It is no secret that we live in a data-driven world. Everyday, quintillions of data are generated and utilised by Big Data and private sector companies, who weave data analytics into their operations in order to deliver value and target their customers. Governments hold more data now than ever, and by harnessing the power of…
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As an organization, we are passionate about building capacity and supporting county systems, and working with Kilifi County has once again provided an opportunity to support their work in increasing accountability and openness of the county projects that have been undertaken in the County since the inception of devolution in 2013.
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What a year this has been! For many of us, this year has been an unparalleled horror show one that will not easily be forgotten. For us, this has been a pivotal year – one of the most interesting complexities. On the one hand, 2020 was billed to be the year that we move to…
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Deep in the heart of the county of champions, in the scenic and partly remote wards of Arror, Tambach, Kayego and Kaptarakwa, the activities for the citizen-led household census in Elgeyo Marakwet County are underway, targeting data collection in 101,000 households. The training of enumerators, data collection and data entry activities have been taking place…
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When we started the Open Institute, we never imagined that it would achieve so much in such a relatively short time. Don’t get us wrong – our ambition was, and still is, humongous. We truly want to see a world where citizens are so active that they tell their governments what to do and how…
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When undertaking any project, it is important to note that it will usually involve multiple stakeholders; and each one potentially has the ability to speed up, slow down or completely obstruct the project’s progress. Most importantly, stakeholders play a role in ensuring steady progress, focusing on goals and improvement of the general quality of project…
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In our work in citizen-generated data, we have had experiences that have demonstrated that the results of our projects are usually high-impact and long-lasting. This inspires us to keep working with citizens empowering them to use data to drive change within their communities. When citizens understand the power of data, they turn into data champions…
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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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We at the Open Institute are very excited as just this week we witnessed the launch of Kenya’s first sub-national data desk in Elgeyo Marakwet County (EMC), famously known as the home of Champions. The launch day was a big deal for my co-founder, Jay Bhalla and myself in particular. A data desk is essentially…
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Since 2013, we have been working together with counties and the World Bank in Kenya to develop systems to be transparent and engage citizens. The Open County Initiative provides a framework through which county-level engagement between county government, private sector and civil society is initiated and sustained. The programme also promotes an environment where citizens…
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