Open County

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Lessons: Transforming Subnational Data Systems

What it takes to Transform Governance Through Data Systems in our experience. Statistical systems—whether from government agencies or non-state actors—form the backbone of a democratic society’s information ecosystem. These systems generate the essential data that shapes economic policies, demographic strategies, and decisions on social and environmental issues. Reliable and accessible data is not merely a…

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Sabasi 2.0
Sabasi is getting bigger and better!

Sabasi, our innovative and simple-to-use data collection tool will be going through a series of upgrades throughout the month of February. It has been exciting to witness the platform’s success, and we are committed to providing our users with the best possible experience. As we grow and thrive together, it is now crucial that we…

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Training Session Happening in Nandi County- October 2023
Connecting the dots on Health and Education in Nandi County

In our ongoing journey to educate communities through data-driven initiatives, the Open Institute  remains committed to supporting Nandi County. Our latest endeavor involves the systematic update of the Nandi county’s data desk, with a phased approach centered around key sectors: Health, Education, and Agriculture. Data Transformation in Phases Our project kicked off in October with…

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We are ten! Here are our 10 lessons in 10 years

This week, we celebrate ten years since our founders started on a journey towards an open society that is managed by informed, fact-driven citizens. Here’s a fun factoid: our original name was going to be lengthy – The African Centre for Open Governance and Open Data (ACOGOD). As we start thinking about things we are…

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We’ve officially handed over the Nandi Data Desk!

After the successful launch of the Nandi Data Desk, we were back at it, working together with Nandi’s county leaders to prepare their data for public view. Through our engagement, the team from Nandi were well trained to manage the system. With the simple accessible web application, the Nandi data desk provides a responsive and seamless data upload process. The engagements culminated in the successful handing over of the system to the technical team, who are well equipped to manage the County Data Desk.

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Nandi County signs MOU to establish Data Desk

Yesterday marked a great milestone in our Open County programme as we signed an MOU with Nandi County, committing ourselves to establishing a Data Desk in the county. This would make Nandi County the second county to formally establish the facility that has a dedicated team from every department that collects, curates, analyzes and publishes…

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Check your bias! Components of effective citizen engagement

How do biases affect how we interact with others? We explored this question during our recent Data Leaders Fellowship workshop where we looked at citizen engagement as an interactive two way process that encourages participation, exchange of ideas and flow of conversation. An effective citizen feedback framework considers trust, participation, language, context and bias as components that work together to ensure that the maximum level of engagement is achieved.

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