A recent blog by the World Bank highlights a successful workshop held in Johannesburg and which brought together over 115 delegates from all SADC Member States to explore the power of mobile phone data in strengthening national statistics.
Organised by the World Bank and the SADC Secretariat, the event equipped participants —including representatives from statistical offices, ICT ministries, data protection agencies, and mobile operators— with the knowledge and tools to transform anonymised mobile network data into actionable insights for policymaking.
Photo credit: World Bank
Flowminder, as part of the expert consortium delivering the training, played a key role in guiding country teams through the full lifecycle of a mobile operator data initiative, from planning to privacy safeguards.
Participants learned about planning mobile phone data (MPD) initiatives; the data fundamentals, particularly call detail records (CDRs); and formalising a pipeline. Most importantly, each country team put together concrete action plans including timelines, stakeholder engagement strategies, and specific policy and data applications.
Photo credit: Cathy Riley/Flowminder
Read the full blog on the World Bank's website
Photo gallery
Photo credits: Cathy Riley/Flowminder