Geographic information system (GIS) software company Esri has announced the launch of a data alliance with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and PVBLIC Foundation in support of efforts to advance the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

The SDG Data Alliance will create an SDG Data Hub for each of the seventeen goals across developing nations in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Based on geospatial frameworks and technology, the data hubs will assist developing countries in measuring, monitoring, and reporting on their progress toward reducing inequality and will empower people to ensure inclusiveness and equality. The partner organizations already are helping several countries create, organize, and implement SDG Data Hubs, including Ireland, where gender, economic, and constituent and population data will be used to identify marginalized workers, economic and labor market opportunities, and gender balance in government; Iraq, where data around water, health care, and housing will shape efforts to build an infrastructure to keep vulnerable populations healthy; and Haiti, where SDG equity data around education, economic growth, climate, and agriculture can be used to help expand educational and employment opportunities.

"Together, we have a vision to build the capacity of communities, governments and NGOs to monitor their progress towards their goals," said Kellogg Foundation president and CEO La June Montgomery Tabron. "At the heart of this partnership is the belief that people have the capacity to create the conditions for their children to thrive and for communities to become equitable places of opportunity. When communities see the full picture of what's at play, it will only accelerate that change."

"Inequality threatens long-term social and economic development and hampers poverty reduction initiatives, especially among vulnerable global communities," said Esri founder and president Jack Dangermond. "Open, community-driven partnerships like the SDG Data Alliance offer a framework to create a reporting environment that help communities see patterns and trends around issues like inequality. Our goal in this partnership is to enable the world to work more effectively together on reducing inequalities by leveraging geospatial technology to better understand and solve these challenges."