WorldPop Research Informs New Standards for Bias-Adjusted Digital Data at DEBIAS 2026

Dr Qianwen Duan, Research Assistant at WorldPop, recently joined international experts at the DEBIAS Workshop and Symposium to develop rigorous new standards for correcting bias in digital mobility data. This partnership works to ensure that the digital trace data used for global policy and humanitarian interventions is both representative and transparent. 

The DEBIAS project is an initiative dedicated to improving the quality, transparency, and usability of data collected from mobile phones and digital platforms. As these sources are increasingly used for operational decision-making, the project addresses critical questions regarding data validation and representativeness. 

The Workshop and Symposium held at the University of Liverpool, served as a global forum to move beyond recognising data challenges toward implementing practical solutions. The meeting brought together academic researchers, national statistical offices, and industry partners. Key international organizations in attendance included IOM – UN Migration and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. 

During the event, Dr Duan presented innovative methods for imputing underrepresented rural digital signals. Her research focuses on extracting long-term population trends to ensure that remote communities are accurately reflected in global datasets. This work is vital for connecting contemporary geospatial data to human outcomes such as disaster relief, vaccination campaigns, and poverty reduction. 

Dr Duan comments, “By identifying and adjusting for representativeness issues, we can apply these data more widely and responsibly in social science and policy research”. 

The meeting also highlighted the methodological, governance, and ethical dimensions of mobility indicators. Experts emphasised that using anonymised and aggregated data is essential to maintain individual privacy while delivering high-resolution insights into population movements. As a DEBIAS Fellow, Dr. Duan will continue to contribute to the development of software and research initiatives that aim to make digital data a more reliable tool for social good.