UNDP data navigator helps countries turn data into policy

United Nations Development Programme’s initiative is one of the stories featured in the GovMesh Digest special report. You can find the individual stories from the other participating governments at GovMesh 4.0 here.

Governments around the world have seen a significant increase in the amount of data that they collect. However, the use of this increased data in policymaking has not always kept pace.  

It is this gap that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) sought to address through a range of initiatives, including efforts to help governments systematically integrate data into public policy making. 

UNDP Global Centre Singapore’s Acting Head, Carla Gomez-Briones, noted that “we have more data available now than at any other point in history, yet it is frequently underutilised in public policy”. 

She highlighted that around 90 per cent of the world’s data has been created in the past few years, with the surge driven by advances in technology and innovations.  

New data sources have also merged beyond conventional data, including spatial data, sensor data, commercial data, and data generated from everyday digital devices. 

“This presents a new challenge and opportunity for governments: how to manage large volumes of data and integrate them into decision making?”, she said.

Gomez-Briones was speaking during the GovMesh 4.0 event organised by GovInsider and Interweave on March 2 in Singapore as a part of GovInsider’s Festival of Innovation 2026.  

She shared how UNDP was helping governments use data to develop evidence-based, actionable, and impactful policies.  

In this context, she highlighted the Data to Policy Initiative. 

The Data to Policy Navigator under this initiative was designed to support policymakers in grasping the fundamentals of data-driven decision-making. 

The navigator also featured case studies from countries such as Mexico, Germany, and Mauritania. 

Leveraging a global ecosystem for innovation 

Gomez-Briones began her presentation by outlining the role of the UNDP Global Centre in Singapore which was a hub for technology, innovation, and sustainable development.

Established in partnership with the Government of Singapore, the centre worked with a wide range of partners in the country, from government ministries to global platforms such as the World Cities Summit and Asia Tech X Singapore (ATX).  

Collaborations also extended to emerging areas such as AI readiness assessments as well as digital trust and safety.  

Singapore, she explained, offered a mature ecosystem, from strong institutions and partners to technological capabilities, that could be leveraged to support developing countries in their own development journeys.  

She noted that “we see this as a two-way collaboration, harnessing the Republic’s vibrant ecosystem to support our country offices, while bringing lessons and perspectives from across our global network to enrich partnerships here in Singapore”. 

Gomez-Briones said that the Centre sat within UNDP’s new Digital, AI and Innovation (DAI) Hub, which consolidated data, innovation, and policy under a more integrated approach to navigate the opportunities and risks arising from rapid technological change. 

The Data to Policy Initiative  

One example of this work was the Data to Policy Initiative developed with the support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union (EU). 

Beyond technical challenges, a key barrier in fully utilising the humongous amount of data in the hands of public sector entities lay in the misalignment between data and decision-making processes. 

Incentives, institutional structures, and workflows do not always support or enable the use of data in policymaking, Gomez-Briones said.  

UNDP and its partners launched the initiative with a view to creating a global knowledge ecosystem to support governments to leverage traditional and emerging data sources effectively, responsibly, and sustainably.  

The four pillars of the Data to Policy Initiative 

According to her, there were four pillars in the initiative.

1. Data to Policy Navigator: A comprehensive guide to help policymakers integrate data into decision-making processes, focusing on embedding data into real policy workflows rather than standalone analysis. It covers areas such as problem framing with data perspectives, data access, exchange, governance, and visualisation, including privacy and regulatory considerations. 
2. Training: UNDP also provides interactive trainings based on a “whole-of-government” approach and the data-informed policymaking methodology featured on the navigator, bringing together agencies such as statistical offices, finance ministries, and production sectors, to align data use across government and data sharing between institutions. 
3. Community: Enabling policymakers to connect, share, and learn from global practices. “We are very much focused on solutions and on creating connections between countries by creating a community of practice,” she added. 
4. Projects: Work with policymakers to integrate data into their policy design. She shared an example from Moldova, which began with a small pilot before scaling up to a national strategy.  

Through its four pillars, UNDP aimed to create a global knowledge ecosystem, where policymakers can learn and exchange their experience on data-informed decision-making.  

This helped to surface actionable insights on how governments can leverage the power of data to prioritise, design, and deliver for people and the planet.

“We are also open to opportunities for collaboration. If you have case studies or practices you would like to showcase, you can contribute to this platform,” Gomez-Briones said. 

Tackling real-world implementation challenges 

During the Q&A session, GovMesh’s participants raised questions about the target users of data-informed policy.

Gomez-Briones explained that UNDP’s presence in around 170 countries allowed the origanisation to work closely with governments towards achieving their national development priorities.  

“By engaging ministries, we can work with officials who are able to implement the initiatives,” she said. 

However, she underlined that politics would remain a critical factor. Even with strong technical capacity, initiatives may falter without leadership support and understanding. 

As a result, UNDP designed its training programmes to target both technical officials and senior leaders, with the balance adjusted depending on the country’s context and readiness. 

Gomez-Briones encouraged participants to explore the Data to Policy Initiative online, highlighting opportunities to engage with its tools, contribute insights, and connect with a growing global community.