2025 Highlights: Driving Data for Development
by Kwok Kin Lee , Holly Krambeck , Claudia Calderon2025 has been a year of meaningful progress for the Development Data Partnership. Together with our data and development partners, we have grown our community, expanded the scope and scale of project impacts, and promoted the responsible use of private sector data and AI models for development.
The Partnership has supported more than 100 projects in 2025, each contributing towards our shared Sustainable Development Goals. You can learn more about them through the 2025 published impact stories listed below, which demonstrate the outcomes of public-private collaboration.
Expanding Partnerships and Collaborations
In 2025, we have been excited to welcome GrabMaps, Kido Dynamics and Irys, who bring new sources of mobility and imagery, telecom, and location data to the Partnership, as well as technical expertise and a shared commitment to using data for the public good.
Building a Global Generative AI Index
This year, the Partnership convened a roundtable of Chief Economists from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and LinkedIn, as well as Directors and Principal Researchers from Microsoft, Meta, and GitHub. Together, these competing companies agreed to collaborate on the first-of-its-kind program to measure global generative AI adoption. The initiative marks a new chapter in the Partnership’s story, building on our governance, technical, and legal frameworks to build new, needed public data goods that individual organizations couldn’t create on their own.
Piloting Partnerships with Media Houses to Train AI Models on Under-Represented Languages
Nearly 4 billion people worldwide speak languages that do not have a sufficient internet presence to train generative AI models. To meet this challenge, the Partnership is extending its public-private data sharing model to governments, designing a system for partnering with media houses to build national digital language libraries for training AI models. The project, supported by the Gates Foundation, is being piloted in Malawi in collaboration with the Ministry of ICT and National Statistical Office, as well as the country’s largest newspapers, broadcasters, and radio stations.
Bringing the Data Community Together
A key highlight of 2025 has been this year’s Development Data Partnership Day, held in June at Google’s New York office. The event brought together technology companies, multilateral institutions, and the broader data community to share project outcomes and explore how collaboration can accelerate progress toward global development goals amid changing priorities. Discover more about the event here.
Looking Ahead
As we approach 2026, we are excited to continue delivering on our new strategic goals. We are excited to advance the new Global Generative AI Index, and help governments unlock siloed underrepresented language media content for training AI models. We will continue to expand our outreach, strengthen existing partnerships, and foster new collaborations that will be essential to our journey ahead.
We are grateful for the continued enthusiasm for the Partnership and the remarkable work of our partners and the data community and cannot wait to see what you do next!
Thank you again for being an integral part of this remarkable 2025 journey.
Impact Stories from 2025
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Assessing Internet Quality in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Countries: To support the EU4Digital Phase II program, the World Bank’s Digital Europe and Central Asia unit leveraged Ookla® Speedtest Intelligence data to strengthen digital connectivity and resilience across the Eastern Partnership countries—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Learn more here.
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Leveraging JBA Data for Flood Risk Assessment in Rwanda’s Sustainable Landscape Management Framework: The Rwanda Sustainable Landscape Management Investment Framework sets out a long-term plan to promote sustainable land use and restore degraded ecosystems. The World Bank leveraged data from JBA Global Resilience to support the Framework for catchment management and ecological restoration, particularly in flood-prone areas. Find out more here.
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Understanding Traffic Changes During COVID-19 Through Waze Data: The World Bank’s Development Data Group used Waze data to analyze how the COVID-19 pandemic affected changes in road traffic volume in New York, Bogotá, Mumbai, and Manila. The findings contribute to the Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals 2023, a resource designed to deepen understanding of the SDGs among policymakers, researchers, journalists, and the wider public. Read more here.
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Investing in the Future: Connecting Guatemala’s Schools to the Internet: Reliable internet access is vital for quality education and future opportunities, particularly in low-income countries. With support from Ookla, the Inter-American Development Bank is working with the International Telecommunication Union to help close Guatemala’s school connectivity gap. Discover more here.
