Canadian International Development Platform (CIDP) - Ottawa - Canada

The proliferation of ‘open data’ and ‘big data’ has implications for international development research and analysis. More data can serve to obfuscate as much as illuminate.

The goal of the Canadian International Development Platform is to leverage open data and big data, to enhance policy relevant analysis of international development issues, and to engage Canadians on development issues by grounding discussions in the best available evidence.

The CIDP began as an initiative of The North-South Institute (NSI), Canada’s only independent international development think-tank, and is now housed at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, at Carleton University (Ottawa).

The CIDP builds on NSI’s nearly four decade track record of research on international development, and over 15 years experience compiling detailed data on Canada’s engagement with developing countries.

Canada’s engagement with developing countries is multifaceted and complex. Being an important foreign aid donor and key member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee, aid forms an important component of what we cover in the CIDP. We bring together a wide range of data and analysis on foreign aid, including highly detailed disaggregated data compiled from multiple sources and visualized for ease of use and rapid analysis. Our guiding conviction in building the platform is that development is much bigger than foreign aid. To provide a more comprehensive picture of Canada’s engagement with developing countries, we cover a range of other development data including trade, investment and migration and remittance flows.