News and Features

Introducing the OpenGov Hub

At the International Open Government Data Conference held from July 10-12, Development Gateway and Global Integrity announced the upcoming launch of the OpenGov Hub.

The hub is an endeavor to bring like-minded organizations together in one physical location to work on issues related to the open government agenda, and will be housed in Development Gateway’s current headquarters in Washington, DC. It will open officially in September. The hub aims to be the day-to-day home for small- to medium-sized non-profit organizations that focus on 1) information transparency, 2) civic engagement and participation, and 3) accountability and anti-corruption issues.

The initial anchor organizations—the larger tenants—will be Development Gateway and Global Integrity, and FrontlineSMS has also announced that it will move into the hub this fall. There will also be desk space for a half dozen smaller organizations and expressions of interest are welcome from any group pursuing broadly related activities. A modest number of “hot desks” will be available for affiliated individuals who need short term office space while visiting Washington. Currently, Development Gateway and Global Integrity are at work transforming DG’s existing office space into an open environment—tearing down doors and walls—so that individuals from different organizations can brainstorm, share experiences, and work alongside each other toward a more transparent, efficient, accountable, and participatory public sector.

The OpenGov Hub will feature regular learning and outreach events aimed at both its regular tenants and the broader open government community of practice in the Washington, DC area. To join the mailing list, or explore whether the OpenGov Hub might be the right home for your organization, visit the website or contact info@opengovhub.org.

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Kosovo Launches Improved AMP Portal

The Government of Kosovo has released an upgraded version of its public Aid Management Platform. The Aid Management Platform (AMP) is a country-level aid information management system that helps governments track and report on aid flows and activities. Kosovo first launched the public version of its AMP system in October 2010 to make information on donor activity across the country more transparent and accessible. The new version includes profiles of aid by donor, region, and sector, as well as reports, aid maps, dashboards, and search capabilities. The improved user interface is crisper, cleaner, and easier to navigate.

Data in AMP Kosovo are provided by local donor agency offices and therefore reflect the format and types of information requested by government counterparts. AMP Kosovo is an EU funded project managed by the European Union Office to Kosovo and implemented by Development Gateway International.

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CCAPS Mapping Tool Adds Data on Social Conflict

The CCAPS mapping tool, released earlier this year, now includes the Social Conflict in Africa Dataset(SCAD), allowing for a more complete picture of conflict events across Africa. SCAD provides the first systematic tracking of social conflict and political unrest at a broad level. The database includes more than 7,900 geo-referenced conflict events including strikes, riots, protests, communal conflict, and other social disturbances in Africa. Users can search or download the data via the online database.

"SCAD provides a unique window into patterns of social unrest and political conflict in Africa," said SCAD co-director Dr. Cullen Hendrix, Assistant Professor of Government at the College of William and Mary. "Moreover, this new geocoded version provides the tools to map social conflict in time and space, facilitating cutting-edge analysis by researchers in both the academy and the policy community."

Whereas conflict data is generally available for large-scale events such as civil and international war, SCAD compiles information on other types of social and political disorder. By tracking forms of conflict not covered in traditional datasets on civil and interstate war, SCAD gives policymakers and researchers new tools to analyze conflict patterns. Dashboard users are now able to choose between armed conflict and social conflict layers in addition to the data layers on climate security vulnerability and aid projects in Malawi.

The mapping tool was created by AidData using Esri’s ArcGIS platform for the Robert S. Strauss Center’s Climate Change and African Political Stability (CCAPS) program at the University of Texas – Austin. The upgraded dashboard also loads and filters faster, and has improved graphics.

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Coming Soon: IATI Exchange

An increasing number of donors and NGOs are publishing information on their development activities around the world according to the data standard of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). IATI makes aid activity information comparable across many kinds of organizations so that citizens and researchers can better understand what activities are planned or underway. Development Gateway has collaborated closely with the IATI team, as part of the IATI Steering Committee, and is working on a new tool that will make it easier for any organization to publish data in IATI format.

The forthcoming open source tool, IATI Exchange, can be easily integrated into an organization’s IT processes to generate an IATI data feed. First, the organization will need to identify the appropriate data sources from within its own IT ecosystem, and then map those data elements to the IATI standard and definitions. Then, the system administrator can configure IATI Exchange through a simple web user interface, and users can query the data directly through the tool. IATI Exchange provides a transformation mechanism to convert the organization’s data into IATI format, and allows users to export the data or publish it to a public URL.

The IATI Exchange project follows previous work done in cooperation with aidinfo and the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to import donor data in IATI format and compare it to locally-provided data from the Aid Management Platform (AMP). This pilot demonstrated the feasibility of automatic data exchange between donor and country systems, and showed that IATI has significant potential to add value to country aid information systems by improving the accuracy, breadth, and comparability of data.

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Staying up to date with Zunia

Recently, Zunia interviewed Christoph Derndofer, a longtime observer and commentator on the One Laptop Per Child project. Christoph discussed how the project’s success should be evaluated, and lessons it suggests for ICT for Development (ICT4D) and ICT for Education (ICT4E) projects more broadly.

The interview was the latest in Zunia’s series of original interviews with development experts, which cover a broad range of topics. Past interviewees have included Michael Clemens, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development; Nick Nuttall, spokesperson for the United Nations Environment Programme; and Shenggen Fann, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The OLPC initiative was also featured earlier this year in an interview with Satish Jha, founder and chairman of OLPC India Foundation.

There are a number of ways Zunia can help you keep up with the latest research, writing, and thinking on development challenges. By joining, you can register to receive email alerts of new content in your areas of interest. For bite-sized updates, follow Zunia on Twitter (@zunianews). Through Zunia, you can also easily access a variety of leading development blogs.

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