Through the lens of a woman film-maker at OI
I am told, I am the first woman to get inside a gold mine in Vihiga county, Kenya. In many parts of the world, women are not allowed to go…
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Active Citizenship
We envision a future with an open society that is managed by informed, fact-driven citizens.
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Responsive Government
We work with governments to design and implement policy and tools for increased responsiveness to citizens and for greater accountability.
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Our Programmes
Our Programmes aim to enhance collaboration with governments, citizens, civil society organisations and other players to develop policies, tools and knowledge.
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Our Experiments
Through our side nyake programme, we partner with other organisations and stakeholders to find unique solutions in line with our mission.
"It doesn't matter where you work or how you work, if you're passionate about the work... it gets done"
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations around the world implemented work-from-home policies. The Open Institute was not left behind, however, our Finance Director and Trustee has been a remote worker for years.
Jay Bhalla has managed to understand the dynamics of remote work, having worked in a different time zone from the rest of the team and managing a team remotely.
His passion and work ethic continues to be an inspiration to the Open Institute team as we learn how to be collaborate virtually while being effective in everything we do.
Jay Bhalla
Trustee, Open Institute
Our vision
We envision a future with an open society that is managed by informed, fact-driven citizens.
This society features a responsive and accountable government that delivers the services its citizens need at the level of service they deserve.
It includes active non-state actors who play an active role in educating citizens on their role as responsible and active citizens safeguarding democracy and development.Our mission
Our Mission is to collaborate with governments, citizens, civil society organisations and other players to develop policies, tools and knowledge that strengthen citizens’ voices in the governance and development in their societies.
WHAT WE DO
Our Programmes
Subnational Citizen Engagement
We work to build citizen capacity to use data for better engagement with government and other stakeholders for better resource allocation and development outcomes, and achievement of global and national goals.
Open County
We work with subnational governments to build their statistical capacity for better transparency and accountability, while providing technical support to establish structures to better listen to and engage with citizens.
The Ability Programme
The Ability Project aims to gather data around the Nairobi Central Business District and clearly mark out how accessible these every day environments really are, by using the globally recognized concept of Universal Design as our compass.
Open Extractives
We work to improve the working environment for artisanal small scale miners as well as to build on the body of knowledge for the achievement of Kenya’s policy goals in the mining industry. We recognise artisanal small scale mining potential and the need to create a conducive ecosystem to foster its development.
Data Governance
The #RestoreDataRights movement aims to work with governments and other stakeholders towards realising a transparent, inclusive and accountable COVID-19 response in Africa and beyond by working to foster trust in the handling of people’s sensitive personal data.
Community Monitoring
To monitor the COVID-19 pandemic, we created Nuru as a tool to crowdsource observations about how citizens are coping in the exceptionally difficult circumstances brought on by the virus, with the aim of inspiring engagement with civil society, governments and other stakeholders to take action and effect change in their communities.
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The Next Best Time To Restore Data Rights Is Now!
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