Kenya Open Data portal hits 44 million page views

The Kenya Open Data portal has announced today that it has hit over 44 million page reviews since its launch 4 years ago.

This was announced by Linet Kwamboka , Open Data Project Co-ordinator as they marked their fourth anniversary with a launch of its Open Data version 2.0 website which will make core government developmental, demographic, statistical and expenditure data available in a useful digital format for researchers, policymakers, ICT developers and the general public.

“There has been over 44 million page views since the portal launched making the portal one of the highest and most accessed government site. There have been 2.6 million actual interactions with the data – downloads and embeds,” said Kwamboka.

Making government information available in this way promotes the development of useful “apps” based on the data, encourages researchers and watchdog groups to use the data to make suggestions for improving government and life of Kenyans, and makes state agencies more efficient by allowing access to information.

Congratulating the Kenya Open Data team, Victor Kyalo CEO ICT Authority also said,” We got a lot of critics a few years back as many thought that the Open Data was a failed project, but then we were in an incubation period and during the same period we have really grown in provision of data from different Government entities. It is easy to do a lot of things once you get comfortable with data. We plan to launch the Open Data version 2.0 in various phases to different people as we also allow the team to make enhancements where needed. “

As the portal celebrates its fourth year, there is already substantial data that is available and the public can use it to be able to track and locate the health facilities closest to them. Additionally, they can find the hospitals that are appropriate to their needs as well as the category they fall under. Data on distribution of health services creates the opportunity for more targeted investment in public health infrastructure – such as prioritizing new hospital construction in underserved areas.

Users will also find the nature, type and effects of natural disasters that strike their local community thanks to a datasets that has more than 10 years of this kind of data.

The new site will also help users find the location of donor and government funded projects in their community as well as the stage of execution. This can be useful to ascertain the level of focus and investments that occur in their community. Users will as well be able to deduce the functional status of water resources in their county, which is useful to prepare well for periods without sufficient rainfall as well as make informed decisions on land purchases.

Additionally, Kenya Open Data will also help users explore trends in immigration in Kenya from the Reported Visitor Arrivals and Departures data between 1991 – 2014. This can be useful in planning for souvenir trade activities as well as promotion of the local tourist sites. It can also help investors make informed investment decisions.

The Open Data Initiative has maintained its strategic partnership with Socrata Inc to deliver open data to the public through a unique user-friendly platform that allows for visualizations, multi-format downloads and API access for software developers.

Kenya is the first developing country to have an open government data portal, the first in sub-Saharan Africa and second on the continent after Morocco. The initiative has been widely acclaimed globally as one of the most significant steps Kenya has made to improve governance and implement the new Constitution’s provisions on access to information.

This was announced by Linet Kwamboka , Open Data Project Co-ordinator as they marked their fourth anniversary with a launch of its Open Data version 2.0 website which will make core government developmental, demographic, statistical and expenditure data available in a useful digital format for researchers, policymakers, ICT developers and the general public.

“There has been over 44 million page views since the portal launched making the portal one of the highest and most accessed government site. There have been 2.6 million actual interactions with the data – downloads and embeds,” said Kwamboka.

Making government information available in this way promotes the development of useful “apps” based on the data, encourages researchers and watchdog groups to use the data to make suggestions for improving government and life of Kenyans, and makes state agencies more efficient by allowing access to information.

Congratulating the Kenya Open Data team, Victor Kyalo CEO ICT Authority also said,” We got a lot of critics a few years back as many thought that the Open Data was a failed project, but then we were in an incubation period and during the same period we have really grown in provision of data from different Government entities. It is easy to do a lot of things once you get comfortable with data. We plan to launch the Open Data version 2.0 in various phases to different people as we also allow the team to make enhancements where needed. “

As the portal celebrates its fourth year, there is already substantial data that is available and the public can use it to be able to track and locate the health facilities closest to them. Additionally, they can find the hospitals that are appropriate to their needs as well as the category they fall under. Data on distribution of health services creates the opportunity for more targeted investment in public health infrastructure – such as prioritizing new hospital construction in underserved areas.

Users will also find the nature, type and effects of natural disasters that strike their local community thanks to a datasets that has more than 10 years of this kind of data.

The new site will also help users find the location of donor and government funded projects in their community as well as the stage of execution. This can be useful to ascertain the level of focus and investments that occur in their community. Users will as well be able to deduce the functional status of water resources in their county, which is useful to prepare well for periods without sufficient rainfall as well as make informed decisions on land purchases.

Additionally, Kenya Open Data will also help users explore trends in immigration in Kenya from the Reported Visitor Arrivals and Departures data between 1991 – 2014. This can be useful in planning for souvenir trade activities as well as promotion of the local tourist sites. It can also help investors make informed investment decisions.

The Open Data Initiative has maintained its strategic partnership with Socrata Inc to deliver open data to the public through a unique user-friendly platform that allows for visualizations, multi-format downloads and API access for software developers.

Kenya is the first developing country to have an open government data portal, the first in sub-Saharan Africa and second on the continent after Morocco. The initiative has been widely acclaimed globally as one of the most significant steps Kenya has made to improve governance and implement the new Constitution’s provisions on access to information.