In 2008, the Centre for Global Development convened a group of some of the world’s leading experts on migration data, asking them to come up with a few practical and politically feasible actions that institutions could pursue – without any brand-new surveys, initiatives or institutions – to expand the quality and quantity of migration data available to practitioners, policymakers and researchers (CGD, 2009).
- Population censuses should always ask questions about each respondent’s country of birth, country of citizenship and period of arrival in country;
- Countries should make greater use of administrative data sources which contain rich information about international migration;
- Integrating labour force surveys from multiple countries into a single updated database would allow for cross-national comparisons of the dynamics of labour migration;
- Providing researchers with anonymized micro-data on international migrants from surveys and administrative records (as long as data privacy and protection measures are in place);
- Increasing the use of standardized modules on international migration as part of household survey questionnaires.
The experts recognized, however, that while these short-term solutions may yield considerable returns, major improvements can only be achieved by reinforcing the capacities of national institutions to collect and disseminate migration data. An important first step in the process of building institutional capacity is the creation of national taskforces that bring together policymakers, researchers, practitioners and statisticians to discuss how to improve the quality and quantity of migration data.
In addition to the short-term recommendations outlined above, IOM has also provided several long-term recommendations for improving migration data based on the main data sources and indicators (IOM, 2020). One of these recommendations is that government agencies should create partnerships with the private sector and other relevant stakeholders such as telecom companies and IT providers to leverage innovative data or “big data” for better understanding the drivers and consequences of migration and informing policymaking. Large amounts of data are continuously generated by mobile devices, electronic financial transactions or web-based platforms, which are often owned and maintained by the private sector. Several studies have shown that “big data” generated by mobile devices, electronic financial transactions or web-based platforms, can be used to capture the movements of displaced people, temporary migration, remittance flows, regular and irregular flows and efforts to combat trafficking (all of which are poorly captured by traditional data sources).
The Big Data for Migration Alliance (https://data4migration.org/) – a joint initiative of IOM with the EU Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) – is compiling information on pioneering projects in this field in a Data Innovation Directory (https://www.migrationdataportal.org/data-innovation). In cooperation with a number of international partners, the DID offers up-to-date insights about projects, initiatives and applications of new data sources and innovative methodologies in migration and human mobility, so as to facilitate access to existing knowledge in this rapidly evolving field.
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Case study: Using big data to improve our knowledge of internal displacement Internal displacement data is an essential indicator of a nation’s overall wellbeing and resilience. Understanding the scale and characteristics of internal displacement within a country helps in the prevention, preparation and response of crises’ outbreaks or escalations. Internal displacement data also ensures that vulnerable communities that might otherwise be overlooked are not left behind. Yet, to date, international guidance on how to best produce good quality IDP official statistics remains scarce and many of the available data are based on operational data produced by humanitarian agencies as part of their assistance programs, rather than official statistics. New ways of collecting data such as social media analysis, aerial imaging and use of call detail records (CDRs), provide opportunities for collecting data on IDPs in humanitarian contexts. -A study by Leasure and colleagues (2023) combined daily United Nations data on people crossing the Ukrainian border with social media data from Facebook’s advertising platform to monitor displacement across Ukraine provinces. -In 2016, the IDMC used satellite imagery to track displacement caused by housing destruction in the context of clashes between the Turkish government and Kurdish armed groups (IOM, 2021e) -Giardini and colleagues (2023) used aggregated CDRs to measure post-disaster displacement in four Italian regions affected by earthquakes between 2016 and 2017. This was done by comparing post and pre-disaster mobile phone usage. |
Another long-term recommendation provided by IOM is that countries develop a strategy for enhancing national capacities of collecting, managing, analysing and disseminating migration and migration-related data to support evidence-based policymaking, with capacity-building, financial support and technical assistance from the international community. National statistical and administrative systems that produce migration data are often limited in the know-how, tools or resources needed to collect and analyse the required information (IOM, 2020). A report from IOM in the West Africa Region analyses good practices in migration data capacity-building by looking at recent efforts by international organizations to enhance the capacity of NSS and other national agencies to collect, manage and disseminate official statistics on migration. The report outlines what migration data capacity-building entails by examining different types of capacity-building activities. “Capacity-building is much more than just training and can include human resource development, the process of providing individuals with skills, knowledge and training that enable them to perform effectively; organization development, improving management structures and processes, both within and between organizations and different sectors; and institutional and legal framework development, enabling and enhancing the capacities of organizations, institutions and agencies, via legal and regulatory changes”. (IOM, 2019b).
Finally, as emphasized in the Global Compact for Migration, the whole-of-government or whole-of-society approach is important to data collection, sharing and use. The whole-of-society approach means involving academics, civil society organisations and local communities in data collection processes. Building partnerships with local communities can increase the coverage of hard-to-reach or marginalized migrant groups, thereby improving the validity, reliability and accuracy of the data (IOM, 2021b).
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