ECA, UNDP, Web Foundation and the Open Data for Development Network unveil inaugural Africa Data Revolution Report

“The first ADRR focuses on mapping the data ecosystem in Africa with reference to the production, distribution and use of data by public, private and civil society actors, as they relate to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It draws from in-depth case studies of national data ecosystems in 10 African countries”

UNECA

It’s time to decide what being middle class in Africa really means

“The middle class concept remained vague and limited to number crunching. The minimum threshold for entering a so-called middle class in monetary terms was critically vulnerable to a setback into impoverishment. After all, one sixth of the world’s population has to make a fragile living on $2 to $3 a day. (…) Such monetary acrobatics aside, the analytical deficit which characterizes such classification is seriously problematic. The so-called middle class appears to be a “muddling class”.

Quartz Africa

Oceans of data, islands of databases

“Sadly, the future is gloomy. These small island communities are at the forefront of climate change and its impacts. They will be disproportionately affected by climate change. What, then, is possible? The future of these communities will not solely rely on trends of natural hazards and climate change. The severity of these impacts will also largely depend on the socio-economic choices made by countries.”

UNDP blog

Fuel of the future – Data is giving rise to a new economy

“Flows of data have created new infrastructure, new businesses, new monopolies, new politics and—crucially—new economics. Digital information is unlike any previous resource; it is extracted, refined, valued, bought and sold in different ways. It changes the rules for markets and it demands new approaches from regulators. Many a battle will be fought over who should own, and benefit from, data.”

The Economist

Open data and the war on hunger – a challenge to be met

“The goal of the organisation, which currently has 511 members, is to encourage governmental, non-governmental (NGO) and private sector organisations to share open data about agriculture and nutrition. The idea is to make such information more available, accessible and usable in order to help tackle world food security in the face of mounting threats such as climate change.”

Diginomica

Open data — Canada’s ‘new natural resource’ — proves harder to mine than expected

“ODX managing director Kevin Tuer said the organization has spent more time than he expected raising awareness about the potential of open data among both companies and governments. “The intent, at our launch, was that we would be spending the majority of our time helping companies access and use open data, believing the supply side was in good shape. We were wrong,” Tuer said. “The market for open data in Canada isn’t as far advanced as we thought.” “

Financial post (Canada)

A dogged transparency campaign reveals why it pays to be a lawmaker in Nigeria

“After many years of keeping its budget secret, Nigeria’s National Assembly, made up of the Senate and House of Representatives, has finally published a breakdown of its annual budget. (…)The published budget represents a big win for #OpenNASS, the campaign for transparency and accountability in the National Assembly.”

Quartz Africa

This Platform Has Helped Thousands of Migrants Reconnect with Their Families Back Home

“The family reconnection platform is accessible from a simple mobile phone via SMS, USSD, web or a free hotline. Whether it is an Afghan refugee in Pakistan or an internally displaced person in Iraq, anyone in need can search, re-connect and communicate with their missing loved ones – even if they are unable to pay for mobile data.”

Global Voices

Brazil: Open Data Just Made Investigating Corruption Easier

All of the official documentation of legal suits from Brazil’s biggest corruption scandal – Operation Car Wash or Lava Jato – is now available to search easily online.  This will make it easier for investigators and ordinary citizens to find out who has been implicated in the scandal, even if they don’t hit the headlines. It’s a way to make sure the corrupt don’t try to hide their misdeeds. The new tool is called Lava JOTA. It was developed by the Brazilian journalism start up JOTA, which specialises in covering judicial systems and procedures, and Digesto, a company that works on legal big data.”

Transparency International

Satellite images reveal gaps in global population data

“Created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington, and delivered to Nigerian officials on 1 May, the map is based on a detailed analysis of buildings in satellite imagery and more than 2,000 on-the-ground neighbourhood surveys. It is one of several projects that are leveraging remote-sensing data and modern computer-learning algorithms to chart human settlements around the globe with unprecedented precision. Researchers hope that these data will enable better management of public health, infrastructure and natural resources — and improve planning for emergencies.”

Nature

The Africa Data Revolution Report 2016 – Highlighting development in African data ecosystems

UNECA, UNDSP, Open Data for Development Network, World Wide Web Foundation

Open Government Metric 2017

National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information

and Data Protection (INAI)

Ecosoc Forum on Financing for Development Follow-up

22 – 25 May, New York, United States

AfDB Annual Meetings

22 – 26 May, Ahmedabad, India

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day - Theme: Big Data for Big Impact

17 May, Worldwide

Global Legislative Openness Conference 2017

19 – 20 May, Kyiv, Ukraine

European Investigative Journalism Conference & Dataharvest 2017

18 – 21 May, Mechelen, Belgium