Recent years have witnessed considerable speculation about the potential of open data to bring about wide-scale transformation. The bulk of existing evidence about the impact of open data, however, focuses on high-income countries. Much less is known about open data’s role and value in low- and middle-income countries, Open Data and more generally about its possible contributions to economic and social development. in Developing Economies features in-depth case studies on how open data is having an impact across the developing world—from an agriculture initiative in Colombia to data-driven healthcare projects in Uganda and South Africa to crisis Toward Building an Evidence Base response in Nepal. The analysis built on these case studies aims to create actionable on What Works and How the conditions under which open data is most (and least) effective in the Stefaan G. Verhulst & Andrew Young development process – presented in the form of a new Periodic Table of Open strategies to maximize the positive contributions of open data to development; and means for limiting open data’s harms on developing countries. “ An empirically grounded assessment that helps us move beyond the hype that greater access to information can improve the lives of people U Pr and outlines the enabling factors for open data to be leveraged for User Research Privacy Concerns development.”—Ania Calderon, Executive Director, International Open Data Charter “ This book is compulsory reading for practitioners, researchers and decision-makers exploring how to harness open data for achieving C Di Od Dh Ds development outcomes. In an intuitive and compelling way, it provides Causes and Context Data Infrastructure Open by Default Data Holders Data Security valuable recommendations and critical reflections to anyone working to share the benefits of an increasingly networked and data-driven society.” —Fernando Perini, Coordinator of the Open Data for Development (OD4D) Dm Network, International Development Research Centre, Canada Rf Pu Se Fi I Freedom of Poor decision- Refinement Public Infrastructure Skills & Expertise Information Intermediaries making due to faulty information Bg Lp Fl M Dq De Pa Tech Literacy & Entrenching power Benefit and Goals Feedback Loops Performance Metrics Data Quality Domain Experts Internet Penetration asymmetries Da Rb Rs Rm R Co Ow Data Audit and Cultural/ Institutional Resource Availability Risk Mitigation Responsiveness Collaborators Open washing Inventory Roadblocks & Sustainability Open Data in Developing Economies Toward Building an Evidence Base on What Works and How Stefaan G. Verhulst and Andrew Young AFRICAN MINDS Published in 2017 by African Minds 4 Eccleston Place, Somerset West, 7130, Cape Town, South Africa [email protected] www.africanminds.org.za 2017 All contents of this document, unless specified otherwise, are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Cover photograph: Doug Linstedt —Unsplash ISBNs 978-1-928331-59-9 Print 978-1-928331-60-5 e-Book Copies of this book are available for free download at www.africanminds.org.za ORDERS For orders from Africa: African Minds Email: [email protected] For orders from outside Africa: African Books Collective PO Box 721, Oxford OX1 9EN, UK Email: [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements iv List of Abbreviations v Chapter 1 Introduction 1 PART I: OPEN DATA FOR DEVELOPMENT Chapter 2 The Relevance of Open Data for Developing Economies 7 Chapter 3 The Impact of Open Data on Developing Economies 16 Chapter 4 The Impact of Open Data in Developing Economies across Sectors 43 PART II: CASE STUDIES Open Data’s Impact on Improving Government Chapter 5 Burundi’s Open RBF 64 Chapter 6 India’s ESMI 78 Chapter 7 Open Development Cambodia 96 Chapter 8 Uganda’s iParticipate 109 Open Data’s Impact on Empowering Citizens Chapter 9 GotToVote! Kenya 126 Chapter 10 Tanzania’s Open Education Dashboards 138 Chapter 11 South Africa’s Medicine Price Registry 152 Open Data’s Impact on Creating Opportunity Chapter 12 Aclímate Colombia 170 Chapter 13 Ghana’s Esoko 191 Chapter 14 Jamaica’s Interactive Community Mapping 206 Open Data’s Impact on Solving Public Problems Chapter 15 Nepal Earthquake Recovery 226 Chapter 16 Paraguay’s Dengue Prediction 248 PART III: CONCLUSION Chapter 17 Leveraging Open Data as a New Asset for Development 263 Appendix A: Input Received 272 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank our partners at USAID: Mark Cardwell, Samir Doshi, Priya Jaisinghani, Merrick Schaefer, Vivian Ranson, Josh Machleder, Brandon Pustejovsky, Subhashini Chandrasekharan; and at FHI 360: Hannah Skelly and Abdul Bari Farahi who provided essential guidance and input throughout the project. We would also like to acknowledge the great team responsible for the case study