Africa data revolution report 2018 : the status and emerging impact of open data in Africa

Abstract

Open data readiness in government appears to be fairly low and not institutionalized. Strong regional champions are needed to demonstrate the benefits and impacts of an enduring, committed, well-resourced open data initiative. In spite of this, opening up election data has had immeasurable positive impacts on the transparency and acceptance of key elections in three of the six country cases: Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Kenya. Given the humanitarian cost of violent elections, even a few open election events justifies Open Government Data (OGD) in Africa. This detailed report begins an account of open data initiatives in African countries.