icegov2012 proceedings

insight into available data resources. The specific outcomes of this
experiment are the creation of analytical dashboards and data tool
kits for knowledge professionals; and the creation of mass appeal
mobilizations applications/platforms for civic engagement.
The multi-stakeholder groups will then follow a Design Thinking
approach to ideate the solutions and create meaningful and useful
applications based on these insights from the data. This will be
done in five steps, following concepts derived from the Stanford
D. School Design Thinking methodologies [15], namely:
o Empathizing - observing, engaging, and immersing the
developers and subject matter experts together so as to
understand the needs of the general citizens. This will take
place in a workshop where there will be brainstorm sessions
around four thematic areas: Water, Education, Transport and
Local County Data.
o Defining -Problem statements will be formulated by the
fellows and the working groups formed. These problem
statements will be based on the synthesis of the empathy
findings in terms of compelling needs and insights, scoping
specific and meaningful challenges to solve. This will take
place in another workshop where a number of projects will
be selected with which to proceed.
o Idea-ting - This will be done around the numerous problem
statements and go further into strengthening solutions for the
selected projects. The idea-tion will be supported by a boot
camp where an initial prototype will be designed to be built
in selected teams. This event will also have a public outreach
component to help educate researchers and the broader
public about the use of open data.
o Prototyping and testing - The actual prototyping will then
follow where all the ideas generated are actualized as
applications and technology services to address the problems
identified to be solved using open data. This step will involve
different levels of prototyping and showcasing demos of the
published data applications.
3.2.1.1 The Research Process
The specific objectives of the research are to:
1) Document the Open Data Outreach process in order for it to
be replicable in other communities and countries
2) Use evaluation mechanisms of the design thinking approach
and the documentation to understand how to make the Open
Data Outreach initiative sustainable and scalable.
This research is being conducted as an intense study that involves
active participation and observation in the entire process of ideation
and development of the open data applications through the
pre-incubator model. Specifically, the study is using ethnographic
models in order to fully understand this pre-incubator model in the
development of open data applications, and uncover new and
consequential variables [7] to consider in the construction of the
larger incubator model.
This research includes an exploratory survey and initial literature
review to help determine scope of the project and verifiable
metrics for success to aid in this evaluation and analyze the
replicability of the open data pre-incubation process so as to
provide targeted recommendations for scaling up the initiative.
These have been identified so far, at a high level, as the successful
20
development of open data applications that will be scaled in the
region or continent of Africa; and the creation of an ecosystem at
the grass root level (the communities) around open data, through
the use of these applications.
The research will continue to review the documentation of event
proceedings and activities related to the process as well as
qualitative research conducted through ethnographic observation
and participatory approach, in-depth interviews and audience
analysis.
The documents of the process of building and running the open
data pre-incubator will then be critically analyzed and used to
deliver use cases and recommendations that can be used for
actionable planning in a larger incubator model. This may call for
a review strategy for sustaining such open data incubator model
by analyzing successes, weaknesses, opportunities & challenges
for making this data more ‘mainstream’.
The findings will then be presented at the end of the experiment as
use cases, recommendations, tool kits and a critical analysis of the
process that can be used for actionable planning of a similar open
data consumption product.
Overall, the specific goals of the Pre-Incubator process are to
create one app or service or platform that used at scale across
Kenyan society and drastically increases the use of open data and
the research will support this further by the recommendations
delivered for a sustainable and scalable model.
4. CONCLUSIONS
This project will contribute in creating a knowledge community
on this open data of experts and non-experts alike and spurring
conversations around this open data. The research process will not
only inform the underlying project, the pre-incubation model, but
hopes to raise new questions on how further to promote
engagement of the ordinary citizen with their government through
the usage of other mass appeal applications. This research hopes
to come up with an effective sustainable toolkit on how subject
experts and developers can interact with the Open Kenya portal
and in collaboration, build tools and services around the datasets
that can benefit all citizens in spite of their literacy levels with
regards to the platform.
As we embrace new ideas of living, applications revolving around
various sectors like Water, Education and Health will go a long
way to assist the country in transitioning to more citizen
engagement and efficient service delivery. Consequently, this will
lead to identification of proper open data innovations that solve
real problems within the society and essentially assist in achieving
the objectives with regards to the release of open data.
5. REFERENCES
[1] Beeman, H. 2011. Uses for open data
http://hadleybeeman.net/2011/01/26/uses-for-open-data/
Accessed August 2012
[2] Business Daily, Government portal must have the required
impact, 2011
http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Opinion+++Analysis/G
overnment+portal+must+have+the+required+impact/-
/539548/1199730/-/10sesc1/-/index.html Accessed in April
2012