UserDay at Co-Creation Hub: Technology for Health
h/t: Co-Creation Hub

Since BudgIT (a startup I co-founded) emerged in the Nigerian civic tech space, I have been imagining where the next frontier of growth emerges. Surely, Nigeria suffers from multiple socio-economic challenges and applying tech solutions is part of the approach towards the improvement the country so desires. Health, education, power, infrastructure etc. need tech interventions and the country needs to find another “engine of creative awesomeness”. However, a clear disincentive in stepping out and trying is the lack of clear business proposition as regards civic projects. The lack of required data to build these projects is also a challenge as techies and policy makers have to dig deeper either by crowdsourcing data or working in the minefield of converting data from non-readable to machine-readable formats.

Despite the challenges, Nigerian civic entrepreneurs are on the move and there is a pump of energy as regards health in Nigeria. The Nigerian Government is also working with the World Bank and a host of development partners to liberate datasets through the launch of the open data portal that will be the next step towards making Nigeria eligible for the Open Government Partnership. The initial engagement was the Nigeria’s 1st Data Clinic which offered “free seats to journalists, developers / coders, and digital creatives who want to help voice priorities and opportunities for Open Data in Nigeria.” It was an event which I made an opening presentation on the potential of Open Data in Nigeria and how it can foster improved service delivery, transparency and also encourage new sets of data entrepreneurs.

The atmosphere now oozes health with the Health Hackathon on the Open Data Day which was held in Idea Hub Yaba (Nigeria’s tech district). This was also an opportunity to determine the size of data available as regards health in Nigeria. At the Health Hackathon in Lagos, MediFix came out on tops with “medical demand-supply management ICT solution aimed and appropriately allocating and sharing medical resources and facility among medical service providers in Nigeria.“ Other ideas and solutions such as Clinixie, Find-A-Med, Hospitox, Meditell, MoiHealth are also worth mentioning. Also the International Center for Journalists is launching an health-based reporting competition that will recieve innovative entries from journalists and will also provide support to their newsrooms through its innovation fellows. Co-Creation Hub has also launched the Social Change Lab with the first theme focused on health. Already, six new ideas have pitched smart solutions on their platform and are gaining social awareness. There is also the Private Sector Health Alliance in Nigeria, which is interested in funding health projects innovation.

With government providing the datasets, civic entrepreneurs showing grit, tech hubs making this a priority, private sector and donors (Indigo Trust and Tony Elumelu Foundation) ready to provide early-stage funding and the potential users in abundance, the ecosystem can be taken as complete. The next big story is not far off.

P.S I am providing strategic thinking and support for a health-focused startup, Iyaniwura.

Credit: Nick Cavanagh

Next week, The World Bank Institute, Africa Media Initiative and International Center for Journalists host the Data Clinic in preparation for the upcoming launch of Nigeria’s Open Data Initiative, which already has a commitment of $1m. The Open Data Initiative is very important to the Minister of Communication and Technology and we had this elevator discussion in London. She said this this is a crucial step for Nigeria’s membership of the Open Government Partnership. 

Nigeria will need more than launching an open data initiative, as several institutional processes that underpin open, transparent and accountable governance have to be strengthened. Dangling on Nigeria’s President head is the unending issue of an Aviation Minister who went above budget rules to approve purchase of two bulletproof expensive cars and $10.8bn oil receipts that is yet to be properly accounted for. To join the Open Government Partnership and not strengthen institutions that underlie an open and efficient government will not help in transmitting its importance to Nigerians.

However, the route of Open Data is commendable and the 2-day event is organized to ensure that we get it right and that a final platform that is useable and functional for ordinary citizens emerge.  This will be the best gathering of data wranglers, developers, open data activists, civic engagement pioneers, journalists and leads of non-governmental organizations. I will be the making the opening presentation at the event with the title “What is Open Data?” As I sit back and think through, I remember my cardinal points as regards Open Data:

• Open Data must Actionable: The power of open data is in its use to initiate action.

• Educate the Citizens:  Getting granular with the context of the data is most critical to build a mass of followership that understands thematic areas in view.

