To mark the International Open Data Day, Map Kibera, on Saturday 7th March, took the initiative of hosting a half day forum in order to discuss Open Data with partner organizations, community leaders and members not only from Kibera but the larger Nairobi area. The aim of the event was to try and simplify the concept of open data to the grassroots level, and further promote the use of open data among the community members in order to promote data driven development.
Participants following up on the session keenly
The event kicked off with Zack Wambua, who is Mapping Coordinator at Map Kibera, talking about the importance of Open Data. He highlighted examples of Open Data and the importance of having open data such as giving clear information and containing rumors and making data accessible and reachable.
Sharon Omojah represented OSM (Open Street Map) Kenya and explained to those who had attended what OSM Kenya is and the work it does. She gave an example of the Mapathon as one of OSM Kenya activities. She also explained the benefits of being a member of OpenStreetMap as more questions were asked about OSM Kenya mission and whether trainees were awarded certificates after OSM trainings. She stated that the OSM Kenya mission is to have an updated map of Kenya and yes, certificates are awarded after trainings.
Sharon presenting about OSM Kenya.
Zack Wambua took the attendees through how Map Kibera started. He explained Kibera was just a blank sport on the government map and there was need to have a detailed map of Kibera to show that there’s life in Kibera, and that’s where Map Kibera stepped in to provide the first map of Kibera, which has since been reproduced thematically. Map Kibera uses OpenStreetMap because it is open and accessible.
Zack talked about Open Schools Kenya, how it can be accessed and the information one can find when searching for a particular school from the website. People could see an example of a printed Open Schools map on the wall. There was a suggestion to map the Kibera population which has been a controversial issue for long.
The attendees also watched a small video done in Kibera asking people on the street about what they know about Open Data. Zack led a small exercise on what people had learnt from the video and what they thought of the answers given on Open Data.
There was a breakout session where the forum split into 3 groups to discuss the Open Data rising questions among them, why there weren’t many people who have attended Open Data forums. Most of the audience had an idea of what open data entails and even went ahead to share some of their experiences like accessing census data, and the country’s financial budget among others.
One of the group discussing about open data, during the breakout sessions
Discussions followed on the benefits of open data and accessibility, where we had an example of how Kenya Urban Roads Authority had hid the data of possible people to be displaced by the road cutting through Kibera.
The last session of the day was led by Lucy, where she introduced the participants to Maps.Me and OpenStreetMap. She did a step by step demonstration of how to map new points as well as how to upload them to OpenStreetmap. Majority of the participants were excited that they can now be able to add new map features of their neighborhood. Since this an extensive course, there was a request that Map Kibera should organize more training on open mapping of which most participants have already registered for it.
Among the recommendations were organizing for more sensitization forums and further defining open data in a simpler way that can be understood by ordinary citizens. There is also is a need to conduct more training on open data platforms in order to promote open data in the community.