@Michiri, IMO,
My reference to KICTB taking shortcuts in this Open Data Initiative is that such an excellent process of being first out there with such an initiative would have defined our outstanding capabilites. The Open Data initiative is obviously many months of hard work behind the scenes ( A big thanks to all those who made it happen ), therefore ample time was available to have found an interim hosting solution and service to have kept the data and ip traffic local. There even must have been behind the scenes meetings with Socrata representatives and obviously Socrata integrating Mobile modules on the platform so as to ensure that it meets the Kenyan Mobile Sector drive policies. The Socrata system speaks of itself i.e. why would it suit Open Data from Kenya.
Unless I missed a brief somewhere, the first I heard of Open data was while listening to the Pivot25 stream, a couple of weeks ago. Did KICTB consult or publicly announce that they were looking into a core systems/hosting facilties? Did they assume that none existed thus Socrata seemed the shortcut to an off the shelf solution? Things like Socrata just don't appear overnight with data already captured.
I could also be incorrect in my opinion, and therefore corrections are very welcome.
Rgds.
On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 11:14 AM, Muchiri Nyaggah
<muchiri@semacraft.com> wrote:
Aki,
You make reference to KICTB taking shortcuts, please clarify.
I am impressed by how fast the conversation about open data went from the fact that it is available to the question of when local infrastructure will good enough to host it locally. Obviously we are not about to rest on our laurels even for a minute :)
I think spurring innovation, improving the amount and quality of data, passing FOI/RTI legislation & moving the data onto local infrastructure are conversations that should happen in parallel (and will). Those with true access or an appetite for the data will always be a minority. It is incumbent on this minority, in my opinion, to curate that data in a way that makes it appetizing/palatable for the majority. Open data will change the fabric of our nation (I am an optimistic idealist :) ) but only if 'great stuff' is made using it. Legislation, infrastructure and data won't do the man on the street any good otherwise.
