Date & Time
May 19 - 22, 2025 ET
Untitled (480 x 225 px) (480 x 125 px) - 1
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mobile Phone Data (MPD) for Policy Regional Workshop brings together public and private sector stakeholders across the mobile phone data ecosystem to build capacity and co-develop national MPD pipelines. Delivered by the SADC Secretariat with support from the World Bank, this regional workshop is a key milestone under the Regional Statistics Project.
The workshop will deliver training sessions that cover (a) Process to set up a country Mobile Phone Data pipeline/program in a country to produce policy-relevant insights, (b) Country examples of MPD for policy applications, and (c) Group activities to develop/elaborate country MPD implementation plans. For the Group Sessions, workshop participants will be organized into their respective country task teams comprised of World Bank operations, government agencies (NSO, Regulator, other), telecom operator(s), and other MDAs. Each group discussion will focus on the country activities, including: (i) Aligning of necessary stakeholders; (ii) Data access, including legal and regulatory framework; (iii) Data processing and sharing, including definition of key indicators; (iv) Outputs and planned uses for the data; (v) Accompanying relevant research questions to ensure rigor of the project; and (vi) Timeline.
At the conclusion of the SADC MPD Stakeholder Workshop, each country team will have a high-level country action plan from relevant national stakeholders on the implementation details that will cover the following elements:
- A roadmap for MPD program establishment;
- Identified policy applications and expected impacts;
- Stakeholder engagement strategies; and
- Timelines, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and key milestones/Targets.
- OVERVIEW
- AGENDA
- RELATED
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mobile Phone Data (MPD) for Policy workshop will gather public and private sector stakeholders from the local MPD ecosystems of all Member States of the SADC. Stakeholders will be comprised of representatives of Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), National Statistical Offices (NSOs), Telco/ICT Regulators and other Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs).
The workshop will prepare participants with the necessary knowledge and hands-on skills to integrate a MPD pipeline into their national data systems. By engaging in technical training and collaborative group activities, participants will gain insights into how MPD can be effectively used for durable policy applications and higher resolution statistics.
The structured learning program will cover key concepts in MPD for Policy, from the MPD foundations to MPD policy applications to developing MPD country action plans. The delivery of the workshop will be supported by SADC and the technical training delivered by a consortium from the World Bank’s Poverty Global Practice and the World Bank’s Global Data Facility, Mobile Phone Data Program, which includes experts with several decades of experience working in the MPD for Policy space.
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Dates: May 19-22, 2025
Here you will find the agenda of the workshop.
DAY ONE – 19th May 2025
Time |
Programme Item |
07:30 – 08:30 |
Registration of Participants |
08:30 – 09:00 |
Light Breakfast |
09:00 – 09:30 |
Official Opening Ceremony Separate Official Opening Programme to be provided |
09:30 – 10:30 |
Introductions and Adoption of the Agenda and Work Programme |
10:30 – 10:45 |
Tea/Coffee Break |
10:45 – 11:05 |
SADC ICT Policy Instrument and Projects – Infrastructure Directorate |
11:05 – 11:25 |
Statistics Policy Instruments – PPRM Directorate |
11:25 – 11:40 |
GDF-MPD Cohort Program Workshop Motivation and Expectations |
11:40– 12:00 |
MPD Fundamentals: An introduction to MPD |
12:00 – 13:00 |
MPD Foundations - MPD Theory of Change |
13:00 – 14:00 |
Lunch Break |
14:00 – 14:30 |
MPD Case Studies |
14:30 – 15:30 |
Country MPD Maturity Framework ● Overview of MPD Maturity Framework ● Country Team Activity – Country MPD Maturity |
15:30 – 16:00 |
Tea/Coffee Break |
16:00 – 17:00 |
Roadmap Session 1 - Group Work |
DAY TWO – 20th May 2025
Time |
Programme Item |
08:30 – 09:00 |
Light Breakfast |
09:00 – 09:10 |
Introduction to Day 2; Debrief on Training Sessions from Day 1 |
09:10 – 10:30 |
MPD Operational Skills Trainings Part 1: Policy Applications ● ICT Statistics MPD for Population Statistics and mobility analysis |
10:30 – 10:45 |
Tea/Coffee Break |
10:45 – 11:30 |
MPD Operational Skills Trainings Part 1: Policy Applications ● Examples of how MPD has been used Socio-economic applications |
11:30-13:00 |
MPD Operational Skills Trainings Part 2: An introduction to Call Data Record (CDR): Characteristics and Quality Considerations |
13:00 – 14:00 |
Lunch Break & TTL Clinic |
14:00 – 15:30 |
MPD Operational Skills Training Part 3: Arranging Data Access: ● Institutional Arrangements Partnerships, Governance, MOUs and Data Sharing Arrangements |
15:30 – 16:00 |
Tea/Coffee Break |
16:00 – 17:30 |
Roadmap Session 2: Group Work |
17:30 – 19:00 |
Reception – Courtesy of World Bank |
DAY THREE – 21st May 2025
Time |
Programme Item |
08:30 – 09:00 |
Light Breakfast |
09:00 – 09:10 |
Introd Day 3, Debrief on Training Sessions from Day 2 |
09:10 – 10:30 |
MPD Operational Skills Training Part 3: Data processing, from Raw Data to Statistics ● Data governance and safeguards: ● Data protection, data privacy ● Privacy preservation methods ● Security |
10:30 – 10:45 |
Tea/Coffee Break |
10:45 – 13:00 |
Roadmap Session 3: Group Work |
13:00 – 14:00 |
Lunch Break |
14:00 – 15:00 |
Action Plan Finalization |
15:00 – 15:30 |
Tea/Coffee Break |
15:30 – 17:00 |
Presentations: Country Action Plans |
17:00 – 17:30 |
Consideration and adoption of Workshop Report inclusive of Recommendations |
17:30 – 18:00 |
Vote of Thanks ● Closing Remarks ● Closing Remarks ● Closing Address |
DAY FOUR – 22nd May
Time |
Programme Item |
08:30 – 09:00 |
Light Breakfast |
09:00 – 10:15 |
Technical Workshop: Hands on demos for MPD Statistics: ● Population Statistics ● Calculating SDG 17.8.1 (Internet Usage) |
10:15-10:30 |
Tea/Coffee Break |
10:30 – 11:45 |
Technical Workshop: Real-Time Monitoring of Welfare |
11:45-13:00 |
Technical Workshop: Population / Migration Statistics |
13:00 – 14:00 |
Lunch Break |
14:00-15:15 |
Technical Workshop: AI for NSOs |
End of Workshop |
|
Useful links
FAQs
Yes. Please use the Sign Up button to register. This confirms your attendance for either the in-person event or access to the livestream. Once registered, you’ll receive an email with event access details, location or login instructions, and timely reminders.
The event recording will be available on this page shortly after it concludes. If you registered via the Sign Up button, you’ll receive a follow-up email with a link to watch the replay and access any resources shared during the event.