How The Wolfram Technology Stack Can Help The World Achieve The Sustainable Development Goals

Maureen Baehr, kShare

Join the Conversation #WolframTechConf

Overview

Background in business, consulting, venture philanthropy.
 
 Long-term interest in ending AIDS -- opportunity to work at several levels:
 
 	-- Rural Swaziland organization --> on-the-ground service providers
 
 	-- UNAIDS --> top data consolidators
 	
 	-- Mid-level organizations --> funders, corporations, NGOs
 	
 Wolfram user for 6 years but NOT technical.

UN Led Global Development

Millennium Development Goals -- Discrete

	--> UN top-down, started in 2000 for 15 years
	--> 8 goals / 21 targets / 41 indicators
	--> Thousands of counting systems and processes
	
Sustainable Development Goals -- Comprehensive

	--> UN consensus-driven, starts in 2016 for 15 years
	--> 17 goals / 169 targets / 300+ indicators
	-->  ??? Tens, hundreds ??? of thousands 
	     of counting systems and processes

Sustainable Development Goals

Vast Global Involvement

> Every UN agency, sub-agency, initiative, etc. 
> Every country of the world – all of their ministries, sub-ministries, etc.
> Every state, administrative division, city, etc. 
> Most (all) the NGOs, non-profits, religious groups
> Most (all) funders at all levels 
> Most corporations, social enterprises, startups, etc.
> Many academic, scientific, financial, social science researchers 
> Millions of (all) individuals 

…. will be doing work to contribute to reaching toward the #global goals #sdgs. 

And every single one of them will be counting — establishing and measuring outputs, outcomes, budgets, expenses, ROI, etc. etc.

SDGCounting

We absolutely believe in measurement but...

We also believe that it can get out of control and become burdensome, especially for the people on-the-ground who are providing services and...

EVERY $ SPENT ON COUNTING IS A $ THAT IS NOT BEING INVESTED ON-THE-GROUND TO ACHIEVE THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS.

SDGCounting is new initiative designed to try to -- 

	--> Understand all the ways that ‘counting’ is being done 
	--> Come up with new ideas for how to make the counting process better
	--> “Shadow” the SDG counting systems as they come online
	--> Discover and implement helpful tools, integration processes, etc.
	--> Work toward semantic congruence
	--> Influence policy and funding to streamline counting

Why The Wolfram Technology Stack?

This global strategic plan and massive set of goals should have an integrated tracking and reporting system. 

The Wolfram Technology Stack today has sufficient depth and breadth to be the backbone for a comprehensive, integrated, cost-effective and easy-to-use global SDG Counting System.

As we hear about Wolfram plans for the future, it is clear that the Wolfram Technology Stack, the Wolfram Language and the overall Wolfram philosophy and ambition is likely to progress toward this vision

Stages Of Adoption (Infiltration)

But...
There is no way that ‘the world’ is going to adopt a single, integrated system by choice.
	--> Embedded legacy systems
	--> Embedded bureaucracies
	--> Not-Invented-Here -- everyone counts what they want to count
	--> Big $$$ in building, maintaining, deploying systems
	--> Plus all the language, culture and technical challenges 

Infiltration strategy over 15 years...
	--> Early years [4] will be proof-of-concept and “shadowing” and discrete, useful tools
	--> Middle years [6] will be running in parallel with some integration 
	--> Later years [5] will be integration with as many counting systems as possible -- 
		* Internet-Of-Things -> Internet-of-People
		* Individuals own and provide their own data and information
		* Total privacy of individual data with total transparency of aggregated data
		* Aggregation fully automated
		* Decrease ‘Counting Costs’ by 90%

First Year

Analysis of MDG counting systems with special emphasis on integration elements and keeping track of major SDG counting systems as they are unveiled.
	
	--> Replicating at high-level ‘best practices’ using 
	     Wolfram Technology Stack (WTS)

	--> Providing 3 to 5 ‘proof-of-concept’ tools through WTS
	
	--> Mapping current and upcoming Wolfram Curated Data 
	     to SDG data collection needs 
	     
	--> Phase 1 plan for WTS “shadow” system
	
	--> Phase 1 implementation plan for tools

What Next? Call To Action

The overarching goal is not about counting;
it is about
Making the world better for all.
*****

--> Make this open to all at no cost
--> Use Wolfram resources as much as possible 
--> Yearly Wolfram Conference Updates

Contacts:

marbaehr@gmail.com
Twitter: @SDGCounting
Medium: https://medium.com/@sdgcounting

Thanks And Please Stay In Contact!