research that informs this book: Michael Canares and François van Schalkwyk from the Web Foundation; and Anirudh Dinesh, Auralice Graft, Juliet McMurren and Robert Montano at the GovLab. Editorial support for this book was provided by Akash Kapur and David Dembo. The members of our Advisory Committee were a great resource to the project for which we are grateful. Special thanks to the stakeholders we interviewed to gain on-the-ground and expert perspectives on the use of open data in developing economies, as well as the peer reviewers who provided input on a pre-published draft. Finally, we would also like to acknowledge our gratitude to African Minds, the publishers of this book whose mission to foster access, openness and debate exemplifies the core values behind open data, and thus provided the perfect setting to share our findings among a broader audience. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BBW Banana Bacterial Wilt BODI Burkina Open Data Initiative CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture DFID Department for International Development, United Kingdom EITI Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative ELOG Elections Observation Group EOSDIS Earth Observing System Data and Information System ESM Electricity Supply Monitor ESMI Electricity Supply Monitoring Initiative EITI Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative GODAN Global Open Data Initiative for Agriculture and Nutrition IDRC International Development Research Centre IEBC Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Kenya IMCO Mexican Institute for Competitiveness MERC Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission MPR Medicine Price Registry, South Africa MPRApp Medicine Price Registry Application NERC National Ebola Response Centre NGO Non-Governmental Organization OD4D Open Data for Development ODC Open Development Cambodia ODI Open Data Institute OGP Open Government Partnership OSM Open Street Map PEG Prayas Energy Group PHC Primary Health Care Centre PII Personal Identifiable Information RBF Results Based Financing SDG Sustainable Development Goals TAP Transparency, Accountability and informed Participation UNICEF The United Nations Children’s Fund USAID United States Agency for International Development WOUGNET Women of Uganda Network v CHAPTER 1 Introduction In 2009, the United States launched the data.gov portal. Since then there has been a rapid increase in the systematic opening of government data around the world. The 2016 Open Data Barometer,1 published annually by the World Wide Web Foundation, found that 79 of the 115 countries surveyed had official open data initiatives, and many others indicated imminent plans to establish such initiatives. Similarly, as part of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multilateral network established in 2011, some 70 countries have now issued National Action Plans, the majority of which contain strong open data commitments designed to foster greater transparency, generate economic growth, empower citizens, fight corruption, and more generally enhance governance. Approximately half of these countries are from the developing world,2 suggesting the uptake of open data is happening not only within economically advanced countries, but also in those less developed. All of this is part of a general move toward more transparent and innovative governance mechanisms, as emblematized by rising interest in notions of open government and open development. The growing enthusiasm for, and use of, open data in developing economies leads to several questions about open data’s role in fostering development.3 Can open data bring about economic growth and social transformation? Can open data truly improve people’s lives in the developing world—and, if so, how and under what conditions? This book’s goal is to take stock of what is known about open data’s use and impacts in developing economies, and to distil a theory of change based on existing theory and practice that can inform future open data use and research. This book neither serves as a booster nor as a skeptic regarding the potential of open data in developing countries. Rather, it aims to sift through the evidence, draw out cross-cutting signals and insights from practice across developing economies when present, and start identifying 1 World Wide Web Foundation, Open Data Barometer, Fourth Edition, 2016, http://opendatabarometer.org/. 2 See Open Government Partnership website, http://www.opengovpartnership.org/, accessed November 30, 2016. 3 Andrew Young, Stefaan Verhulst and Juliet McMurren, “The GovLab Selected Readings on Open Data for Developing Economies,” August 1, 2016, http://thegovlab.org/open-data-for-developing-economies/. 1 OPEN DATA IN DEVELOPING ECONOMIES the conditions under which open