Proposal Description

Citizen Data (CD) is becoming an essential component of the modern data ecosystem, offering new possibilities for timeliness, local detail, and public engagement. From crowdsourced mapping to community-based monitoring and online reporting platforms, Citizen Data can complement survey and administrative sources—especially where official data are limited or traditional surveys face declining response rates. Yet its integration into official statistics raises significant methodological and governance challenges. This session focuses on how NSOs and the broader statistical community can assess, validate, and responsibly use Citizen Data. Key issues include data quality evaluation (coverage, accuracy, representativeness), ethical and legal considerations, platform dependency, and the risks of bias and digital exclusion. The session will highlight emerging international practices, recent updates to statistical legislation such as the GLOS revision, and case studies where Citizen Data has been used to support environmental, social, and crisis-related statistics. By bringing together experts from official statistics, academia, and citizen-data platforms, this session aims to advance practical frameworks for integrating Citizen Data without compromising the neutrality, confidentiality, and quality that define official statistics. It directly contributes to the ISI Malta 2026 theme of innovation, trust, and the future of statistical systems.