On 30 June 2025, UNU-WIDER, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Zambia Revenue Authority, the African Tax Administration Forum and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data will co-organize "Leveraging the Nexus Between Data and Capacity Development to Supercharge Domestic Revenues", a side event of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4).
Low- and middle-income countries face an enormous financing challenge to meet the goals of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Significant cuts in bilateral aid programmes and the tightening of global capital markets have made the situation even more perilous. Given the current geopolitical situation, domestic resources mobilization presents itself as the only sustainable and reliable source of financing for developing countries.
Developing countries have increasingly invested in information technology systems to boost their revenue mobilization. These solutions have generated vast amounts of administrative data, which hold significant potential for meaningful analysis when paired with the right skills. Developing information technology systems such as databases, revenue and compliance modelling, and performance monitoring using cutting-edge tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning is a crucial step in maximizing the use of these data resources.
Extensive use of administrative data to produce policy-relevant insights can guide governments to improve their fiscal systems and domestic revenue mobilization. This data can be used to explore topics relevant to tax policy and tax administration, such as the impact of international taxation on the economy including cross-border tax challenge or the effects of multinational enterprises on local markets.
This side event showcases how the nexus between data and capacity development around IT systems can support evidence-based policymaking related to fiscal systems and domestic revenue mobilization in developing countries. It will draw on practical experiences in using data for policy design and evaluation to measure the performance of domestic revenue mobilization.
For updated event information, please see the event listing on the UNU-WIDER website.
Tentative Programme
Welcome and Opening Remarks
- H.E. Ville Tavio — Minister for Foreign Trade and Development of Finland
Panel discussion
- Kunal Sen — Director, UNU-WIDER
- Dingani Banda — Commissioner General, Zambia Revenue Authority
- Duncan Pieterse — Director-General, National Treasury of South Africa
- Claire Melamed — CEO, Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data
- Logan Wort — Executive Director, African Tax Administration Forum
Closing remarks
- H.E. Åsmund Grøver Aukrust | Minister of International Development of Norway
