World Council on City Data
James Patava, Vice President of the World Council on City Data (WCCD), presented at the UNSD Big Data Conference on the importance of standardized city data. WCCD’s core mission is to create and maintain the ISO 37120 standard, which includes 100 indicators across 17 themes such as economy, education, energy, and health. This international standard allows cities to measure and compare their services and quality of life. Patava emphasized the role of ISO 37120 in promoting transparency, fostering smart city innovations, and enabling city-to-city learning. He also discussed the development of new standards like ISO 37122 for smart cities and ISO 37123 for resilient cities. These initiatives aim to support cities in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) by providing reliable, comparable data to guide decision-making.