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Fostering collaboration
The ITU plays a leading role in advancing the use of Mobile Positioning Data (MPD) for official statistics and evidence-based policymaking. Working closely with the Global Data Facility–Mobile Phone Data (GDF-MPD) project and the UN Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics (UN-CEBD), ITU works with a global network of experts from national statistical offices, mobile network operators, NGOs, academia, and international organizations.
Through collaboration, ITU has facilitated the development of the MPD Methodological Guides and helped deliver country technical assistance and regional workshops.Task Team on Mobile Phone DataITU/World Bank Global Data Facility ProjectThe ITU leads the Task Team on Mobile Phone Data (TT-MPD) – established in 2017 within the UN Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics (UN-CEBD)—is dedicated to advancing the ethical, secure, and high-quality integration of mobile phone data (MPD) into official statistics.
With over 50 experts spanning national statistical offices (NSOs), UN agencies, academia, the private sector, and NGOs, TT-MPD works to develop comprehensive frameworks, technical guidelines, and capacity-building resources. Its mission includes fostering international collaboration, producing standards and methodological guidance, and promoting innovation across critical statistical domains such as tourism, migration, transport, population dynamics, information society, and disaster response.
The Task Team:
– produces methodological guides and handbooks that can be used by countries when analysing MPD
– organizes sessions during the International Conferences on Big Data
– provides input to report to UN Statistical Commission
– organizes side events to conferences and meetings
– develops training materials that countries can use
– works with the UN-CEBD Regional Hubs in awareness raising and capacity building
To learn more about the activities of the Task Team on Mobile Phone Data (TT-MPD), please visit the website or join the TT-MPD. ITU and the World Bank’s Development Data Group are working together to integrate Mobile Phone Data (MPD) into national data systems across 30 countries by 2030. This initiative, supported by the World Bank Global Data Facility(GDF), aims to enhance statistics and policymaking by leveraging MPD for insights. The collaboration focuses on developing local capacities in the use of mobile phone data in addressing the current data gap for policymaking.
Read the press release.
– In October 2024, the first cohort of eighteen countries (Cohort 1 under the GDF-MPD programme was launched through a workshop where representatives
of regulatory agencies, national statistics offices, mobile network operators and data protection agencies attended. Cohort 1 countries include: Argentina,
Brazil, Ecuador, Haiti, Peru, The Gambia, Senegal, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Guinea, India, Rwanda, Kenya, Morocco, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Tunisia.
For more information about the GDF-MPD Cohort 1, see here.
– In May 2025, Cohort 2 was launched comprising countries from South African Development Community (SADC). The workshop was attended by over 115
delegates from all SADC Member States. Country delegations consisted of representatives from the National Statistical Offices, Ministries of ICT, Data
Protection Agencies, and Mobile Network Operators.
For more information about the GDF-MPD Cohort 2, see here.
To assist the GDF-MPD Cohort countries, the programme also includes the development of materials that can be used by countries planning to use MPD for statistics and policy making. The materials are:
1. Theory of Change
2. Maturity assessment
3. Other useful resources on MPD