In the digital era, a country's or organisation's value is based more on its data assets than its ability to produce physical goods. Many describe data as the new oil because it can enable better decision-making, innovation, accountability, and new products and services. This has made it an essential resource for economic and social development in Africa.
However, the value of data is often not well appreciated or measured, and its potential benefits are not evenly distributed across the continent. Nonetheless, data is an asset that can generate benefits for individuals, businesses, and societies through value creation. Therefore, public data should be open and freely accessible to citizens to create value where they can.
Although open data has gained more attention in recent years, especially with the emergence of various platforms and initiatives, it is not an entirely new phenomenon. It has been practised for decades in some domains, such as meteorology, astronomy, and geospatial information, where information sharing and reuse are vital for scientific advancement and public service delivery.
The scope and scale of open data have expanded significantly with the development of digital technologies, internet connectivity, and data literacy, enabling more data producers and users to participate in the data economy.
Because of its importance, in 2011, Kenya became one of the first countries to build an open data portal for public use known as Kenya Open Data Initiative (KODI). The aim was to foster innovation and entrepreneurship by providing open data to create new products and services.
Several startups leveraged the data to develop health care and agriculture solutions, two of the most critical sectors for Kenya's development.
As soon as the government provided the data, several innovations leveraging the data began to mushroom. For example, Toni Maraviglia, Kago Kagichiri, and Munyutu Waigi met at iHub Research, a Nairobi-based innovation hub, and developed a mobile application called MPrep (Eneza Education), which uses open data on national exam results and school performance to help students prepare for tests and improve their learning outcomes. The app also provides feedback to teachers and parents on the student's progress and areas of improvement.
In agriculture, Peris Bosire and Rita Kimani founded FarmDrive, a fintech startup that uses open data on soil, weather, crop production, and market prices to help smallholder farmers access credit and insurance products. The startup uses machine learning algorithms to analyse the data and generate the farmers' credit scores and risk profiles, which are shared with financial institutions and insurance providers.
These are just some of the examples of how open data can enable innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa, creating value for both the data producers and users and for the wider society. However, many challenges and barriers, such as data quality, accessibility, usability, interoperability, and sustainability, also hinder the full realisation of open data's potential.
A McKinsey Report of 2013 recognised that open data was at an early stage. It demonstrated how it could help unlock additional value in several ways, such as generating entrepreneurial businesses, assisting established companies in segmenting markets, defining new products and services, and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of operations.
Open data is not only about making it available but also about accessibility, usable, interoperable, and sustainable, and it needs to be more than just a technical term or a policy aspiration.
Data should be published in formats and standards that allow easy access and analysis, with clear and consistent metadata and documentation, and under licenses that permit reuse and adaptation.
It also requires a shift in the culture and mindset of data producers and users, as well as the development of skills and infrastructure that can enable data sharing and reuse.
Data is an asset that can generate benefits for individuals, businesses, and societies through value creation. Therefore, public data should be open and freely accessible to the public.
By adopting and promoting the principles and practices of open data, data producers and users can contribute to a more transparent, innovative, and inclusive society. And to create value, it is essential to foster a supportive ecosystem for open data that involves the collaboration and coordination of various stakeholders, such as governments, academia, and industry.
The Writer is Kenya’s Ambassador to Belgium, Mission to the European Union, Organization of African Caribbean and Pacific States and World Customs Organization. The article is written on a personal level.
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