Earlier 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…
This 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…
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…
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…
THIS WEEK I MEET MS. CHRISTINE LAGARDE, MD, IMF. This week, the 11th Managing Director of the IMF, Ms. Christine Lagarde is in Nairobi, at the end of a three year (2011-2013) credit facility to Kenya of $750 Million (over KES 65 Billion). Interestingly, this Extended Credit Facility was shepherded by the President when he…
The Open Institute is excited to announce the Global Open Data Initiative, which it is spearheading together with the Sunlight Foundation, Worldwide Web Foundation, Open Knowledge Foundation and Fundar. The Open Data Movement globally has grown exponentially over the past four years. In the last two years, it has gained significant momentum in Africa – starting…
Perhaps to answer the question we should start by reviewing what we hoped to do when we started the process. The KODI task force had four streams of activities: Gathering & collating data – At the time that we started this process, any data that the government had, was in disparate places – mostly in…
I said yesterday that, I am likely to have more to say as part of the discussion started by Nathaniel Heller of Global Integrity Commons, wherein he wondered whether Open Data is a good idea for the Open Government Partnership. Of course, I hold that it is a necessary component of any truly open government. Today I met with a young…
It’s a great pleasure to welcome you to the Open Institute Website. The Open Institute is a catalyst think-do tank of Domain Experts that provide technical and advisory services in the Open Data and Open Governance Space to Governments, CSO’s, Media and Corporate Companies. In doing s the Institute supports governments and other civic organizations…
