{UAH} What Nepal’s open data movement can learn from East Africa

The Open Nepal data portal launch took place in Kathmandu Nepal, in the first week of June, a key event of Open Nepal week. A proper legislative framework, in the form of a Freedom of Information (FOI) law, is important for Open data initiatives to take root. FOI informs individuals of their right to access information and their governments have the duty to make information available and accessible.  Nepal, Uganda and Tanzania all have Freedom of Information (FOI) Acts.  Kenya however does not have an FOI and yet has a strong open data movement, suggesting that a FOI Act is necessary but not sufficient for open data movements to succeed. I would also suggest that while legislation can be a means to the end, it is also not enough on its own.

Besides a legal framework, an 'open data ecosystem'- where open data stakeholders (CSO, government, donors, NGOs, INGOs, media, academia and citizens) can build an enabling environment together, is essential.

The open data movement in East Africa is further ahead, than in Nepal, and our ecosystem is gradually building strength and capacity. A key learning from our perspective is that duplication often occurs in the EA region on open data platforms- with various stakeholders creating portals to make their data available. This can mean individual initiatives do not reach their full potential. The Open Nepal portal is not only a good initiative to make information accessible, it means that this duplication can be avoided- by creating an avenue for stakeholders to identify collaboration opportunities and not duplicate efforts.

Link:http://www.aidinfo.org/what-nepals-open-data-movement-can-learn-from-east-africa.html?utm_source=fee...

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Rehema
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