Government will revamp open data initiative to enhance economic growth

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed his government’s resolve to promote the availability of data and information to enhance opportunity for economic development and creation of jobs in the area of digital technology for the youth.

In line with that objective, he said the nation has committed a budget to revamp the Ghana Open Data Initiative.

At the Africa Open Data Conference on (July 20) in Accra, the President announced plans to ensure that data was legally and technically open, without legal restrictions and machine readable.

“Our ultimate goal is to adopt the international open data charter and ensure that government data is easily accessible; data released from all Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies are made available.”

He noted that the government intended to achieve this through the implementation of policy intervention and guidelines to ensure that the use of open data was promoted across the country.

These initiatives, President Akufo-Addo stated, would help enhance the opportunity for economic development and creation of jobs in the area of digital technology for young people, who would be assisted to develop open data mobile and web applications for business.

“It will also encourage citizens to hold government accountable and ensure greater transparency. Open data must work in Ghana for the benefit of the citizenry,” he added.

He observed that, “as part of promoting the availability of data, government, under the e-Transform Project, is working to create innovation hubs (iHubs) and mobile labs (mLabs).”

Meeting SGD Goals

As co-Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocacy Group of Eminent Personalities, the President noted that the availability and use of data were at the heart of the discussions on the achievement of the SDGs by 2030.

“We recognise that open data can be used to assist in the realisation of the SDGs through a clear understanding of the goals of the SDGs, and through tracking and measuring of the SDGs, and tapping into the knowledge, tools and capacities of groups tracking SDGs,” he added.

For example, SDG two is aimed at ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture. The Open Data Institute has reiterated that shared and interoperable meteorological data and soil quality data can contribute to better farming methods.

Again, the Institute, in proposing a solution to the implementation of SDG seven, which is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, believes that energy data can be used to understand energy consumption patterns, empower consumers, as well as support companies who are dependent on stable energy supply.

“Clearly, the role of open data in helping achieve all SDG goals is critical. It is the intention of government also to ensure the long overdue passage of the Right to Information Bill by Parliament,” he said.
2017 open data conference

The 2017 Africa Open Data Conference which was opened on July 17 and closed on July 21, this year served as a platform for over 800 delegates across the world to share and learn diverse ideas and topics relating to open data.

This year’s event was on the theme “Open Data for Sustainable Development in Africa.”

The Minister of Communications, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, said economic transformation through the deployment of information communication technology was rapidly becoming the norm and Africa as a continent must develop strategies to accelerate and sustain its own digital revolution.

“The generation analysis and efficient use of data for planning and development is central to digitisation efforts.”

For Ghana to catch up with and join the rest of the world in the data revolution, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful stressed that “we need to take a firm decision to adopt open data initiatives and provide executive oversight to ensure that these initiatives are successfully implemented.”

In Ghana, the open data experiment started in 2012 after the country signed unto the Open Government Partnership (OGP), the global partnership between government and civil society for transparency and accountability. The initiative has not gone as well as expected, and has faced serious challenges of executive buy-in, funding, and acceptance.

The Minister expressed the commitment of the government to re-direct the open data initiative to produce the desired results.

“We will review the legal framework to remove any bottlenecks in promoting open data and lead the effort to sensitise, promote and encourage access to and use of open data resources,” she added. —GB