Publications & Documents

This report aims to support the city of Umeå in becoming the leader in the circular economy as stated in its strategic plan for 2016-2028. Umeå’s population doubled over the last 50 years, making it one of Europe’s fastest growing cities in a sparsely populated region (Northern Sweden). By 2050, the city is expected to reach a population of 200 000 inhabitants, with consequences on housing, use of natural resources and waste production. As such, the local government is developing a model integrating environmental, social and economic aspects within a circular economy approach. This is in line with the Swedish Government’s objective to strengthen society’s transition to a resource-efficient, circular and bio-based economy.

This paper presents and discusses the general findings and key policy messages of the 2019 OECD Open, Useful and Re-usable data (OURdata) Index, and provides a detailed analysis of the results for each pillar and sub-pillar. Additionally, it assesses the main advancements and challenges related to the design and implementation of open government data (OGD) policies in OECD member and partner countries by comparing the results for 2019 with those of the 2017 edition. This policy paper contributes to the OECD work on the digital transformation of the public sector, including digital government and data-driven public sector and open government data.

Les gouvernements du XXIe siècle doivent suivre l'évolution des attentes de leurs citoyens et tenir les promesses de l'ère numérique. Les approches basées sur les données sont particulièrement efficaces pour répondre à ces attentes et repenser la manière dont les gouvernements et les citoyens interagissent. Ce rapport souligne le rôle important que les données peuvent jouer dans la création de conditions améliorant les services publics, augmentant l'efficacité des dépenses publiques et éclairant les considérations éthiques et de confidentialité. Il présente un cadre du secteur public fondé sur les données pouvant aider les pays ou les organisations à évaluer les éléments nécessaires à l'utilisation des données afin de prendre des décisions mieux informées dans tous les secteurs publics.

This profile provides a concise and policy-relevant overview of health and the health system in Sweden as part of the broader series of the State of Health in the EU country profiles. It provides a short synthesis of: the health status in the country; the determinants of health, focussing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the health system; and the effectiveness, accessibility and resilience of the health system. This profile is the joint work of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, in co-operation with the European Commission.

This edition of the Reader’s Companion accompanies Skills Matter: Additional Results from the Survey of Adult Skills that reports the results from the 39 countries and regions that participated in the 3 rounds of data collection in the first cycle of PIAAC, with a particular focus on the 6 countries that participated in the third round of the study (Ecuador, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Peru and the United States). It describes the design and methodology of the survey and its relationship to other international assessments of young students and adults. The Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), was designed to provide insights into the availability of some key skills in society and how they are used at work and at home. The first survey of its kind, it directly measures proficiency in several information-processing skills – namely literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments.

How can members of the DAC effectively tackle critical environmental challenges and threats – such as climate change, pollution, and loss of soil fertility and biodiversity – in activities supporting the 2030 Agenda in developing countries? Most already have environmental safeguards in place to screen out negative environmental practice, but they need far more robust policies, capacities and approaches for mainstreaming environment across all their development co-operation activities. This report examines five critical areas for mainstreaming: strong policy commitment and leadership; robust systems, processes and tools; capacity and continuous skill development; shared knowledge, learning and engagement; well-supported country systems. On that basis, the report suggests priority actions for the OECD-DAC, its Network on Environment and Development (ENVIRONET) and the wider development community.

The OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) conducts periodic reviews of the individual development co-operation efforts of DAC members. The policies and programmes of each DAC member are critically examined approximately once every five years. DAC peer reviews assess the performance of a given member, not just that of its development co-operation agency, and examine both policy and implementation. They take an integrated, system-wide perspective on the development co-operation and humanitarian assistance activities of the member under review. This review commends Sweden for its consistently generous levels of official development assistance and its global development leadership on peace and conflict prevention, environmental sustainability and gender equality. It also welcomes Sweden’s strong focus on and comprehensive toolbox for leaving no one behind. The review suggests that Sweden could benefit from consolidating its development co-operation policy framework and further enhancing the connections between its country, regional and thematic co-operation strategies.