Economic Benefits of Open DataStudy commissioned by the AfDB

Ivo NjosaEconomic & Social Statistics Division

African Development BankI.Njosa@AFDB.ORG

Economic Benefits of Open DataStudy commissioned by the AfDB

Ivo NjosaEconomic & Social Statistics Division

African Development BankI.Njosa@AFDB.ORG

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.