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Using Traffic Data to Build Resilience: How Waze Supports Smarter Disaster Risk Management: With support from Waze, the World Bank and University College London validated a new traffic simulation model that identifies the most critical road segments in developing cities, enabling governments to better target climate-resilient infrastructure investments. Learn more here.
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Harnessing Data to Build Resilience: Spotlight on Flood Risk Projects with JBA: We are facing more frequent and intense extreme weather events. For this year’s International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, we published a blog post highlighting how our data partners collaborated with JBA to help countries strengthen their flood preparedness. Find out more here.
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Leveraging Data to Understand the Pulse of Amazonia: Amazonia’s vastness and complexity create unique challenges for development and conservation. To help address this, the Inter-A[merican Development Bank is developing AmazoniaForever360+, a platform designed to provide comprehensive geospatial and territorial insights for the region. The platform is supported by different partners, including Esri, Meta and Ookla. Read more here.
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Leveraging Big Data on Travel Speeds and Mobility Patterns to Update Ecuador’s National Transport Model: Improving transport planning in Ecuador requires up-to-date insights. Using data from Mapbox, Outlogic, and Waze, the World Bank supported the Ministry of Transport and Public Works in updating the country’s national transport model. Discover more here.
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Data for Impact: South-South Cooperation in Action: For this year’s International Day for South-South Cooperation, we published a blog post showcasing how our collaborations with tech companies and international organizations are translating data into real-world impact across the Global South. Learn more here.
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Enhancing E-Health Accessibility: Bridging the Digital Divide in Healthcare Services in Least Developed Countries: Ensuring equitable access to healthcare through digital services has become increasingly critical, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Bank’s Global Unit for Disaster and Climate Risk Management assessed the digital infrastructure quality needed to deliver reliable e-health services in least developed countries, using data from Ookla. Find out more here.
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Building a Future-Ready Workforce: Addressing Skills Gaps in a Changing Labor Market: Employment is a key driver of poverty reduction, providing pathways to financial security and upward mobility. As digital transformation and the transition to green energy reshape labor markets, new roles and competencies are emerging, although issues such as gender imbalance and mismatched skills remain. International organizations use LinkedIn data to study these shifts and recommend policies that help workers gain the skills needed for the changing economy. Read more here.
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Examining Gender Disparities in Skills within the Energy Sector: Insights from LinkedIn Data: Understanding how skills differ between men and women in the energy sector helps reveal existing gaps and supports more effective workforce planning. To advance this effort, the International Energy Agency used LinkedIn data for the Gender and Energy Data Explorer, an online tool that tracks disparities in areas such as employment, pay, leadership roles, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Discover more here.
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Leveraging Satellite Data to Understand the Economic Implications of Sri Lanka’s Fertilizer Import Ban in 2021: Sri Lanka’s government imposed a sudden ban on imports of chemical fertilizers in May 2021. To assess the impact on the country’s tea sector, the World Bank’s Trade and International Integration team used satellite data, including from Planet, to measure changes in tea yields and evaluate how the policy affected agricultural output and trade. Learn more here.
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Mapping Vulnerability and Mobility: Leveraging Digital Data to Inform Flood Displacement and Resilience Planning: Climate change is increasingly shaping patterns of human movement, particularly in lower-income countries. To better understand this, the Asian Development Bank used JBA’s Global Flood Maps to examine how flood risk and displacement vary across different income groups. Find out more here.
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Bridging the Gap Between Plans and Reality: A Data-Driven Look at Urban Land Use in Amman: Urban landscapes are evolving rapidly, often surpassing the capabilities of traditional planning tools. In Amman, Jordan, a city experiencing fast population growth and complex migration patterns, this issue is particularly evident. A World Bank study used Veraset data to analyze how actual land use diverges from official zoning, illustrating how data-driven approaches can help cities respond more effectively. Read more here.
