What Is the "Data Revolution" and Why Should Demographers Get Involved?

Tom A. Moultrie, University of Cape Town

The UN's Millennium Development Goals are due to expire in 2015, and are to be replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In discussions about the SDGs, the idea of a 'data revolution' to aid in the measurement and tracking of progress towards meeting those goals has taken root. A meeting of demographers was convened jointly by the IUSSP and PAA in October 2014 to formulate a position on what demographers can bring to the debates around what the 'data revolution' could or should be, and to highlight the particular concerns of demographers and the contributions that demographers could make to this global project. This paper outlines the contours of what is understood by the 'data revolution' and presents a summary of the conclusions from the joint IUSSP-PAA meeting.