• An Incentive for the Community: Open Data needs to be citizen-centered. There is a need to focus on building open data right to the mind of the individual on things that matters to the collective.

• Craft Varied Stories:  It must bring forth human angle stories by converting stack of information to a moving narrative that drives a sense of ownership in the user.

•   Get Feedback to Institutions: Open Data cannot be driven on a one-way lane. Access to data isn’t enough. It must be linked with a feedback system that allows citizens or users to reach elected officials, public servants and other stakeholders at the supply side.

Open Data as codified in CSV, XML, JSON and other formats is the next layer from the crude/sterile state of pdf and other closed formats.  Raising it to a level that stimulate interests is to think of the complements or derivatives of open data- visualizations, infographics, data stories, charts, apps etc. This is why these might be a nerdy gathering and it will be so needed as the mixed performance story of the Kenya Open Data has been publicly streamed. Nigeria will need to do better. I look forward to an era of explosion of apps, user engagement, feedback and institutional improvement. We Hope – a Nigerian staple –  we get this right as we raise a community ready to toil on what works best for Nigeria.  Lest I forget, International Center for Journalists, Africa Media Initiative and host of others  are launching  HALA, a health journalism initiative that intersects storytelling with institutional improvement. I will also inform you about the AccessNG&SL project (funded by US State Department) which seeks to explore accountability in justice and security sectors using a data-driven approach. The best is about to explore and we will MINT our way up there.

See you in Abuja.

ttyl

Firstly, I am on the board of the Openspending Global Steering Committee driven to improve the platform as well as push the civic engagement further. We are working together on integrating the Openspending API with BudgIT upcoming project, Tracka.

Part of my work as the ambassador for Nigeria and Team Lead for BudgIT was the investigation of  Nigeria’s 2012 procurement data which showed great insights that Chinese contractors lead the list of vendors approved by Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council. Close to 34% of government contracts are directly linked to Chinese Corporations showing the shift of Nigerian government to award its large contracts  to the Chinese.

A screenshot of the Open Lagos application which was an extension of the Openspending application.

I also led the team that built an interesting application from Openspending City Hackathon which was run globally.  We focused on Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital and the application showed clear understanding of how the revenue, expenditure and deficit have increased over the years. The result of the hackathon was well used and we are pitching a to DFID-funded project  through a local community group to make this sustainable.

At the 2013 Open Government Partnership in London, I was a speaker on the OKFN/ONE session which launched the Follow The Money campaign. In the blogpost on the Open Knowledge Foundation page,  my speech was well captured as  “Oluseun Onigbinde from BudgIT in Nigeria concurred that “Follow the Money” efforts should be driven by the needs of citizens, and should serve to amplify the voices and concerns of citizens so that governments listen and respond to them. He also suggested that “Follow the Money” network should have an institutional focus – working to identify, highlight and spread public policies which enable citizens to follow the money.”

Finally,  on December 7, I organised a team in Lagos which focused on investigating the beneficial ownership and linkages within the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The primary event was held in Co-Creation Hub  and was supported by Open Oil, School of Data and African Media Initiative. BudgIT, my startup will blow the final results into an infographic and share virally on its platforms.

I am an adherent of open data and how it guarantees development and expand qualitiative discussions. In 2014, as Nigeria moves closer to the elections, there will be more focus on deepening the quality of debate regarding governance and electoral reforms. As the Team Lead of BudgIT, OKFN and my startup collaborated on training BudgIT staff on the data management and use of the CKAN Open Data portal. This great collaboration was funded by the Indigo Trust. I was also happy to see Open Knowledge Foundation play a great role in launching the first subnational open data portal in Nigeria –  Edo State Open Data Portal. 

We can do more within by expanding Open Knowledge Community in Nigeria, the most populous black nation on earth. See you in 2014. In my next post, I will tell you my detailed plans. I appreciate support for Gavin, Stefan, Lucy, Anders, Zara and all the amazing people in OKFN who worked with me on various projects.

For more information and support on expanding OKFN work in Nigeria, kindly reach me on oluseun@yourbudgit.com or join Nigeria’s OKFN mailing list.

Ttyl.