Geospatial, location and big data: emerging MERL Tech approaches
Our first webinar in the series Emerging Data Landscapes in M&E, on Geospatial, location and big data: Where have we been and where can we go? was held on 28 July. We had a lively discussion on the use of these innovative technologies in the world of evaluation.
First, Estelle Raimondo, Senior Evaluation Officer at the World Bank Independent Evaluation Group, framed the discussion with her introduction on Evaluation and emerging data: what are we learning from early applications? She noted how COVID-19 has been an accelerator of change, pushing the evaluation community to explore new, innovative technologies to overcome today’s challenges, and set the stage for the ethical, conceptual and methodical considerations we now face.
Next came the Case Study: Integrating geospatial methods into evaluations: opportunities and lessons from Anupam Anand, Evaluation Officer at the Global Environmental Facility, Independent Evaluation Office, and Hur Hassnain, Senior Evaluation Advisor, European Commission DEVCO/ESS. After providing an overview of the advantages of using satellite and remote sensing data, particularly in fragile and conflict zones, the presenters gave the examples of their use in Syria and Sierra Leone.
The second Case Study: Observing from space when you cannot observe from the field, was presented by Joachim Vandercasteelen, Young Professional at World Bank Independent Evaluation Group. This example focused on using geospatial data for evaluating a biodiversity conservation project in Madagascar, as traveling to the field was not feasible. The presentation gave an overview on how to use such technology for both quantitative and qualitative assessments, but also the downsides to consider.
Lastly, Alexandra Robinson, Co-Author of Big Data to Data Science: Moving from What to How in the MERL Tech Space, and Market Strategy and Data Ethics Lead at Threshold.World, discussed What are the organizational barriers to adopting new data types for M&E? This presentation focused on six main barriers to using big data, but also shared some key recommendations to improve its use.
The full recording of the webinar, including the PowerPoint Presentations and Questions & Answers session at the end, are available on the EES’ YouTube page.
Over the next month, we will release specific blogs of each of the presentations, where the speakers will answer the questions participants raised during the webinar that were not already addressed during the Q&A, and provide the links to further reading on the subject. These will be publicly available on the EES Blog.
The EES would like to thank our speakers for this engaging webinar, as well as our partners The Development Café, MERL Tech, and the World Bank IEG.
Stay tuned for our next webinar in the series. You can also follow the EES on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, and sign up to receive our monthly newsletter EuropEval Digest for more exciting updates!