Africa makes inroads on open development data - SciDev.Net
peter.suber's bookmarks 2014-08-16
Summary:
"New statistical and open data platforms are being set up to remedy long-standing challenges of development data access across Africa, promising to improve services and increase transparency. In February, the African Development Bank (AfDB) launched the Africa Information Highway (AIH), which comprises two types of portals for each participating country: a statistical data portal and an open data portal...."
Open data on developing countries can be used “to improve the efficiency and coverage of public services in a variety of development sectors such as education, health, transport, energy”, says Amparo Ballivian, a lead economist at the World Bank.
Open data can also help generate new businesses and therefore job opportunities, and improve transparency, adds Ballivian.