[kictanet] Fwd: PRESS RELEASE: More appealing public data available at Kenya Open Data Initiative Portal.
Phyllis Nyambura
pnyambura at ict.go.ke
Tue Aug 18 10:15:37 EAT 2015
Dear Listers,
Today, Kenya Open Data (www.opendata.go.ke) turns four and has unveiled a
new look. The user friendly site is improved not only on the experience and
intuitiveness but holds more updated datasets. Have a look at the below
information on what to expect, visit the website, and send us your feedback.
Happy Experience.
Dear Phyllis
The Kenya Open data (KODI), an initiative of the ICT Authority, has
unveiled a user friendly portal today at the Agha Khan University. Below is
a press release on the various offerings of the portal.
*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:*
*PUBLIC DATA NOW EASIER TO FIND AS OPEN DATA UNVEILS A USER-FRIENDLY
WEBSITE*
*The Kenya Open Data Initiative now in its 4th year holds government data
ranging from health, education, governance, population, budget to Kenya
immigration trends*
*Nairobi, Tuesday, 18th August, 2015.*Kenyans can now access more public
data easily and faster. The Kenya Open Data Portal (KODI) (
www.opendata.go.ke
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001hX_gTIYwzhpEb91ER8WzOtw97D6WSwCbkjqQ5dfHq11HEN-ArMVJKXpmaacenSjQsNkBQHD1fnoc3Q2Kvvs7ecn0xWNMcmAB6YtxxlHYyK4KogNrCRCfZ68w6n9GZqfP1bZHMzyiGxK3Omc6TdAhfbVjCr9xHM4tMOxdVq1Cxrs=&c=wE05xyFgAKoHf7y4LZYiyFrWHRBa4Xurml9eG-60w8zv0RnqJWzj2w==&ch=-2O44QM4eg3oDe-M1uLA0qYG6nAsVcAxvNbuAkSxOeseSgf4tUa4dA==>)
turns four (4) with a new version of the web portal and a host of desirable
changes in the number of data sets available, the visualization of the
information and timely and interactive feedback to data consumers.
The portal, launched by former Kenya President, Hon. Mwai Kibaki primary
goal is to maintain a comprehensive data transparency website that
provides, a user friendly, one-stop access to data from government
ministries, agencies and counties.The data,constituting government
development, demographic, statistical and expenditure information is
available in a digital format for researchers, media, policymakers, ICT
developers and the general public with a view to promoting transparency,
innovation and improving efficiency.
Today, the website has grown to provide more than 680 datasets from an
initial of 200, in 2011 and hosts a variety of government data that include
expenditure and resource allocations, education, health, energy, tourism,
demographics studies and County Government specific data.
"Opendata.go.ke has elicited much interest around the world from scholars
who have shown how local entrepreneurs use the data to make better
decisions that improve their business processes and profitability. This
example and many more fulfill our objective of setting up the platform. As
it expands and evolves over time, Kenya Open Data will spark innovation,
improve efficiency, promote accountability and promote credibility in
government projects among the public," says Victor Kyalo, Chief Executive
Officer, the ICT Authority, the implementing agency, for the KODI project.
The new mantra of the platform is the link between use of data to make
better decisions and create solutions at individual, business and
government level.
As the portal looks towards its growth, several strategies have been
instituted to greatly increase usability, including:
- * A budget app* that makes it easy for citizens, officials and other
stakeholders to use and interact with budget data and therefore enhancing
transparency in budget transaction.
- *Data lens* - a new tool to interact, explore and discover insights
from data easily. It makes it easy for citizens and others to get answers
to their questions in a visual, intuitive way.
- *A fellows program* where 8 fellows have been embedded in 3 government
ministries and a county government to be able to help with data
acquisition, information systems design and setting up of data desks.
Already, 25 government agencies are sharing their data through the portal.
- *Expanded partnerships** with data producers and users* with the aim
of increasing utilization of the data through outreach initiatives
- *Focus on Counties with County Data. *Makes data specific to counties
easier to find and is in the process of rolling out County Data Portals
that will help users find the data they need. Some will be full-fledged
sites, like Machakos, Nairobi and Kiambu counties which are live now and
with time will introduce the full list of counties with equally functional
portals.
The new drive has borne fruit with the latest one being in July 2015, when
the portal was voted as a finalist in publishing open data in a global
competition held by Bloomberg and the Open Data Institute in the United
Kingdom. Kenya Open Data Portal was the second portal to be launched in
Africa but is currently the leading open data platform in Africa and ranked
among top 3 globally by Bloomberg for publishing public data.
"Experience elsewhere has shown that making data publicly available reduces
costs, makes government more efficient and inspires productive
collaborations with the private sector. In Kenya, we are starting to see
the beginning of this as ICT developers policy makers and development
partners in civil society use the KODI data to create useful applications,
policies and programs for the community," reports the Kenya Open Data
Project Coordinator, Ms Linet Kwamboka.
Some of the notable applications emanating from the open data portal use
include:
- *Medafrica* ( http://medafrica.org/) which gives citizens direct
access to health information and services like doctors, Hospitals,
Emergency services nearest to them saving on lives.
- *Hema** Mobile App* that uses masters facilities list on an app that
enables you to track and locate health facilities also building the health
of the community.
- *Ufahamu** App* a data visualization platform that provides a means of
mapping data on maps establishes relationships using geoJSON technology by
combining NASA geodata and health data from reliable open data repositories.
- *ZanaAfrica* (http://www.zanaafrica.org/) a social enterprise
initiative that makes and delivers sanitary towels to girls in primary
schools therefore enabling more girls to be productive at school.
