Going global: Linda Peters on advising world leaders on the future

How can we ensure the data that matters is informing our actions?

Linda Peters advises the US and other governments along with the United Nations on how to turn data into effective action and policies.

From forecasting the timing and scale of catastrophic food droughts, to formulating strategies for the mass deployment of foreign aid, Linda Peters holds firm on the frontline, working to combat some of this generation’s greatest challenges.

At the height of the COVID-19 outbreak, Linda Peters’ expertise in data analytics and statistics came to the fore. 

Her work with the US Census Bureau on the first ever entirely digital Census took on new significance when the pandemic arrived and spread rapidly across the United States. 

Linda Peters brings new meaning to the term ‘data-driven’.

“When you first go in and start looking at data, you don't know what you're going to find,” she says. “How rich is that data? How complete is that data? How current is that data? You're going to have to iterate through all of those different data sets to help you establish the patterns. As geographers, we always look for patterns”.

Next episode: Dr Amen Ra Mashariki, Global Director, World Resources Institute.

DirectionsPodcast.com

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Directions is a podcast hosted by award-winning journalist Stan Grant about how leaders use technology and innovation to solve problems and to shape our increasingly complex world. 

This is a BGT Production created in partnership with Esri Australia.

Esri Australia is the nation's leading GIS technology and services provider and part of the BGT group.