Kenya has become the first African nation to publish over 290 datasets with no restrictions on access and use, with the launch of an open data Web portal.
In the past, most Kenyan government information has been treated by default as a state secret.
To access any governemnet information, one had to be physically present at the respective ministry, with a letter of support.
Now, with the open data Web portal, anyone with an Internet connection can find it said Google.
Released datasets include a information from the ministries of Finance, Planning, Local Government, Health and Education and the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics.
Local Content Programs Denis Gikunda and Government Relations & Public Policy, Google Africa Ory Okolloh wrote on Google’s official blog the launch marks a turning point as far as how citizens can engage with government, and will result in new ways through which Kenyans can hold their leaders accountable and amplify their voice on complex issues.
Gikunda and Okoloh wrote, "For the government, this is a great foundation for fact-based policy making…For Africa, the Open Data initiative could become the blueprint for how to move into the knowledge economy."
They added, "The Ministry of Information invited Google to join the Open Data Taskforce and help guide the technology and policy work leading up to the launch. In our role, we advocated for use of open standards, APIs for developers and local language support for the datasets. In addition, many of the apps and visualizations showcased at the launch by local developers – like Msema Kweli and Eduweb – made use of the Google Maps APIs & Charting APIs.
Finally, we were involved in helping bring several datasets to life using the Google Public Data Explorer."
In his speech, the President of Kenya said that "information is power and an informed citizenry is an empowered citizenry."
