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Luca Di Gennaro Splendore contributes to citizen data at UN expert group meeting
Dr Luca Di Gennaro Splendore of the University of Malta recently took part in the 4th Expert Group Meeting on Citizen Data and Workshops, convened by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Statistics Division from 10 to 12 November 2025.
The meeting brought together thought-leaders, national statistical office representatives, civil society actors, technology providers and academic researchers from around the world to explore the evolving role of citizen-generated data in official statistical systems and sustainable development.
Key discussion streams included:
• Innovations in using citizen data (social media, user-generated content, sensor data) to fill gaps in official statistics.
• Ethical, confidentiality and governance challenges in integrating citizen data with administrative/official sources.
• Strengthening trust, transparency and public engagement in statistics – as a way of enhancing democratic legitimacy.
• The need for improved methodological frameworks and institutional arrangements to make citizen data truly “fit-for-purpose”.
Citizen-data initiatives should enrich official statistical systems. It is through rigorous, independent and transparent data processes that societies preserve the civic contract of trust in public information.
The Expert Group Meeting reaffirmed the critical importance of cross-sectoral collaboration — involving national statistics offices, civil society, private-sector data platforms and academia — to advance inclusive, ethical and robust citizen-data ecosystems. Participants acknowledged that the data landscape’s evolving complexity calls for updated guidance and institutional innovation in statistics.
#CitizenData #OfficialStatistics #DataGovernance #Democracy #Transparency #Governability #UNSD #UnitedNations #PublicTrust #DataEthics #EvidenceBasedPolicy#
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