UN Resident Coordinator Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee Visits CBAS

Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee and Dr. Stephen Bainous Kargbo of the United Nations (UN) paid a visit to CBAS on January 7 to formally meet with CBAS officials and tour the SDG Big Data Platform. Mr. Chatterjee is the UN Resident Coordinator in China and Dr. Kargbo is the UN Industrial Development Organization's representative to China.
They were given a warm welcome by Guo Huadong, Director General of CBAS, who stressed in his introduction that CBAS is committed to building a public big data science and technology platform in service of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As an international research center inspired by the UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism, Guo said, CBAS?goals include a more functional big data platform, SDG indicator monitoring, more satellite launches, a think tank, and capacity building for SDGs in developing countries. He also expressed his hope for closer and stronger cooperation with the UN. Guo introduced SDGSAT-1, recently launched by China to improve global spatial data coverage for SDGs. He highlighted that CBAS has already committed to providing the UN and its member states open access to the data from SDGSAT-1. He expressed the strong commitment of CBAS to establish hubs in other countries with the support of the UN to build a worldwide network of scientific cooperation, knowledge, and information transfer in service of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Mr. Chatterjee, during his remarks, expressed that, by establishing this research center, China has taken a concrete step to realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, fulfilling the commitments made during the 75th UN General Assembly. He went on to say that CBAS represents the nation抯 resolution and capability to harness advanced technologies to facilitate SDGs. He noted that health, infrastructure, green, and digital deficits are four development barriers to SDGs, which call for joint efforts and strengthened cooperation worldwide. He stated that the UN in China will promote a closer cooperation with CBAS, with big data being especially indispensable to achieving the SDGs. Monitoring and evaluating indicators of SDGs has a significant role to play for developing countries and the world. Commenting on CBAS priorities, Mr. Siddarth noted that its efforts will have a profound impact on all SDGs due to their interconnected nature.
Dr. Kargbo also congratulated all on the establishment of CBAS and pointed out that achieving balanced progress in SDGs is one of the most significant challenges. The research on correlation studies on SDGs led by CBAS bears novel significance. He also made remarks on cooperation possibilities and lessons learned for sustainable development of developing countries in Africa.
Zhu Qinfei and Shi Xuebing with the UN Resident Coordinator Office in China, and Chen Fang, Yan Dongmei, Liu Jie, and Liang Dong with CBAS were also present during the visit.

Group photo taken in CBAS.