During my time at USAID, FEWS NET was considered the gold standard of famine early warning, saving countless lives since it was started in 1985. For four decades, this system has provided immediate, short-, and medium-term food insecurity projections for some of the world’s most vulnerable regions and communities. Using open data, FEWS NET considers a range of factors, including market prices, rainfall levels, crop production data, nutrition levels, and conflict or displacement information. With these predictions, FEWS NET has enabled governments and humanitarian organizations to determine where – and when – aid is most needed.
But, what happens when this data disappears?
FEW NETS’ recent unpredictability has impacted people and communities across the world. The same is true for other critical datasets.
In today’s increasingly digital society, the power of data systems fuels our understanding of – and interactions with – the world. Yet, the alternative is also true – when important data is removed or destroyed, the results can be disastrous.
Following the shutdown of USAID earlier this year, FEWS NET, along with countless other critical systems, went dark – hindering governments and humanitarian organizations across the world from accessing data required to coordinate and deploy critical, even lifesaving assistance. The network, which had evolved over time to track a diverse range of relevant data to measure food security, including prices and trade fluctuations, had become engrained in the decision-making of many governments. Aid organizations who rely on the system have described the situation as akin to driving without a steering wheel – a lack of data-informed decision-making leaving them unsure whether they are moving in the right direction.
After months of uncertainty, it was recently announced that service to FEWS NET would soon be restored, though no contact information or timeline is provided on the organization’s website. While a welcome return, this volatility further underscores the difficulty faced by those who depend on the system to distribute humanitarian aid to vulnerable people and communities across the world.
And, more broadly, FEWS NET isn’t the only crucial data system that has been affected in recent months. Others that have gone offline – and not yet been restored – include The Development Experience Clearinghouse, The Women’s Economic Empowerment and Equality Dashboard, and The International Data and Economic Analysis (IDEA) Dashboard, as well as numerous country-specific data systems across Africa, Asia, and beyond. These data systems, and others like them, are a powerful foundation for any social and development agenda – whether led by foreign aid agencies or governments themselves.
With such high stakes, how can we reimagine a data sharing approach to ensure long-term resiliency – and protect against a single point of failure?
Rethinking our approaches to holding and sharing data could help protect against the detrimental consequences of instability and volatility for systems like FEWS NET. As we have seen firsthand, the viability of these critical and far-reaching systems should not be wholly reliant on one organization, especially in today’s shifting political landscape. That said, how can we support models that exhibit a more decentralized, redundant, networked approach to data systems?
Fostering greater resiliency can help protect against changing tides – and ensure that a single point of failure doesn’t become detrimental to the viability of the entire system. There are a number of different components to consider – each of which could help to create robust, resilient, and redundant systems for our most critical datasets.
- Diversity of funders. For the power of innovative models to be fully realized, robust investment is needed. As colleagues explained in their piece for Development Gateway, funding for data systems will need to be diversified to ensure they remain sustainable and resilient. The club goods model presents one potential possibility, in which data users pay a membership fee to access and leverage shared data. This type of approach can help ensure systems remain financially sustainable, while also remaining widely available as a public good.
- Shared and trusted governance and norms. Innovative models exist, such as data trusts and data spaces, for example, which can help overcome common challenges of more traditional approaches. Both data trusts and data spaces do this by establishing governance rules and norms that all stakeholders must agree to upon joining. They then delegate governance to a neutral entity that manages it on an ongoing basis. These approaches can foster trust and protect against risks, including silos, inaccessibility, and lack of interoperability.
- Open standards and interoperability. Open standards promote participation and inclusion – both in their use and their creation. By establishing agreed upon rules for collecting, accessing, and sharing data, open standards emphasize the importance of interoperability and shared understanding of data terms and processes. Open transaction networks (OTNs), one example of this approach, have proven beneficial in promoting dynamic information and resource exchange. OTNs use a decentralized form of governance, where no single entity is responsible for managing or controlling the system. This approach, which is currently used across sectors, including e-commerce, climate, manufacturing, and more, can enable greater levels of inclusion, agility, and resiliency.
- Data redundancy. Several examples already exist that illustrate the innovative steps countries can – and are – taking to promote resilient, redundant data systems. In Ukraine, for example, uploading citizen data to the cloud has greatly helped protect critical information from cyber-attacks or physical destruction in the wake of the Russian invasion. And just as importantly, it has allowed Ukrainians, currently displaced across the world, to maintain access to their important personal data. Estonia has taken similar measures, establishing an external data embassy in Luxembourg to ensure citizens’ data remains secure and protected, even in the face of potential conflict, natural disaster, or more.
With the incredible importance of data, let’s ensure these systems remain viable – now and in the future.
Data is a powerful – even invaluable – form of understanding and interacting with the world.
Rethinking these technical and governance considerations is important – not simply because they can fuel more efficient systems, but because they determine whether the power of data is effectively leveraged to meet real needs. From agricultural data that promotes sustainable farming practices, to weather patterns that help enable disaster early warning systems, to famine prediction and mitigation, data systems can shape us and the world around us.
But, to ensure they remain reliable in today’s changing world of humanitarian aid, political priorities, and international relations, fostering greater resiliency in both design and governance is essential. Not only for FEWS NET, but for the countless other critical datasets facing similarly volatile – and uncertain – futures.
