With support from the Open Societies Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), Development Gateway (DG) began conducting studies in July 2018 in Senegal, Guinea, and Nigeria to map data needs, availability, and use in the extractives sector. Last week at the EITI Global Conference in Paris, France, we shared key takeaways and findings on EI data needs in the session Leveraging Information Technology in EITI Mainstreaming. Today, we're sharing more details from our presentation and how takeaways are building into our EI data work in West Africa.

Across DG’s extractives work, our aim is to help ensure a country’s natural resources actually benefit citizens. This starts with greater openness around natural resource management, to build public engagement and accountability. Building on our existing work with EITI on the EITI Global Data Portal, we’re expanding country- and local-level extractives work through several initiatives – including in Nigeria in partnership with the Ford Foundation, to build an online data collection system for the audit process.

The 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call on us to “leave no one behind.” At the same time, there is an urgent need to empower individuals and communities with access to information and skills to help them thrive in the growing digital economy. But what investments can transform “data-driven decision-making” from a global commitment to a key component of community-centered development?