“New indicators and strategic themes for the development and sustainability of Portuguese-language countries in the Digital Age” was the topic discussed on Wednesday afternoon (11) at the CPLP (Community of Portuguese-Language Countries) panel session. The event is part of the first day of the Triple International Forum on Global South Governance, organized in Fortaleza (CE) by the IBGE, in partnership with the State Government of Ceará and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Mediator Gustavo Cayres, IBGE’s deputy director of Geosciences, opened the session, emphasizing the importance of discussing both topics in one same session: the Global South and the Digital Age. For him, Portuguese-language countries share a history that is marked in their peoples and territories and that, according to him, needs to be part of the reflection of statistical institutes and, in the case of the IBGE, cover geography as well. 

For Cayres, this is the impulse to “maintain and reinforce a history of cooperation, which is not a recently born history. It is based precisely on the understanding of this common path, on these common challenges very often, the similarities, but also the differences. This means that our institutes need to deal with this, they need to investigate these aspects of our societies, which will allow us to characterize these differences, these similarities”.  

He also reinforced the need to position statistical and geoscientific systems to account for the diversity and particularities of the Global South. “How can we cooperate more? How can we look at this cooperation, considering the digital age and considering our position as a global South?”, he asked. 

Mozambique reinforces commitment to digital and technological indicators 

Representing the National Institute of Statistics (INE) of Mozambique, Miquelina Sito spoke on the topic of Digital and technological indicators and Digital governance and cooperation, seeking a relationship with the new indicators of strategic themes for development and sustainability in the Digital Age. 

Data such as cell phone ownership, internet and computer use, access to information and communication technology goods in households and financial inclusion were presented. 

She emphasized the commitment of the country to finding answers to these new indicators, maximizing the benefits for all areas of intervention. According to her, it is not just about looking at the digital and technological side, but also at what can be improved using technology, for example, in agriculture and education. “Only information and communication technologies are capable of leveraging a country's economy and these actions are measured through censuses and surveys,” she said. 

Angola seeks to reconcile economic development, social inclusion and sustainability 

Josué Miguel, from the National Institute of Statistics of Angola, addressed the topic New indicators and strategic themes for the sustainable development of Portuguese-language countries in the digital age. He highlighted the fundamental role of statistical data and indicators as the foundation for formulating effective public policies in the digital age. 

He also explained that Angola, like other CPLP countries, faces the challenge of reconciling economic development, social inclusion and sustainability with the demands of the 21st century. “This equation will be solved with indicators that capture the contemporary digital, social and environmental reality,” he stated. 

Miguel said that Angola has made a considerable leap in statistical modernization with the adoption of digital methods in large-scale surveys, such as agricultural, population and housing censuses. “Governing without robust data is like navigating without a compass. We need indicators that expose the digital inequalities that measure progress in innovation and that guide us towards a sustainable and digitally inclusive future,” he concluded.

Favelas and urban communities must be represented by their power, says IBGE researcher

Closing the presentations, Letícia de Carvalho Giannella, IBGE researcher, spoke about Standardization, comparability and territorial diversity in official statistics of countries in the Global South: reflections based on the IBGE concept of favelas and poor urban communities. 

She highlighted the importance of official statistics to support the formulation and monitoring of public policies, contribute to the development of academic research, support the population's appropriation of various demands and for the monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

For Letícia, in addition to the discussion on new indicators, it is also necessary to reflect upon new representations of people and territories, it is necessary to deal with and portray the different and multiple territorial realities, especially with regard to the Global South. 

“In the case of Brazil, favelas and urban communities cannot be treated simply based on their lack or absence. They need to build other representations that reflect the strength, power, culture, creativity, and inventiveness of these territories,” he said.

That is why, in January 2024, the IBGE promoted the change of the term subnormal clusters to favelas and poor urban communities. “These territories are seeking to guarantee a universal right, which is the right to decent housing. Official statistics need to be seen as social constructions, therefore as representations that are not only a product of society, but also produce society to the extent that they cut out reality based on methodological and operational decisions,” he concluded. 

Also on Wednesday (11), there was a meeting with the heads of BRICS NSOs, in Fortaleza (CE). 

About the Triple Forum

The Triple Forum is organized by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE),  in cooperation with Ceará State Government, held from June 11 to 13, at the Ceará Events Center (Av. Washington Soares, 999, West Pavilion, gate C). Registration is still open and the schedule is available on the event portal. The Forum is sipported by the UN Development Programme (PNUD), do Banco do Nordeste do Brasil (BNB), United Nations Children´s Fund (UNICEF), Ceará Without Hunger, Company of Participation and Assets Management of Ceará S.A. (Ceará Par), Secretariat of Tourism of Ceará, National Secretariat of Youth - General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic and other partners. Plenary sessions will be sreamed live on Digital IBGE, an on the Institute's social media channels IBGE Digital, Youtube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.