The document discusses Kenya's Open Data Initiative (KODI) which was launched in 2011 by President Kibaki. KODI makes key government data freely available online, including census data and expenditure information. Over 17,000 people have accessed the data and tools have been built to make the data more useful. Open data in Kenya aims to improve governance and transparency. It is a platform for innovation that can generate economic and social value through new businesses and improved services. The document calls for raising awareness of open data, establishing supportive policies and infrastructure, and public-private partnerships to sustain open data initiatives in Kenya.

2. Can Technology drive Development?
Open Data in Development: Kenyan Case

3.  Introduction
 Status on Open Data in Kenya
 Open Data and Development
 Way forward
 Conclusion

4.  Kenya Open Data Initiative, was
launched on July 8 2011 by President
Mwai Kibaki.
 This has made key government data
freely available to the public through a
single online portal. Some of the first
datasets to be released include;
› The 2009 census,
› national and regional expenditure,
› key public services

5.  The website allows for visualizations and
downloads of the data and easy access
for software developers.
 Tools and applications have already
been built to take this data and make it
more useful than it originally was.

6.  KODI is made to improve governance and implement the
new Constitution’s provisions on access to information. As
of November 2011, there are close to 390 datasets that
have been uploaded to the site, with a plan currently in
place to upload more data over the next year. There
have been over 17,000 page views and over 2,500
dataset downloaded and embedded to various websites
and portals. There are now over a hundred requests from
the public for new datasets, and there is a clear demand
for more data to be made available.
 The goal of opendata.go.ke is to make core government
development, demographic, statistical and expenditure
data available in a useful digital format for researchers,
policymakers, ICT developers and the general public.

7.  It's a platform for innovation, that will generate
economic and social value: from savings and
efficiencies within government, service delivery
improvements and citizen feedback systems to new
wealth and jobs generated in the private sector.
 It enables data-driven decision making:
parliamentarians, policy makers, civil society
organisations and individuals can see progress and
make accurate, informed decisions on issues that
affect people's lives.
 It's the foundation for improving transparency and
accountability: the data includes detailed, timely
information on the operations of government, the
results of the work it does and the opportunities that
exist for improving the country.

8.  Raise awareness to the general public to
raise effective demand for Open Data
 Institutionalize Open Data- Policy, laws,
academia
 Infrastructural and capacity
 Promote Public-Private Partnership on
Open Data

9.  Open Data provides a platform to make
government citizen centered, more
transparent and accountable.
 For a country where this is at a nascent stage
the general public needs to be vigilant to
sustain this initiative beyond the current regime.
 0

10. John Ndung’u Gitahi
Executive Assitant
@iLabAfrica-Strathmore University
www.ilabafrica.ac.ke
www.strathmore.edu
jndungu@strathmore.edu