Potential of open data to impact resource allocation for poverty eradication in Kenya and Uganda : policy brief

Abstract

Uganda was the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to enact legislation on Access to Information, while Kenya was the first to set up an Open Data Web Portal. However, although these governments have created robust legislative frameworks, they have also developed ways around them that undermine openness and transparency. Open development pioneering institutions (individuals, civil society, media, academia) need to work closely with governments to form and execute policy on open development based on a solid legal framework such as Right to Information, and Access to Information acts where non-compliance is a criminal offence punishable by law.