Cutting edge data-driven technology developed by social science is being used by lower income countries to drive sustainable development, improve health and save lives.
Summary
WorldPop, a multidisciplinary research team based at the University of Southampton, produces data on population distributions and characteristics at high spatial resolutions. This data enables researchers, governments, international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to target interventions and drive sustainable development across a range of areas including health, education and disaster response.
WorldPop: using big data to drive sustainable development
“WorldPop complements traditional population data sources with dynamic, high-resolution data from satellites, surveys and cellphones to map human population distributions at high resolution, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that everyone, everywhere is counted in decision making.”
Professor Andy Tatem Director, WorldPop
The challenge
The global human population is growing by an estimated 80 million people per year and is expected to reach 10 billion in the next 50 years. In addition to this an estimated 35-40 million people migrate every five years. Governments around the world rely on population data to plan and monitor progress on their developmental goals.
Spatial databases of human populations are highly useful in a range of circumstances including epidemic modelling, resource allocation, transport and city planning, poverty mapping, environmental impact assessments and more. But for low- and middle-income countries with fewer resources it is especially challenging to obtain relevant, high quality data to track changes in populations.
The research
WorldPop, a multidisciplinary research team based at the University of Southampton, produces data on population distributions and characteristics at high spatial resolutions. This data enables researchers, governments, international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to target interventions and drive sustainable development across a range of areas including health, education and disaster response.
WorldPop uses and develops methods to integrate a range of data including census information, surveys, satellite-based, social media and other spatial data sources to produce open access datasets and updateable maps for a range of areas. These include population change and distribution, population age and sex structures, migration patterns, maternal and newborn health, literacy and poverty, amongst others.
Watch the video below to hear more about WorldPop’s work in this lecture given by Professor Andy Tatem.
The impact
Since being established in 2013, WorldPop has produced approximately 45,000 datasets and has partnered with governments, UN agencies and donors to co-develop solutions using spatial demographic data. They provide the default subnational population data for all UN agencies. This feeds into the health information software used by over 70 ministries of health, which cover an estimated 2.5 billion people. Such data was used in Nigeria, for example, to identify areas with low vaccination rates and targeting these to increase vaccine coverage in 67 regions.
Other examples of where the team have worked with various governments to help reduce and prevent diseases include Namibia. The researchers used satellite, survey and mobile network data to highlight which parts of northern areas of the country were most at risk of malaria infections. As a result of the data provided, the Namibian Government targeted the areas identified and put prevention measures such as bed nets and community health workers in place. Infections then dropped from 600,000 in 2004 to 14,400 in 2016.
The data provided by WorldPop is also used extensively in disaster preparedness and response, enabling relief agencies to deliver aid and guide response measures. In the aftermath of the earthquake that struck Nepal in 2015, the WorldPop team combined population data with data from 12 million mobile phones to update population density maps, supporting relief agencies in their response.
Elsewhere, WorldPop’s population estimates have also enabled Facebook/Meta’s Data for Good programme to provide access to shelter and clean water to 70,000 people in Nairobi and 800,000 people in Northern Ghana.