Spotlight on the data revolution: Kenya Equity Week and Uganda High Level National Data Forum

This week the Development Initiatives (DI) team is contributing to the African data revolution as co-organiser for events taking place in Uganda and Kenya that aim to encourage and support greater use of data for national development. The High Level National Data Forum takes place in Uganda from 14–17 November, and Kenya Equity Week runs from 13–17 November.

With limited resources at their disposal, many governments make difficult investment choices when it comes to their data infrastructures. The result is that national statistics based on averages and estimates derived from relatively small survey samples can hide the true scale of the data challenge facing subnational planners.

Over the past year, DI has worked on a methodology which looks at the provenance and quality of data from the point of collection to statistical output. By building data audits starting with the systems and institutions that collect and produce data, a framework can be established to trace the datasets generated by data producers through their transformation into national and global statistical collections.

With a clear view of where data has come from, the methodology can then match national data assets against needs. The indicators required to both meet and monitor the national and regional development plans, as well as global goals, are defined and then mapped against available data to identify compatibility and gaps. The methodology – Development Data Assessment – can be used in any country to provide a framework for assessing national data assets.

This is an exciting innovation that DI has piloted in Kenya, Uganda and Nepal. We are sharing results of the Uganda data assessment during the High Level National Data Forum, and continue to develop the methodology and supporting online visualisation.

Also being shared at a special event during Kenya Equity Week is a new interactive data visualisation which brings together official data on socioeconomic indicators and financial resources for Kenya. Spotlight on Kenya, available on our Development Data Hub, aims to support the increased use of data and information to tackle poverty in Kenya, and promote sustainable development. It enables users to explore if, and how, resources are allocated to need at the subnational and national level.

Learn more

Development Data Assessment

Development Data Hub

Spotlight on Kenya

Spotlight on Uganda