IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

Every year, on 18 November, African countries celebrate African Statistics Day (ASD) with the objective of raising public awareness about the importance of statistics in economic and social development. The theme selected for the 2014 edition of the ASD is “Open data for accountability and inclusiveness”.

Open data is defined as data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone. Key characteristics that make data open includes that the data should be available to the public either free of charge or at a very low cost, and in various formats; there should not be restrictions on the use and sharing of data; and there should be no discrimination in terms of how the data can be used, nor should the data be used to discriminate against certain persons or groups.

Open data can improve inclusiveness by giving citizens the information they need to participate in public decision-making. Open data should provide the foundation to enable citizens to better understand how their government works, and increase collaboration between governments, citizens, academia and the private sector in making fact-based policy decisions.

Open data can improve accountability by giving citizens the information they need to review the outcomes of government policy and to evaluate how effectively and efficiently public resources are being used. Citizens will be in a better position to actively take part in public debate and scrutinise public policy, and assess the extent to which their government’s actions are in line with its stated policies.

For more information on ASD 2014, please click here: