Monday 31 July 2017

WCCD CEO and Governor of Niger State sign MOU to establish the Minna-WCCD Local Data Hub


Patricia McCarney (front row, left) signs the MOU towards the establishment of the WCCD-Minna Local Data Hub with Professor Abdul Husaini (front row right), alongside His Excellency Abubakar Sani Bello, the Governor of Niger State, Nigeria (second row, second from left), the Nigerian Consul General (second row, third from left) and members of his Cabinet at the Nigerian Mission to the United Nations in New York.
On Friday, July 28th, the WCCD President and CEO, Dr. Patricia McCarney, was in New York to sign the initial MOU towards establishing the Minna-WCCD Local Data Hub with His Excellency Abubakar Sani Bello, the Governor of Niger State, Nigeria.

The Governor, alongside several members of his Cabinet and the Nigerian Consul General to New York, stressed that the establishment of the Minna-WCCD Local Data Hub was the beginning of a new phase of the WCCD’s longstanding relationship with Minna, and that the Local Data Hub would be pivotal in helping create a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive Niger state. “My presence here in New York this morning, with some of my cabinet members and technical staff, is to show our complete support and commitment to the selection of Minna as one of the first eight WCCD Local Data Hubs,” stated Governor Sani Bello. “I look forward to working with the World Council on City Data, and [its] sister organization, the Global Cities Institute at the University of Toronto, to improve the capacity of my staff and train our ever enthusiastic youthful population.” The Governor went on to state that beyond the Hub’s initial mandate to help cities and communities throughout Niger State create a culture of data based on WCCD’s ISO 37120 standard, that eventually the momentum would carry further throughout Nigeria and West Africa. He underlined the importance of data in helping to not just build more sustainable communities, but also more resilient communities in light of recent flooding that resulted in loss of life.

The WCCD Local Data Hubs – launched at the United Nations on July 17th – are a global initiative that will drive the consolidation and collection of high calibre, globally comparable and standardized city data throughout the world. Through the implementation of WCCD’s ISO 37120 standard globally, cities are better equipped to direct and inform investment, as well as localise global agendas such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Dr. McCarney not only highlighted the WCCD’s longstanding relationship with Minna, and Niger State, but spoke about the evolution of this relationship through the establishment of the Minna-WCCD Local Data Hub. “Minna and Niger State have been long-term partners of the WCCD. As a WCCD Foundation City, Minna was essential in the effort to pilot ISO 37120, and moreover, was one of the first cities to commit to this ambitious undertaking. The establishment of a WCCD Local Data Hub in Minna will continue to drive this cooperation, and further catalyse action throughout the City, the State, Nigeria and the African Continent. The high calibre, standardized and internationally comparable data that is generated through this Hub will help to drive infrastructure investment, while helping to build sustainable and more resilient communities throughout Niger State.”


Dr. McCarney presents Governor Sani Bello with WCCD City Data for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
The WCCD President and CEO also presented Governor Sani Bello with a copy of "WCCD City Data for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals", which was launched at the United Nations in New York on July 17th. 

In addition to the WCCD and Nigerian delegations, the event was also attended by Mr. Amir Dossal,  Founder and President of the Global Partnerships Forum and Ms. Amy Gill, Local Governance Specialist - Responsive and Accountable Institutions Team, at the United Nations Development Programme UNDP.


Beyond Minna, Nigeria, the initial network of WCCD Local Data Hubs includes Johannesburg (South Africa), Makati (Philippines), Dubai (UAE), Los Angeles (USA), Haiphong (Vietnam), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Cambridge (Canada).  These cities are partnering with the WCCD to build ISO-certified city data to drive progress towards local, national and global agendas. The Local Data Hubs will focus on real action and results through four critical objectives: showcasing leadership, demonstrating results, catalyzing action and enabling city-to-city learning.



For more information, please contact:
James Patava

Thursday 20 July 2017

WCCD Announces the Launch of Local Data Hubs Around the World at the United Nations

Location of the first WCCD Local Data Hubs to be hosted in WCCD, ISO 37120 certified cities throughout the world. 
On Monday, July 17th, the WCCD was in New York at the United Nations, participating in Local2030 – Hubs for Sustainability Solutions. At this event, organised by the Executive Office of the UN Secretary General, the WCCD announced the establishment of eight, “Local Data Hubs” around the world to harness standardised, globally comparable, city data as essential to tackling global, national and local agendas.

The first WCCD Local Data Hubs include Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cambridge, Canada; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Haiphong, Vietnam; Johannesburg, South Africa; Los Angeles, California; Makati, Philippines and Minna, Nigeria. Representatives from both Buenos Aires and Cambridge were present at the United Nations in New York to announce the formation of Hubs in their respective cities.
Gary Dyke - Chief Administrative Officer, City of Cambridge, Canada (Centre) announces the establishment of the WCCD-Cambridge Local 2030 Data Hub, together with Carlos Colombo (Left) (Buenos Aires), and Stefan Schweinfest (Right), Director of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)
Carlos Colombo, Undersecretary of Planning for the City of Buenos Aires signs the MOU towards establishing the WCCD-Buenos Aires Local Data Hub with the WCCD President & CEO, Dr. Patricia McCarney 
These Local Data Hubs will focus on real action and results through four critical objectives:

Showcasing Leadership. The Local Data Hubs will provide a platform to grow the network of data driven cities in the country and region.

Demonstrating Results. Through annual reporting of WCCD ISO 37120 Certified Data, the Local Data Hubs will directly demonstrate year over year progress towards local, national and global goals

Catalysing Action. The Local Data Hubs will use data to inform infrastructure investment, planning and decision making and track impacts over time.

