In this article Irene Ikomu discusses how transparency through open data has the potential to eradicate corruption in Africa, but in order for that to happen the whole continent has to buy in.
The experience of Mexico’s Fonden in catastrophe bonds, lessons for Asia
New Asian Development Bank blogpost discusses how disaster related data is a vital part of risk management and shares what lessons countries in Asia can learn from Mexico’s experience with Fonden.
What are the impacts of non-open licenses?
The ODI explains why the decision about which license to use is one of the most important steps in publishing a dataset.
Rapid, Climate-Informed Development Needed to Keep Climate Change from Pushing More than 100 Million People into Poverty by 2030
“A new World Bank report shows that climate change is an acute threat to poorer people across the world, with the power to push more than 100 million people back into poverty over the next fifteen years. And the poorest regions of the world – Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia – will be hit the hardest.”
The economic impact of open data: what do we already know?
“Open data fuels economic growth. Many believe in the theory and ask for the proof. A new report by Nesta and the ODI adds to the evidence of the impact of open data. The report’s analysis, undertaken by PwC, examines the effects of the Open Data Challenge Series (ODCS) and predicts the programme will result in a potential 10x return (£10 for every £1 invested over three years), generating up to £10.8m for the UK economy.”
More voices mean smarter cities
Creating mechanisms for participation in urban planning can be as traditional as institutionalizing town meetings on zoning issues or as innovative as deploying digital platforms for community mapping. For instance, a number of initiatives, such as the Open Cities Project, illustrate the ways in which citizens can help contribute information to the policymaking process.
Open Cities draws on inputs from a range of groups to “create usable information through community mapping techniques, to build applications and tools that inform decision making, and to develop the networks of trust and social capital necessary for these efforts to become sustainable.” The project informs World Bank investment planning on addressing urban challenges and disaster risk in pilot cities in South Asia.
Mapping infrastructure in a vulnerable city in support of USAID/OFDA programming
During OSMGeoWeek, teams were supported by USAID/OFDA for mapping infrastructure vulnerable to the floods in Ambon, Indonesia as part of an ongoing effort to fill data gaps.