The UN Secretary-General has announced the establishment of a 24-member Independent Expert Advisory Group on the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development, as called for in the report of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the post-2015 development agenda. It will “assess new opportunities linked to innovation, technical progress and the surge of new public and private data providers to support and complement conventional statistical systems and strengthen accountability at the global, regional and national level.“

The Group will be co-chaired by Professor Enrico Giovannini of Italy and Mr Robin Li of China. Its members include Carmen Barroso, Regional Director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region and Edilberto Loaiza of UNFPA. Thomas Gass, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs in UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and Amina J Mohammed, Assistant Secretary-General and the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning are ex-officio members of the Group.

The Group is expected to report to the Secretary-General during the autumn, as input to his Synthesis Report, which will guide the future intergovernmental negotiations for the Post-2015 development agenda.

For the press Release of the Independent Expert Advisory Group see here.