Who We Are: Our Philosophy
ODA- Open Data Analytics envisions a society where development data is open and responsibly used for effective public resources governance in Uganda and the Eastern African region. We are cognizant of the enormous lost opportunities resulting from the “missed use” of data in development, especially in the developing world. At the same time, we are also much aware of the potential dangers that the “misuse of data” can pause to the same. Therefore, our approaches are always focused on balancing these two competing real situations in both public and private sectors. As we try to harness the power of open data, we place premium on data privacy and security issues.
ODA’s work focuses on 9 specific global SDGs – Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 16 and 17. In our work, we are particularly inspired by two statement below;
“…data has been referred to as the new oil, because while both data and oil have intrinsic value, they both must be “refined” or otherwise transformed to realize their full potential. When government data are made accessible and re-usable, they enable individuals, organizations and even governments themselves to innovate and collaborate in new ways” World Bank (2020).
“Data catalyzes debates that ultimately lead to effective policy action” Open Data Watch (2020:6).
What We Do: How We Do It
When we talk of data analytics, one one hand, we mean examining large amounts of data (Big Data) produced and held by legitimate public and private institutions in order to generate insights that may guide engagements on development resources allocation with precision. On the other, we also mean collating and analyzing citizens’ data (including their feedback on public programs and projects) using both conventional and new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, to uncover hidden patterns, correlations and other insights that can power evidence-informed policies for improving public service delivery processes in Uganda and the Eastern African region in general.
Key to ODA’s outcomes is increased influence of “evidence-informed” practices, especially in decision and policy making processes for both public and private institutions to achieve maximum value from resources employed, either for social good or profit maximization. In addition, a strong network of evidence practitioners at national and regional levels to sustain advocacy for precision in public resources appropriation is also at the heart of ODA’s work.
Starting 2022, ODA will be engaged in direct implementation of ToroDev’s strategic program focusing on “Data & Evidence for Sustainable Urbanization in Uganda 2022-2026” in collaboration with the Universal Institute of Research & Innovations (UNIRI)
Background: How did ODA start?
ODA is an initiative that was conceived between February and May 2019, after a series of engagements with public policy analysts, action researchers, technology (ICT) industry leaders and practitioners in Africa and globally on the need of data and evidence in policy making for sustainable development. This was during the Africa Tech Summit 2019 in Kigali, Rwanda, the Africa Tech Week 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa and the Stockholm Internet Forum 2019 in Stockholm, Sweden.
These engagements were led by one of ODA’s partners, ToroDev, a non-profit organization with over 10 years of experience in use of ICT for Development models to realize civic competence, public policy analysis, responsive governance with interaction and feedback mechanisms/platforms and other citizens’ economic empowerment processes in Uganda. Credit goes to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) through the ICT4Democracy in Eastern Africa project and CIPESA – Collaboration on International ICT Policy for Eastern and Southern Africa, that provided seed funding to facilitate engagements, conceptualization and establishment of ODA.
ODA offers advocacy and technical consultancy services in training, data mining, data analytics (descriptive, diagnostic, predictive/forecasting and prescriptive), big data cleaning, visualization and data-enabled narrative building/story-telling, among others.