Citizen-generated data and sustainable development: Evidence from case studies in Kenya and Uganda

Guidance and systemization of experiences

The call for a data revolution, expressed in the report of the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons in the lead up to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, has generated significant attention on the role of data in driving and monitoring sustainable development. Some proponents of citizen-generated data see it as a key element in the data revolution. It is described as having significant potential to contribute to monitoring implementation and progress towards the SDGs, enabling citizen engagement, government responsiveness and impact at the local level while helping fill important gaps in official data. In both Kenya and Uganda, the development data and information landscape has changed significantly over recent years. Officials, civil society and the private sector are stepping up efforts to harness existing and new data sources to support decision-making and accountability for sustainable development. The Uganda case study focuses on the work of ‘community resource trackers’, a group of volunteers supported by Development Research and Training (DRT) in five postconflict districts of Eastern and Northern Uganda (Gulu, Kitgum, Pader, Katakwi and Kotido). The Kenya case study looks at the School Report Card initiative: an effort to increase parent participation in schooling of their children. The overarching research question for the study was; 'How can citizen-generated data lead to increased government responsiveness and accountability for resource allocation and service delivery? the study is structured around four main areas of enquiry: • the motivations for producing citizen-generated data in the two cases • the users of citizen-generated data and resulting information • the use of citizen-generated data and information • the wider use potential of citizen-generated data

• Developed by Development Initiatives (DI)
• Published In 2017
• Posted by Fabienne Perucca
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