On 22 September 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping, during his address at the 75th UN General Assembly, announced that China will set up an International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS) to provide new support for the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development entered its "Decade of Action" in 2020. However, its implementation still faces several constraints such as a lack of data, insufficient research on indicator systems, and uneven progress in implementation. Among these, the need for data and methods is the most important and urgent.

Under this background, the International Forum on Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals will be held by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China, from September 6 to 8, 2021. The opening ceremony of the forum and the inauguration ceremony of CBAS are scheduled on the morning of September 6, 2021. The theme of the forum is "Big data for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals", with a special focus on "building a digital silk road and global partnership for sustainable development goals", "innovation and demonstration of big data applications for sustainable development", "cutting-edge technologies and information platforms for sustainable development goals assessment", "Digital Earth and sustainable development", and "research on Big Earth Data to support sustainable development goals".

The forum will be undertaken by CBAS and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Aerospace Information Research Institute. CBAS aims to be a public science and technology platform and research institution for big data for sustainable development, a center for scientific research on sustainable development, a center for data information services and technological innovation, a high-end global think tank on sustainable development, and a center for capacity building in talent training and training to serve relevant United Nations agencies and the Member States in implementing the 2030 Agenda.

Scientific and technological innovation plays an important role in supporting the realization of SDGs. The International Forum on Big Data for Sustainable Development will be an international academic conference with a significant international impact in the field of big data and sustainable development. It will promote the sharing of big data methods, technologies and knowledge for sustainable development, and build a global academic exchange platform for the United Nations technology facilitation mechanism to support the achievement of SDGs.