The production and use of development data have undergone significant transformation over the past two decades. The shift from paper-based records to digital formats has made data more accessible and easier to share. The open data movement has dramatically increased the availability of government and institutional datasets, which in turn catalyzed greater opportunities for analysis, transparency, and innovation. And major advances in big data and data science have further expanded both the volume and diversity of information guiding development policy.

Amid rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), development data has now reached another pivotal juncture: the evolution to AI-ready development data—data that is readily discoverable, comprehensible, accessible, and usable by both humans and AI applications.