampala has developed strong working relations with government institutions, UN
Agencies and civil society organisations. To date, these collaborations have resulted in the following data innovation
projects:
10. PROJECT PARTNERS STATUS
ANALYZING ATTITUDES
TOWARDS CONTRACEPTION
AND TEENAGE PREGNANCY
ANALYZING SEASONAL
MOBILITY PATTERNS
PUTTING PEOPLE’S
VOICES AT THE CENTRE OF
DEVELOPMENT
APPLICATION TO MONITOR
AIRTIME EXPENDITURE
UNFPA COMPLETED
DATA VISUALISATIONS TO
STRENGTHEN DECISION-
MAKING
APPLICATION TO ACCESS
SPATIAL DATA FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
INFORMING GOVERNANCE
WITH SOCIAL MEDIA
APPLICATION TO
STRENGTHEN RESPONSE TO
DISEASE OUTBREAKS
APPLICATION TO MONITOR IN
REAL TIME HIV PREVENTION
APPLICATION FOR
AUTOMATED IDENTIFICATION
AND COUNTING OF ROOFS
BRIDGING THE DIGITAL
DIVIDE: APPLICATION FOR
ANALYSING RADIO CONTENT
WFP, POLITECNICA
UNIVERSITY
UNICEF
UGANDA BUREAU OF
STATISTICS, PRIVATE
SECTOR
GOVERNMENT OF
GHANA, UNDP
NBSAP FORUM, UNDP,
GOVERNMENT OF
ZIMBABWE
UNDP
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
OF UGANDA
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
OF UGANDA, UNAIDS
UGANDA BUREAU OF
STATISTICS, NATIONAL
PLANNING AUTHORITY
UNDP, OFFICE OF THE
PRIME MINISTER,
NGOS, ACADEMIA
COMPLETED
COMPLETED
COMPLETED
COMPLETED
COMPLETED
COMPLETED
ONGOING
ONGOING
ONGOING
ONGOING
11. 10
These data innovation projects were carried in collaboration with the following institutions and organisations:
Government:
• In Uganda: the Ministry of Health, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), the National Planning Authority
(NPA), the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), the
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD),
the Parliament of Uganda
• The Government of Zimbabwe
• The Government of Ghana
UN Agencies: UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA UNICEF, WFP, WHO