The future of data is inclusive

By Gayatri Ramnath and Pi James

Over four days in June, more than 1,200 delegates from 90+ countries convened in Nairobi for the first Global Data Festival held on African soil to explore how data and technology can power resilience, innovation and a more equitable future.

Inclusive data was centre stage, kicking off the conference in an opening plenary and through the Inclusive Data Pavilion - a hub for talks, meetings and interactive sessions, organised by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, and co-hosted with Sightsavers and Equality Insights. Along with the songs from the Kenyan Bureau of Statistics staff choir, the moves from the Maasai dancers, and the rousing calls for action from global leaders, here's what we've taken home with us from Nairobi.

Power comes from accurate, inclusive data that communities can use to advocate for change.

As delegates arrived in Nairobi, Al Kags founder of the Open Institute published a provocative reminder, that "data is not power – power is power." It was a message that resurfaced throughout the four days. Having data isn't enough. Access doesn't necessarily mean change. And AI isn't the magical solution if, as Equality Insights' Dr. Gayatri Ramnath put it during the inclusive data plenary, "AI is only pulling from data that leaves many people invisible."

Erik Sunde Odouri, a Data Advocate with the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, brought this to life when he asked more than 800 audience members to raise their hands if they've been counted before, in a census or otherwise. The room was filled with raised hands. "Now, keep your hands up if it made a difference for you," Erik added. Arms dropped back down with audible murmurs of understanding. "The gap between being counted and being seen is why we're here today.”

Part of Equality Insights' entire approach to inclusive data has been working to bridge that gap. We make sure that we capture the lived experiences of men, women and gender diverse people from different caste, education, sexual orientation, disability status, and in urban, rural and remote areas. This sometimes means asking men and women the same set of questions, but other times it requires the addition of new gender-specific ones and never relying on household indicators to assume they tell the story of gender differences. We've spent more than 10 years not only servicing a demand for inclusive data through designing and delivering multi-dimensional, individual-level surveys, but also closing the mandate gap between data producers and users, and making sure more people can use that data to advocate for change.

As Dr. Macdonald George Obudho, Director General Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said in his opening remarks, "Statistics are a mirror of society, and a good mirror does not flatter. It shows who we are, what we have achieved and, most importantly, who we are leaving behind." Sightsavers’ Dom Haslam OBE got right to the point - "the more people included in data, the better that data gets."

Understanding that is the first step. The next is making sure that data informs policy and programming shifts. Dr. Obudho shared how disaggregating data revealed hidden realities, like how Kenyan women spent four hours on unpaid care work every day as compared to men's one hour. This data informed the national care policy in 2025 to address gender inequality.

Our data tells a similar story. In the Solomon Islands we looked at how men and women spent their time. While a similar percentage of men and women did paid work (43% of women and 40% of men), when we looked at unpaid care, 80% of women aged 18-29 provided unpaid care while also doing paid work, compared with only 45% of men in the same age range. We call this the dual burden of care, and our data shows it doesn’t let up throughout women’s lives. Household data alone doesn't tell the full picture, and this has significant implications for policies, program design and funding and monitoring, evaluation and learning.

Ultimately, good robust evidence must be what connects these decisions to realities. As Al acknowledges, the answer isn’t to put less data in the hands of advocates. It’s to have better, more inclusive data, and at the same time make sure advocates and champions have the tools and mechanisms to demand accountability.

The response to shrinking funding for inclusive data must be to expand connection and collaboration.

UNFPA’s Dr. Priscilla Idele named the tension at the heart of the week: "The evidence for investing in national data systems has never been stronger, yet the funding is dangerously insufficient." That tension shaped nearly every session we joined, including a discussion Equality Insights' Pi James moderated on inclusive data in a changing funding landscape, with the Hewlett Foundation, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Agencia Presidencial de Cooperación Internaciona (AOC-Colombia).

According to Chris Maloney, Program Officer at the Hewlett Foundation, it's about connecting the puzzle pieces. "In almost every country context, pieces already exist — citizen-generated data initiatives, new data sources, national statistical strategy processes underway. What’s missing is the connective tissue. How do we get all those pieces to speak together?" Paula McLeod Head of Global Data and Statistics at the UK's FCDO agreed, sharing that data was too often treated like a project, with funding rewarding quick, visible results, rather than the "hard work of building institutions and coordination."

From Equality Insights' perspective, we’re clear-eyed as we are navigating this reality. We are talking every day about to how to keep moving this important work forward, while not losing the gains we’ve made.

That’s the ambition behind the iCount Coalition. Bringing together more than 20 organisations from around the world to coordinate and collaborate to make sure our shared vision for an ambitious post-2030 global development data framework that makes sure everyone is counted, is realised.

Leading a growing movement for inclusive data we’re working together to be in different spaces, avoid duplication and leverage our unique strengths to make sure the tools, political will, and understanding is the connective tissue that drives a more inclusive future.

We're also exploring different ways to connect people with the why of individual-level, inclusive data. APC-Colombia's Sebastien Sanchez shared how it can be difficult to get some people excited about data, because they only think of Excel or numbers. Yet, when they see the programs in action, and understand it's really all about people and "the representation of communities", then they get it.

Our recently released Count Me In! Card game is trying to do just this by giving people new entry points to understanding why inclusive data matters.

Running a live game session at the Inclusive Data Pavilion during the conference reiterated just how easy it was for people to get the importance of individual-level data when they experienced the ways in which their game personas were impacted differently by social, economic and environmental events, depending on their gender, age, and disabilities.

One participant’s reflection stuck with us: early childhood educators talk a lot about how children learn through play, and this session was a reminder that adults absorb complexity the same way. The game is now available to download in four languages, so anyone can run that same session with their own teams, boards, or classrooms.

Ultimately, we are thinking about how as an ecosystem we can get better at connecting the dots and shifting the narratives, so we are not just informing people about what we've done, but showing what's possible when we work together.

All data should be inclusive

The significant visibility of inclusive data at a tech-focused data conference, is a notable and very welcome shift. Yet, on our final day we found ourselves looking at each other and rhetorically wondering, shouldn’t all data be inclusive? Because despite how far we’ve come, there were still more moments than not where inclusive data was talked about as a separate to “core” data, a nice add-on rather than the foundation. We are committed to changing this.

As crises extend and funding shrinks, inclusive data can’t be a line in a logframe. It needs to be built into the core of data systems and infrastructure from the start, because data is ultimately about people, and a system that doesn’t see everyone isn’t measuring reality or set up to change anything for the better.

As we continue on the road to Riyadh – the World Data Forum in November – we are working to shift that that narrative entirely, so that “data” and “evidence that reflects everyone’s life” are understood as one and the same.

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