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Mobile Internet Connectivity and Household Wealth in the Philippines: The widespread growth of mobile internet has reshaped economies and societies, making it crucial to understand how policymakers can unlock its full economic value. Using Ookla data, the Asian Development Bank examined how the quality of internet connectivity contributes to improving household wealth. Discover more here.
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Unlocking Mapbox Data: Enhancing People’s Daily Lives through Data-Driven Urban Planning: Data-driven urban planning helps cities focus investments that support sustainable development. Mapbox provides movement data and traffic data, giving international organizations a clear picture of where people are moving the most, and how. Learn more here.
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Health Planning in the Philippines: Access to health services is vital, yet service delivery in the Philippines remains fragmented across administrative levels. Using the Mapbox Matrix API, the World Bank Health team assessed how easily people can reach health facilities and shared the findings with the national health ministry to help improve citizen registration with care providers. Find out more here.
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Strengthening Climate Resilience of the Tajikistan Road Network: The Asian Development Bank’s transport team used data from JBA’s Global Flood Maps to analyze flood risk and its economic effects in Tajikistan. This research emphasizes the critical importance of developing resilient transport infrastructure to mitigate climate-related hazards, promote economic stability, and improve accessibility. Read more here.
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Harnessing Data to Transform City Planning and Management: Effective traffic management helps road users avoid congestion, reduce pollution levels, and spend less time on the road. Waze for Cities offers valuable datasets that international organizations can use to design smarter and more sustainable urban transport solutions. Discover more here.
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Assessing How Floods Affect Economic Growth – The Case of the Western Balkans: The World Bank’s Western Balkans Country Climate and Development Report studies climate- and seismic-related natural hazard risks and outlines priority actions to strengthen regional resilience and support economic growth. Using JBA’s Global Flood Maps, the report analyzed flood risks alongside other hazards such as droughts, wildfires, extreme heat, landslides, and earthquakes. Learn more here.
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Leveraging LinkedIn Data to Understand the Green and Digital Transformations in the Labor Market and the Future of Work Understanding how digital and green transitions are reshaping labor markets is essential. LinkedIn provides real-time data that helps international organizations track trends, such as hiring rates and in-demand skills, offering insights into how these transitions affect workforces worldwide. Find out more here.
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How to Leverage Data for Better Transport, Digital Connectivity, and Sustainable Development in the Amazon: The Amazon region is rich in ecological and cultural resources but faces major challenges in balancing environmental conservation with infrastructure growth. The World Bank Transport team utilized data from Google, Mapbox, Meta, and Ookla to identify infrastructure gaps in the Amazon regions of Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. Read more here.
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Can private management of African protected areas improve socioeconomic and wildlife outcomes?: African governments are increasingly turning to private, nongovernmental organizations to manage protected areas, hoping their resources and technical expertise can unlock the potential of these landscapes. A study examined the impact of African Parks—the largest private manager of protected areas in Africa—on both socioeconomic and wildlife outcomes. Using Atlas AI’s data, researchers from the World Bank, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of Oregon assessed whether African Parks’ management improves local economic well-being in communities surrounding its parks. Discover more here.
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Advancing Women’s Empowerment Through Data: Data is essential for understanding the challenges women face and for helping policymakers and businesses make informed decisions that improve their well-being and economic opportunities. The Development Data Partnership provides support for international organizations to identify barriers and opportunities for women’s empowerment. Learn more here.
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Unleashing the Power of Data to Tackle Traffic Congestion and Promote Road Safety: With the global population continually rising, it is essential to develop modern, sustainable cities with transport infrastructure that can serve everyone. The World Bank utilized data from tech companies to address traffic congestion and enhance road safety in low-income countries. Find out more here.
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Leveraging Social Media Data to Map Road Traffic Crashes: Leveraging the Twitter (now X) API, the Smart and Safe Kenya Transport (smarTTrans) team at the World Bank translated crowdsourced crash reports from @Ma3Route into structured data on crashes for Nairobi. Read more here.