- *DataScience* (www.datascience.co.ke) a software engineering company
using data to develop big data analytics and research tools for business
development.
"There has been over 44 million page views since the portal launched making
the portal one of the highest and most accessed government site. There have
been 2.6 million actual interactions with the data - downloads and embeds,"
informs Kwamboka.
Making government information available in this way promotes the
development of useful "apps" based on the data, encourages researchers and
watchdog groups to use the data to make suggestions for improving
government and life of Kenyans, and makes state agencies more efficient by
allowing access to information.
As the portal celebrates its fourth year, there is already substantial data
that is available and the public can use it to:
- Be able to track and locate the health facilities closest to them.
Additionally, they can find the hospitals that are appropriate to their
needs as well as the category they fall under. Data on distribution of
health services creates the opportunity for more targeted investment in
public health infrastructure - such as prioritizing new hospital
construction in underserved areas.
- Find the nature, type and effects of natural disasters that strike
their local community thanks to a datasets that has more than 10 years of
this kind of data.
- Find the location of donor and government funded projects in their
community as well as the stage of execution. This can be useful to
ascertain the level of focus and investments that occur in their community.
- Deduce the functional status of water resources in their county, which
is useful to prepare well for periods without sufficient rainfall as well
as make informed decisions on land purchases.
- Explore trends in immigration in Kenya from the Reported Visitor
Arrivals and Departures data between 1991 - 2014. This can be useful in
planning for souvenir trade activities as well as promotion of the local
tourist sites. It can also help investors make informed investment
decisions.
- Ascertain the distribution of government revenue made possible through
National Revenues generated from tax and non-tax income streams covering
2005/06 To 2013/14. This is useful in capturing the trend of revenue
collection as well as tracking one's personal contribution to the
government's revenue.
- Understand the HIV prevalence rate in their counties and the fraction
of new infections who are children. This can be useful for planning and has
been used by National Aids Control Council in allocation of antiretroviral
therapies (ARTs).
The new constitution recognizes the right to public information under
article 35, which states as follows:(1) Every citizen has the right of
access to -(a) Information held by the State; and(b) Information held by
another person and required for the exercise or protection of any right or
fundamental freedom.(2) Every person has the right to the correction or
deletion of untrue or misleading information that affects the person.(3)
The State shall publish and publicise any important information affecting
the nation.
Two bills, The Access to Information Act and Data Protection Act, are in
parliament at the moment, and will further the right of the citizen to
access public information.
"Access to information held by the state is a crucial component of
democracy. It allows the public to be aware of governmental decisions that
can impact the environment and individual lives. Access to information also
allows the public to participate in critiquing and thereby improving
governmental decision-making," says Mr Kyalo.
In noting the challenges that users have faced over the years when
interacting with the website the team has worked to improve overall
user-experience by including such features as:
- *Open about analytics. *This involves openly displaying site
performance analytics, showing the total number of public datasets, charts,
maps, views loaded as well as the no of datasets per main category.
- *Open about data and the reality of data release cycle.* Data release
calendar to inform when new datasets become available.
- *User Views: *World-class visualizations made by the public (by users
who can register for free on the Open Data portal). Show case interesting
visualizations made by users who use the portal on a daily basis.
- *Integrating the Open data Blog with the portal*. A blog that moves
beyond data to information and helps citizens make sense of data, by
presenting it in a narrative format that combines text and visualizations.
Experts, Journalists, analysts can help tell the story about open data its
use, and its impact.
- *New Interactive Visualizations with Data Lens Pages *Includes a
number of multiple lens viewable on a single page that are interactive and
dynamically linked to any user and can simply interact with and look at the
parts of data they are interested in. For Example, a lens can contain a
map, a few bar charts, timelines, and search bar in one single view.
The project though has not been without its challenges. The greatest one
being lack of awareness by the general public and various stakeholders on
the availability of this resource that can be used to improve decision
making and enrich the economy.
"While we still face some resistance in data publishing by the various
government institutions we have put in place measures to mitigate this
which is why we have devised the new strategies that will allow us to
engage other government institutions better." says Kwamboka.
As it is, the future of the project is unfazed, and the team looks forward
to providing better and more up to date information, enactment of the
access to information and data protection laws and more partnerships
with institutions to help popularize the use of open data.
"This amazing resource is available to the public for free. People should
know this and take advantage. It's the way to making better decisions for
oneself, the community and country," concludes Kwamboka.
ENDS
*About Kenya Open Data*
The Kenya Open Data (www.opendata.go.ke) is an initiative of the ICT
Authority launched on July 8 2011, by former President Hon. Mwai Kibaki,
making key government data freely available to the public through a single
online portal.
The website is a user-friendly platform that allows for visualizations and
downloads of the data and easy access for software developers.
Kenya is the first developing country to have an open government data
portal, the first in sub-Saharan Africa and second on the continent after
Morocco. The initiative has been widely acclaimed globally as one of the
most significant steps Kenya has made to improve governance and implement
the new Constitution's provisions on access to information.
Kenya's information is a national asset, and this site is about sharing it.
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.
For more information Contact: *Phyllis Nyambura*, e: pnyambura at ict.go.ke Cell:
0700396433
Follow Open Data on Twitter: @KenyaOpenData
Like Open Data on Facebook: KenyaOpenData
Website: www.opendata.go.ke
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#KenyaOpenData
Sincerely,
Communications Department
ICT Authority.
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Phyllis Nyambura
Communication Writer
The ICT Authority
Telposta Towers, 12th Floor, Kenyatta Ave
P.O. Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
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