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" “After all this research, we still remain the same," a Nairobi resident explained. Despite decades of research aiming to “solve Africa’s problems” and billions of dollars in funding, many of those who are studied see little change in their everyday lives. Particular communities such as some residents in Kibera, an infamous informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, appear to increasingly be “over-researched” (Sukarieh and Tannock 2012; Biruk 2012) demonstrating survey fatigue, falsified responses, and even feelings of exploitation (Petryna 2009).

Opening up quantitative datasets is increasingly foregrounded in discussions about responsible and equitable research practices and is now reaching a new pitch in mainstream academic and global development discourse, especially due to a growing push by governments and funders to open up research artifacts for greater public consumption (see the Open Data, Open Science, Open Access movements for context). Meanwhile, the social sciences and empirical humanities are struggling to figure out whether and how to join in. In spite of long histories of activist and public scholarship, many in the empirical humanities do not see themselves as aligned with those of the open science movement. There are numerous reasons for why qualitative researchers rarely share and reuse data. But growing pressure to share have led many qualitative researchers to revisit questions regarding their responsibilites towards qualitative data.

This instance of the PECE platform was set up in December 2018 to directly address the critiques of extraction in which the project was interested. The Research Data Share platform is an attempt to explore, through practice, the challenges and opportunities of sharing qualitative data, which has unique challenges to be explored in depth. As a research object in and of itself, this platform is being used to facilitate discussion over the worries and possibilities imagined and experienced by those interested in sharing qualitative research data.

The platform was originally set up as part of Angela Okune's research project to facilitate the sharing of the project’s own data as well as any relevant data produced by collaborating research organizations where Okune conducted fieldwork. Okune's approach drew inspiration from the concept of “para-ethnography” (Marcus 2000) and expanded the para-ethnographic into the digital realm.

The platform now serves as open infrastructure for individuals and groups in Kenya interested in archiving and sharing ethnographic data including the Research Data KE Working Group, which one can join via this link. Please contact us if you are interested in partnership or further leveraging the platform."