In 2021, the UK government under its G7 Presidency invited the Global Pandemic Data Alliance to drive the implementation of the S7 Recommendations to improve safe data access and use for health emergencies. This invitation comes in response to a call from the Science Academies of the Group of Seven (S7) to realize a better level of ‘data readiness’ for future health emergencies, and the June 2021 launch of the G7 100 Days Mission report to respond to Future Pandemic Threats.
The Global Pandemic Data Alliance currently includes data.org, I-DAIR, the Open Data Institute (ODI), the Royal Society, and The Trinity Challenge. Together, these organizations have started work on a two-year implementation roadmap to meet the challenges set out by the S7 to ensure the availability and accessibility of data as a source for critical insights in public health emergencies. This roadmap will lay out a plan to convene a cross-sector, transdisciplinary community, develop a research agenda, build the right technology infrastructure, and upskill public health practitioners in support of better use of data for health emergencies.
The Global Pandemic Data Alliance aims to work closely with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Wellcome Trust, and other stakeholders, in particular current and incoming presidencies from the G7 and the G20. The collaboration remains open to interested organizations willing to contribute concretely to international efforts on data-driven pandemic preparedness and response.