Open data and resource allocation for poverty eradication: Kenya and Uganda Charles Lwanga-Ntale and Beatrice Mugambe* For several years Development Initiatives (DI) has been working with Development Research and Training (DRT) to develop a conceptual understanding of the link between open development, access to information, governance and poverty eradication. This dialogue ultimately led to the establishment of the civil society-led Uganda Open Development Partnership Platform in September 2012.1 While the open data movement may be relatively new in Eastern Africa, the issues that it seeks to address are age-old. These include transparency, accountability, equity, relevance and responsiveness to community needs, and effectiveness and efficiency of governance systems and processes. A key purpose of this increasingly popular approach is to make local, regional and national data (particularly publicly acquired data) available, accessible and useable for a wide cross-section of development actors. Using case studies from Uganda and Kenya, DRT and DI carried out research on the evolution of the open data movement and assessed the role that the movement plays in the equitable allocation of financial resources for the eradication of extreme and chronic poverty. The study generally aimed to contribute to the understanding of the specific efforts required to ensure ‘effective use’, which is the most important outcome of open data.2 Methodology and approach In order to assess the role of open data in resource allocation for poverty eradication in Kenya and Uganda, we adopted a holistic ‘ecosystem’ analytical framework. This avers that in order for open data to yield effective outcomes for citizens it will, on one hand, be interlinked with key nodes in the data-information-analysis-policy value chain and, on the other hand, be conceptualised as part of a complex web of interactions between the different components of data availability, data access, narratives, policy messages, communication, programme design and policy impact.3 The open data landscape Kenya has a government-run open data initiative, and was the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to establish an open data portal. The Kenya Open Data Initiative (KODI) is housed in the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology (ICT), and is managed by the Kenya ICT board. In addition to KODI, there are Commonwealth Governance 82 Handbook 2014/15 several other initiatives that make data readily available and accessible. Dr Bitange Ndemo, the permanent secretary at the ministry, championed the establishment of KODI. In spite of a clear constitutional argument for the release of information to the public, Dr Ndemo encountered significant resistance from sector ministries. He was, however, determined to proceed and in doing so found a way to circumvent the challenge of accessing data held by government departments. With the President’s approval secured, Dr Ndemo mounted pressure on his counterparts in other institutions to obtain data and necessary budgetary support. Uganda does not yet have a national government-led open data portal, but, like Kenya, has several initiatives that contribute to providing free and accessible data and information. Having a number of other initiatives alongside the national open data initiative is healthy as it provides several options for data access and availability that the public can use to suit their needs. While globally open data has its foundations in technology, in Uganda the study found that open data is about the provision of data and information largely using offline methods. The processes by which citizen voices are expressed, and the methods through which data and information is passed on to citizens to support decision-making and advocacy, have been hinged on methods that do not require the heavy use of ICTs, with which there can be wider participation of the majority of citizenry. Internet use and coverage in Uganda is growing, but it covers less than two per cent of the population and is largely centred in urban areas, where just 11 per cent of the population live. On the other hand, 90 per cent of the population in Uganda have radios in their households and 95 per cent listen to FM radios every week (UBS, 2010). These statistics are key in determining the practices and processes of open data initiatives in Uganda. At the time the fieldwork was conducted, Uganda did not have a formal government-led open data initiative. However, a study by the Association for Progressive Communications, and the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (2012) found that Uganda was ready to implement open data. While open data is a relatively new term in Uganda, the idea behind the concept isn’t new. According to one of the respondents, Uganda attempted to promote transparency and accountability by adopting extensive decentralisation in the 1990s, This study was carried out by Development Initiatives (www.devinit.org) and Development Research and Training (www.drt-ug.org). The funding for this work has been provided through the World Wide Web Foundation research project, Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries, supported by grant 107075 from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (web.idrc.ca). For more information see www.opendataresearch.org/emergingimpacts. * With Bernard Sabiti and Peace Nganwa
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