Reimagining Development Data (RD2) Global Data Asset Inventory

Global support for foreign aid is more uncertain than it has been in decades. At the same time, funding for data to monitor development progress and inform where to target limited resources is also facing precarious drops. While some private foundations have increased support to fill the gap, the long-term sustainability of critical data systems remains in question. 

To understand the current landscape of development data, AidData compiled an inventory of the most used and influential data assets. The Data Asset Inventory (DAI), Version 1.0 identifies 496 unique data assets published by 230 organizations across 7 sectors: agriculture and food security, disaster and humanitarian response, education, environment, gender, governance, and health. This brief describes how the DAI was constructed and explores specific characteristics of data producers, including multilateral and universities as key publishers; the role of the private sector; the use of AI for development data production; and the timing and frequency of data releases. The DAI will feed into future work to track funding for key data assets and assess their resilience and sustainability.