The African continent through the African Union’s Common African Position (CAP) on Post 2015 Development Agenda expressed its desire to approach the Post 2015 Development agenda on a unified front in order to avoid the pitfalls experienced in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There were consultation gaps in the initial preparation and…
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In March last year Kenyans took to the polls and elected a new government. With this, we saw the devolution and formation of 47 county governments under the new Constitution. This shift has brought about opportunities by bringing communities closer to their governments and allowing marginalized communities to get their voices heard in their own…
Read articleEarlier this year, I published my thoughts on the general direction in which a partnership for development data could take in Africa. While we acknowledge the possibility of a loose flotilla of efforts in the early days of such an effort I believe two critical factors should be kept front-of-mind. We cannot wait for a finalised…
Read articleIn their paper The Benefits of a Big Tent: Opening Up Government in Developing Countries, J Goldstein and J Weinstein argue for a “big tent”; one term under which open data and open government communities can pursue a common goal. I believe the term is fitting for the post-2015 processes and the unprecedented opportunity they present stakeholders…
Read article“To take part in the African revolution it is not enough to write a revolutionary song; you must fashion the revolution with the people” Ahmed Sekou Toure There continues to be a great deal of dialogue and debate on what the data revolution from the report of the High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development…
Read articleOn 29th May 2014, we conducted a Data Visualization training at The Institute for Social Accountability (TISA), a civil society initiative committed towards the achievement of sound policy and good governance in local development in Kenya, to uplift livelihoods of, especially, the poor and marginalized. TISA collects, organizes and publishes tons of data with a view…
Read articleThis past week I had the privilege of attending and participating in the International Conference for e-Democracy and Open Government (CeDEM14), at the Danube University Krems in Austria. This year’s conference brought together 133 participants from 33 countries to discuss issues related to e-democracy, e-participation and open government. I presented on the Kenya’s open data journey, looking back…
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GUEST BLOGGER: MICHAEL MURUNGI, CEO, KENYA LAW Leafing through a print edition of the Kenya Gazette has always been more like looking for a morsel of information in an encyclopaedia or a newspaper. The weekly publication containing government notices and other legal notices prepared by Kenya’s Government Printer is wordy and averages 70 pages per…
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I recently had the honour of participating in the Dialogue on Data for accountability within the post-2015 agenda framework earlier this year in New York. Organised by the UNDP, it was refreshing to be amongst people who were for the most part not from the traditional open government and open data fraternity. They brought a…
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The open data movement has grown exponentially in a relatively short period of time. Many countries and cities have been rolling out initiatives and embracing the potential value that comes with opening up their data. However, as much as open data holds great promise, there is a real danger of initiatives failing.
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