Brazil’s statistics agency signs cooperation agreement in data

IBGE, Brazil’s official statistics agency, home to the United Nations Regional Hub for Big Data, has signed a cooperation agreement with other regional technology hubs in China, the United Arab Emirates, and Rwanda, pledging to contribute to the use of big data in statistical production.

The use of big data and data science is urgent, demanding that traditional data is unable to meet can indeed be fulfilled, says Andrea Silva, head of the Research Center at Brazil’s National School of Statistical Sciences (ENCE/IBGE).

The use of big data consists of identifying relevant data among a huge volume, generated in a wide range and at high speed. Data science, meanwhile, is the field that studies data, extracting patterns to develop new methods of analysis and machine learning. 

According to Ms. Silva, data events — such as the UN’s 4th Global Data Forum held in Hangzhou, China, at the end of April — allow cooperation between organizations based on different continents to identify and make visible the efforts already being made to expand the use of big data, avoiding duplication of work in the global statistical community, as its work is often very similar. 

“It is very important because the demands are many and the resources are scarce, so they must be used well,” says Ms. Silva.

Experts at the forum spoke about conducting censuses and surveys around the world. Maria Lucia Vieira, deputy director of research at the IBGE, emphasized that recent societal changes are a challenge for all organizations conducting censuses.

Ms. Vieira also pointed out the importance of educating the population to trust statistical data by understanding it. “I also highlight the statements about the importance of educating the population to understand and trust statistical data among the many relevant and interesting topics,” she said. 

Brazil’s Regional Big Data Hub was inaugurated in November 2021, with the aim of improving and modernizing the production of statistics in the country and in Latin America — a huge challenge considering the population of almost 600 million, of which 216 million in Brazil alone, in addition to the concentration of 40 percent of the world’s biodiversity and one-third of the planets water resources.

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