Code for Africa receives $4.7m to fund data projects | Media news

"Code for Africa has received a $4.7 million grant to fund projects using data, drones and sensors to promote health and development journalism across the continent. In announcing the funding, founder Justin Arenstein said Code for Africa will use the money from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support newsrooms in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, before expanding into Tanzania next year. 'Once you liberate data, you can tell some fantastic stories about what's really going on in the country, which are a lot more up to date than some of the other sources people can get hold of,' said Stephen Abbott-Pugh, who led digital projects at the Guardian and UK Parliament before joining Code for Africa as a Knight International journalism Fellow in June.  The ability to quickly and cheaply build open data projects which can be replicated is central to the Code for Africa projects, said Abbott-Pugh, and the existing Code for Kenya and Code for South Africa initiatives will be expanded to other countries.  Success stories in Kenya have included a 'Dodgy Doctors' database to help readers check their doctors' credentials. Others include Gottovote, an app providing key registration information for elections that has already been reproduced in Ghana and Malawi, and Find My School, which helps parents choose the best school for their children.  Projects in South Africa have often focused on tools for journalists, such as detailed maps of election results, an open data portal, and a Parliamentary Monitoring Group ..."