This document discusses open data in Africa. It notes that open data can lead to increased governance transparency and accountability, economic job creation and innovation, and social empowerment and improved service delivery. However, open data faces challenges in Africa including government inertia, poor coordination, low data and internet access, and weak institutions. Leveraging open data will require stronger civil society, media independence, and public institutions to enforce open practices and data release. There appears to be a correlation between strong institutions and greater open government and open data readiness. The document provides context on Africa's diversity and open data definitions.

1. Open Data in Africa
François van Schalkwyk
ICEDEG, Quito, 08 April 2015

2. Impact
• Governance: increased transparency of institutions
leading to improvements in accountability
• Economic: job creation and innovation; data as a
resource
• Social: increased sense of participation and
empowerment; accountability as a driver of
improved service delivery
• Evidence?
• Dark side…

3. Context

7. 5 stars of open data scheme

8. 𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = Open definition +
impact
context
Open Definition: “A piece of data or content is open if anyone is free to use, reuse, and redistribute it –
subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and/or share-alike.” http://opendefinition.org/#sthash.h042nQvT.dpuf
ODDC Open Data 10-point Evaluation 8 principles of Open Government Data McKinsey
1 Does the data exist? Data must be complete Data must be accessible
2 Is it available online in digital form? Data must be primary Data must be machine readable
3 Is the data machine readable? Data must be timely Data accessible free or at negligible cost
4 Is the data available in bulk? Data must be accessible Data must be license-free
5 Is the dataset available free of charge? Data must be machine readable
6 Is the data openly licensed? Access must be non-discriminatory
7 Is the dataset up-to-date? Data formats must be non-proprietary
8 Is the publication of the dataset sustainable? Data must be license-free
9 Was it easy to find information on the dataset?
10 Are linked data URIs provided?
IMPACT Development Transparency & accountability Economic
CONTEXT Developing countries National Economic domains (transport, healthcare, etc.)
Problematising the definition

9. Open data in Africa
• Africa is not a country
• Linguistic/colonial-cultural clusters:
Anglophone, Lusophone, Francophone
• Regional clusters: East, West, South, North
• Economic zones: ECOWAS, SADC, etc.

10. Open data challenges in Africa
• Government inertia
• Easier to “sell” the economic benefits of open data to government
• Poor levels of co-ordination between government ministries
• Disconnect between data supply and demand
• Importation of definitions and standards into local contexts versus
the aspirational benefits of globally accepted definitions and
standards
• Poor understanding of the differences between open data, big data
and crowd-sourced data – each has unique benefits and challenges
• Limited expertise and/or access to expertise wrt data
• Low levels of data literacy
• Low levels of internet access
From notes taken at the UN Economic Commission for Africa ‘Open Data Revolution’ meeting, Addis Ababa, 27 March 2015

11. Leveraging change
• African NGOs often do not enjoy social backing +
funding is most often from international donors
(Neubert 2015)
• The public sphere is a critical space for civil society activities
• The media lacks independence in many African countries
• Without strong social backing and freedom of the press,
NGOs need to rely on independent public institutions
(e.g. judiciary) to leverage change in government
• And to ensure/enforce open government practice, including
the release of open data, strong institutions are required
• Example: “Iron fist in a velvet glove” – Section 27
• Therefore, there is a possible positive correlation between
strong institutions and open government/open data – see
following slide

12. 48
55
44
56
46
25
53
50
46
45
27
43 43
46
36
44
64
55
62
48
31
50
36
51
36
33
0 0
51 51
78 78
90
74
92
CORRUPTION INSTITUTIONS TECH READINESS OPEN GOV OD READINESS,
IMPLEMENTATION & IMPACT
Ghana Kenya Nigeria South Africa Tanzania Ecuador UK

13. Data sources
Transparency International World Economic Forum World Justice Project Worldwide Web Foundation
Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 Global
Competitiveness
Index 2014-15:
Institutions
Global
Competitiveness
Index 2014-15:
Tech Readiness
Open Government Index 2015 Open Data Barometer 2014
https://www.transparency.org/research/
cpi/
http://reports.weforum.org/global-
competitiveness-report-2014-2015/
http://worldjusticeproject.org/op
en-government-index
http://barometer.opendataresearch.org/inde
x.html

14. End. Thank you.
François van Schalkwyk
francois@compressdsl.com
@francois_fvs2