Capacity Development 4.0
What is Capacity Development 4.0
Capacity development 4.0 (CD4.0) is the process through which a country’s national statistical system , its organisations and individuals obtain, strengthen and maintain their abilities to collect, produce, analyse and disseminate high quality data to meet users’ needs (PARIS21, 2020). The Capacity Development 4.0 approach calls for fundamental reforms in development co-operation, both in substance and process, in support of statistical capacity. Drawing from lessons learned from the past and responding to the expressed priorities of the NSSs across the world, CD4.0 proposes a systematic approach to addressing countries’ needs for statistical capacity.
How to use a CD4.0 approach in the NSDS guidelines
The NSDS and the CD4.0 approach can provide strong value-added when applied in conjunction. In the case where a country is in the process of establishing a NSDS, a CD4.0 assessment could be applied to identify important statistical capacity gaps and ensure sustainable capacity development processes in the long-term. Vice versa, in the case where a country has started a CD4.0 programme, the NSDS is needed to anchor and further develop statistical capacities in a holistic way.
The CD4.0 Guidelines explain in more detail how to develop unique capabilities at systemic, organisational and individual level. For the NSDS, the most important tool is the CD4.0 matrix (see Figure 1 below) to map these capabilities to each stakeholder inside the NSS and the larger data ecosystem. For the NSDS, the most crucial part is to understand which statistical sectors (e.g. education, health, disability, agriculture, environment, or poverty, civil registration, gender, disaster management, and governance) should be developed and which capabilities do exist on system/organisational and individual level to extend and strengthen those sectors.
Concrete actions to integrate CD4.0 in the NSDS process
In the preliminary stage:
- Explain the key features of a Capacity Development 4.0 approach consisting of three levels (systemic/organisational/individual) and five targets (Resources, Skills & Knowledge, Management, Politics & Power and Incentives). Step 1.1| Step 1.2|
- Presentation on the CD4.0 approach
- Showcase the impact of CD4.0 approaches in other countries and create a business case with the NSO leadership on why a holistic and sustainable approach is necessary | Step 1.1
- Reports on existing case studies/examples from the CD4.0 Guidelines
In the design stage:
- Assess existing or established capabilities according to the matrix in selected priority sectors and/or subject-matter areas (e.g., education, health, disability, agriculture, environment, or poverty, civil registration, gender, disaster management, and governance, etc.). Step 3.1 | Step 3.2 | Step 3.3 | Step 3.4
- The capacity questionnaire aligned with the matrix embodies a customizable tool for the assessment phase.
- Develop a coherent theory of change using the CD4.0 matrix. This step involves defining the desired capabilities (those that should be established) and link them to those capabilities that already exist in the NSS (existing capabilities)| Step 4.2|
In the deployment stage:
- Evaluate the different steps the NSDS process took to strengthen the capabilities prioritized through the CD4.0 matrix. It may be also useful to review the theory of change at this stage to reflect on processes that worked or did not work | Step 7.2
- The CD4.0 matrix to reflect which capabilities have been achieved vs. which one’s have not been achieved
