AMDATEX CEO DONOVAN: DATA IS THE NEW CURRENCY

AMDATEX CEO DONOVAN: DATA IS THE NEW CURRENCY Photo

Nairobi, Kenya (May 23-24, 2016) — "Data is the new currency, and I don't believe we are truly embracing it and all its possibilities," American Data Exchange (AMDATEX) CEO James M. Donovan declared as a panelist at the second session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-2), also known as the "Parliament of the Environment."

He added, "Our government offices are currently not embracing this (data) power in relation to helping themselves make better decisions. What we need now is organized disruption. We need to introduce innovation at a pace that really needs to take science, policy makers, the private sector and civil society in total along this journey of change."

Donovan participated in "Big Data and Innovation: Delivering Information for the Sustainable Development Goals," a key panel discussion attended by representatives of major groups and stakeholders from different sectors, including business and industry, children and youth, farmers, indigenous peoples and their communities, local governments, non-government organizations, local scientific and technological organizations, women, and workers and trade unions.

Representing the perspective of the business sector and the business process management and data management industries, Donovan made a case for creating an enabling environment for facilitating the development of disruptive technologies that will accelerate the achievement of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

"The private sector is willing to become involved, but we need an enabling environment, whether provided by the UN, UNEA, UNEP or other agencies: a safe zone in which we can fail-and fail forward-to be able to bring innovation to the table," said Donovan.

Donovan added that creating such an environment for the UN would require upgrading its system for data collection, storage, sharing and business intelligence, which would be crucial in supporting a bottom-up approach to social monitoring and information.

Others stakeholders who participated in the panel discussion were Peter Denton (United Church of Canada), Isis Alvarez (Global Forest Coalition, Colombia), Joan Carling (Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, Philippines), Charles Mwangi (GLOBE Kenya), Diana Mangalaglu (Science Po, France) and Peter King (Institute for Global Strategies, IGES Japan).

UNEA enjoys the universal membership of all 193 UN Member States and the full involvement of major groups and stakeholders. With this wide reach into the legislative, financial and development arenas, UNEA provides a groundbreaking platform for leadership on global environmental policy.

AMDATEX is ADEC Innovations' leading-edge member company in business process management, leveraging ADEC Innovations' data management and technological resources to bring customized outsourcing solutions that help organizations streamline their processes to focus on their core strengths and competencies.