It is no secret that we are passionate about citizen generated data. We believe that active citizens have a lot of power to influence governments to bring about the change they want. We started out in 2015, working with local communities to collect data from every household as a means to understanding their needs and…
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The #RestoreDataRights movement comprises seven partners across Africa; Paradigm Initiative (Nigeria), Africa Digital Rights Hub (Ghana), Tom Moultrie (Professor of Demography, University of Cape Town) (South Africa), Media Rights Agenda (Nigeria), CIPESA (Uganda), Open Institute (Kenya) and Amnesty International (Kenya). It sprang from discussions on how data used as part of the COVID-19 response should…
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The Restore Data Rights initiative was born out of necessity; we realised that personal digital rights were being exploited with the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst. We presently comprise of six partners across Africa; Paradigm Initiative (Nigeria), Africa Digital Rights Hub (Ghana), Tom Moultrie (Professor of Demography, University of Cape Town) (South Africa), Media Rights…
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In the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic, contact tracing – and the swift actions that governments initially took to take to curb the spread of COVID-19 have thrust the issues of data rights to the fore. Citizens have ceded personal data to states – in many cases unwillingly or without full knowledge of the…
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SDG 8 aims to “promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”. Sustainable Development Goals Martin Wairegi is a vibrant young man, who got a job working at a factory in Nairobi’s Industrial Area. The Industrial Area is the city’s central hub of manufacturing that employs the…
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(Image from Standard Digital) During the early days of the Coronavirus disease outbreak, the Government of Kenya announced that all primary and secondary schools were to be closed and learners sent home with immediate effect. This was closely followed by the closure of all universities. Despite the strict measures to curtail the spread of the…
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The declaration of the COVID-19 virus as a public health emergency of international concern on the 30th January 2020 by the World Health Organisation will be recorded in history as a defining moment of the 21st century. The pandemic has already caused an enormous shock to governmental institutions around the world. In some cases, the…
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On 16th April 2020, the Open Institute through the Ability Programme hosted an online Persons with Disabilities Brainstorm meeting to share and understand the key challenges relating to PWDs and COVID-19 and develop recommendations on how PWDS could be supported during this time. Some of the participants in the virtual meeting include Andy Speaks 4…
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As part of our efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are excited to announce the Shiriki initiative. Shiriki (Kiswahili for Partnership) is a platform that is designed to serve as an open “marketplace” for ideas, solutions, innovations and initiatives that are tackling various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Why we built Shiriki The…
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We are excited to have partnered with Data Ready to convene a virtual meeting to plan engagements with governments around the world regarding how data rights will be safeguarded when the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. What steps must be taken to #RestoreDataRights after the #COVID-19 pandemic is over? Tom Orrell, Managing Director, Data…
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