Every day in the week leading up to the Academy Awards, February 17th to 21st, ONE and Accountability Lab will unveil a category for our Honesty Oscars 2015, an award that honors not Hollywood films, but the creative work of activists and organizations that fight global corruption. Vote for your favorites, and we’ll announce the…
Read articleOur founder, Al Kags is happy to publish Players or Spectators – Observations on CSO Participation in the Open Government Partnership, a culmination of a study that he conducted while interning at OpentheGovernment.org in August and September this year. “The experience that I gained at OpenTheGovernment.org under the guidance of Patrice McDermott and her colleagues…
Read articleKenya is one of the 65 participating countries of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multilateral initiative that seeks to make governments more open, accountable and responsive to citizens. Overseen by representatives from governments and civil society organisations, the multi-stakeholder effort aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness…
Read articleHaving been involved in promoting the Open Government Partnership over the past couple of years in Africa, I have had a couple of experiences that have introduced a nagging worry at the back of my head that has continued to grow. Today, in conversation with colleagues at OpentheGovernment.org, where I am spending my days, the nagging worry codified…
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This week, our team went to Lodwar, Turkana County in Nothern Kenya, to conduct a workshop as part of our SDI Data Support Program. We worked with 8 participants from the Centre for Advocacy, Relief and Development (CARD) and TUBAE – African Development Trust, both local civil society organizations based in Lodwar. The following slides…
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…
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This is cross-posted from Al Kags’ personal blog, alkags.me. I have just started the six-week academic sessions of the Washington Fellowship at the Arizona State University. During this time, I shall spend my time learning and considering many aspects of civic leadership and most of all, I shall be considering an essential question, which is the…
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 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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