Enabling City-to-City Learning. The Local Data Hubs will support city-to-city learning and ‘solutions transfer’ across metropolitan areas, countries and globally

According to Dr. Patricia McCarney, WCCD CEO and Director of the Global Cities Institute at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto: “At the WCCD, we firmly believe that the time has come to harness standardized, independently verified, local level data to help drive transformational change on key global agreements, while also working with our dedicated network of cities globally to drive local change. The incredible commitment of the WCCD cities that have stepped up to host these hubs will allow for cities, states and provinces, and national governments to gather the kind of data required to move the needle on key issues such as climate change, while also serving to drive infrastructure investment.

The announcement of the Local Data Hubs followed the release of a major report: “WCCD City Data for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals” at the United Nations on July 17th, demonstrating that cities around the world are the true determiners of a sustainable future for the planet. Framed by the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the report is a comprehensive overview of the first 50 cities already armed with globally standardised data and certified by the WCCD under ISO 37120. Through this report, these cities showcase their dedication to sustainability, and moreover the economic and social power of local governments as agents of change.
His Excellency Abdullah Al Shaibani (Centre Right): The announcement is a reflection of Dubai’s global leadership efforts in strengthening the role of cities.

Pictured Centre Left: H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai - Pictured far right: Senator Art Eggleton, Chair, WCCD Global City Leaders Advisory Board.

The host cities of the Local Data Hubs are already speaking to their local and global importance. His Excellency Abdulla Abdul Rahman Al Shaibani - Secretary General of the Executive Council of Dubai, spoke to the importance of the initiative following the 2017 WCCD Global Cities Summit, that Dubai hosted in March 2017. “In March, Dubai hosted the Global Cities Summit in partnership with the WCCD, and with the participation of a number of global and regional leaders and experts, from over 50 cities across five different continents, culminating in the adoption of the 'Dubai Declaration 2017', which established a framework for city data as the universal language driving forward three critically important agendas for 2030, including a commitment to inclusive cities, smart nations and a sustainable planet." The Secretary General underlined the importance of the establishment of the WCCD-Dubai-Local Data Hub in supporting the UAE’s commitments to achieve the Sustainable Development Agenda by 2030.

Speaking at the United Nations, Carlos Colombo, Undersecretary of Planning for the City of Buenos Aires: “Establishing the Buenos Aires – WCCD Local Data Hub will help the City to share the expertise we have developed with all the municipalities in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, enabling us to work together on planning at the metropolitan level. Through WCCD ISO 37120 data we can also understand and demonstrate how Buenos Aires is supporting progress towards the SDGs.”

Also speaking at the Local2030 event, Gary DykeChief Administrative Officer of the City of Cambridge, Canada added: “"We are proud to be a champion for the use of standardized metrics to track performance and find shared solutions. For the City of Cambridge, hosting a WCCD Local Data Hub is an opportunity to learn from what other cities are doing while highlighting our own experiences. Cambridge is a key partner in Ontario’s “Innovation Corridor”, and the establishment of a hub will also buoy sustainability and economic diversification in our region. The more we grow internally by reaching out beyond our borders, the stronger we get. But the stronger  we get, the cooperation with our neighboring cities is key — in Ontario and further afield — and I think that’s what the hub will generate.”


For more information on the WCCD, ISO 37120 certification, please visit www.dataforcities.org or Contact Us.


For more information, please contact:
+14169703544

Wednesday 19 July 2017

“A more sustainable, inclusive and prosperous future is in the hands of cities worldwide,” says WCCD President & CEO Patricia McCarney





July 17th, 2017
New York, New York 
United Nations Headquarters


On Monday, July 17th, at United Nations Headquarters, the World Council on City Data (WCCD) launched “WCCD City Data for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals”- an exhaustive,  500-page report that demonstrates that cities around the world are the true determiners of a sustainable future for the planet.

Framed by the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the report is a comprehensive overview of over 45 cities, their dedication to sustainability, and moreover the economic and social power of local governments as agents of transformational change.



“Cities represent more than 80 per cent of global GDP,” says WCCD President and CEO, Professor Patricia McCarney. “This WCCD results-driven tracking empowers cities to direct and leverage investment, a core success factor in operationalizing each target across all of the SDGs. It is cities and globally standardised city level data that present an unparalleled opportunity for successful implementation of the SDGs by 2030.” The more than 300 data graphs presented in this Report are the result of dedicated cities reporting data on 100 indicators to the WCCD, in conformity with ISO 37120, which is third party verified. ISO 37120 is the first international standard for city data built by cities committed to building a culture of data so that cities can converse, exchange lessons and innovations with other cities globally."

Professor McCarney, who concurrently serves as Director of the Global Cities Institute at the University of Toronto, underlined that City Data for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals highlighted how high calibre city level data is already building in breadth and depth. “It has the power to support local investment, to drive local climate change policy, and of course, to support the SDGs.  I firmly believe that this data is essential to the success of the SDGs, which will rise and fall in cities. City leaders stand at the pivotal points for global change in building a more sustainable planet,” McCarney continued. “The prosperity of nations and regions is, more than ever, dependent upon the economic performance of cities.  City leaders have the power and responsibility to direct and leverage investment, a core success factor in operationalizing each target across all of the 17 SDGs.”


This week, the United Nations is holding its “High-Level Political Forum” – with countries from around the world represented at the Ministerial-level – to discuss the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “WCCD City Data for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals” was launched at the UN Headquarters in New York in the WCCD Thematic Session on Data for the SDGs as part of Local2030: Hub for Sustainable Solutions.


For more information on the WCCD, ISO 37120 certification, please visit www.dataforcities.org or Contact Us.


For more information, please contact:

James Patava (james.patava@globalcities.ca)
+14169703544
www.dataforcities.org