Numerous organizations, including members of the Governance Data Alliance, collect and analyze data on the different dimensions of governance to help shape policy reforms and ultimately improve economic, human, and democratic development. Until now, however, we have had very little information (if any at all) about who uses governance data, and whether the data successfully inform and spur desired reforms. This lack of situational awareness has often led to inefficient investments in various governance data gathering activities and a poor understanding of their returns on investment.
To address this information gap, the Governance Data Alliance commissioned AidData to produce a highly customized analysis unpacking the black box of who actually uses governance data at the country level, and what motivates them to put that data to work in practice. Building on AidData’s groundbreaking 2014 Reform Efforts Survey of nearly 6,750 policymakers and practitioners in 126 low- and middle-income countries, AidData’s new report for the Alliance, Governance Data: Who uses it and why, starts to answer some of these fundamental questions. The report provides important and practical information about who governance data users are, how they use currently available data, and what makes governance assessments more or less likely to be influential at the country level.
This important piece of research will help fuel the Alliance’s ongoing work across several work streams moving forward. We’re grateful for the time and effort spent by the AidData team to prepare this seminal study and encourage everyone to read it.
About the Governance Data Alliance
The Alliance brings together a number of world-class organizations committed to the effective production and use of high-quality governance data.
Current data producers include the Centre for Law and Democracy, Freedom House, Global Financial Integrity, Global Integrity, the International Budget Partnership, the Natural Resource Governance Institute, Transparency International, the World Justice Project, the World Resources Institute, and the World Bank’s Global Indicators Group .
Other key members include the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and government institutions in Guatemala, the Philippines, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone, as well as AidData, the OECD, AmidaTech, and philanthropic donors active on governance and transparency issues.
The Alliance’s secretariat is currently hosted at the Results for Development Institute, and the Alliance’s work is supported by Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
