Economic Benefits of Open Data Study commissioned by the AfDB Ivo Njosa Economic & Social Statistics Division African Development Bank Economic Benefits of Open Data Study commissioned by the AfDB Ivo Njosa Economic & Social Statistics Division African Development Bank Statistics Department (ESTA) African Development Bank
Agenda Introduce study by AfDB “Economic Benefits of Open Data” Discuss some of the key findings Show some examples from Europe/America Show some possibilities for Gabon Barriers Some other initiatives in africa
Study commissioned by AfDB Timely release of data and the economic benefits AfDB commissioned study on the potential economic benefits of data “Economic Benefits of Open Data in Africa” Discuss some of the findings.
What is Open Data? Data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed (Imposes no restrictions) Ideally: Machine-readable format Open format (not commercial software) Granular raw data
Sources of Open data Public sector State owned enterprises Private sector International institutions Academic research Crowd sourcing (involving many people in small pieces of a project)
Stage of Open Data in Africa Focus still on accountability and transparency Easier to expose mismanagement and wrongdoing by government organs or individuals data policies should deliver economic benefits via the more effective use of public resources Other economic benefits still overlooked
Examples of companies using Open Data Direct economic benefits hard to measure but…. Google Yahoo GPS Weather Real estate Transport
Some low hanging fruits for Africa MOH for Gabon releases data on locations of all registered pharmacies Innovators/entrepreneurs hire programmers (creating jobs) to use this data to develop an application. Visitors like us arriving in Gabon pay a small fee to download the application listing 1.the locations of all pharmacies, 2.hours of operation, 3.medical expert availability Restaurants (types of food served, hours etc etc) Other services
Not just any dataset Right datasets must be available on the AIH Innovators/entrepreneurs to convert datasets into data- driven services Geospatial data barely exist on the AIH US agricultural Geospatial data (including GPS) brings in cost estimate of about $20 Billion per year. Most profitable crops are proposed for your area. AfDB has project (will be presented here) that uses Geospatial data to advice farmers and increase their crop yields.
Quick areas of potential benefits Agricultural sector Market prices M-Farm in Kenya: Allows farmers to judge better when to bring their produce to market Limalinks in Zambia provides market price data to farmers achieving 30 % increases in their prices Public procurement Geospatial data (GIS or geographic positioning or information that knows where it is on earth)
Recognition by G8 In 2013, G8 countries signed Open Data Charter. ODC makes most public sector data openly available Without charge In reusable format Recognition that Open data can generate New insights Ideas Services Most of all jobs
How can Africa replicate this? Achieving economic benefits more complex than putting up ODPs Current investments by countries low/zero. Development partners/kick-start but……. need for institutionalization Governments/Citizens must invest in OD ecosystem through national policies/staffing/budgets/education
Barriers: Issues within your countries Collection of marketable data Data quality Greater data sharing Timely uploads of datasets Laws for mandatory and timely data release Continued improvement of internet infrastructure Literacy levels/ interpretation of the data Statistical systems
Open Data initiatives In last 5 years, 14 countries in Africa have tried to establish an ODP Morocco, Kenya, Tunisia, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Senegal, Botswana, Mauritius Results mixed AfDB providing the most comprehensive ODP All countries are on the same platform (unprecedented) Facilitates data exchange and basic analysis
End Thanks.