*Listers* * * * * *The Government of Kenya, through the Ministry of Information of Communications will launch a new Government Open Data Portal on July 8, 2011 at the KICC that will, for the first time, make several large government datasets available to the general public in an easy to search and view format.* The launch will be presided over by HE President Mwai Kibaki . Program commences at 9.30 tomorrow. The web portal will allow citizens and the private sector to search and display national and county level data in graphs and maps and allow for easy comparison and analysis between datasets. **** ** ** For web and software developers, the portal will avail data in useable formats like cvs, Excel and will even include APIs for each dataset.**** ** ** The portal will be one of the first and largest government data portals in sub-Saharan Africa. With this launch, Kenya will become a leader among developing countries in the adoption of open data - a movement that is gathering momentum globally. **** * * *What is open data?***** Public information and searchable information are two different things. Much public data is already available by law but it's often not usable because it is in a format that is not easy to find, use and re-use. Published PDF files do not constitute "open data" and are not helpful to large-scale users.**** ** ** To be open, data must be:**** - easily found through search engines (meta-tagged)**** - available in machine readable formats (CSV, XML, APIs not PDF)**** - accessible by third party tools/applications (interoperable)**** - allow others to use and re-use for non-commercial and commercial use (e.g Creative Commons Licences)**** Open Data not only increases transparency and accountability but also promotes greater efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of public services by allowing users to easily consume and interpret data**** ** ** This is therefore to invite you to the launch. You can register at the door on your arrival. Paul Kukubo Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board PO Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya 12th Floor, Teleposta Towers Koinange Street Tel +254 20 2089061, +254 20 2211960 Fax: +254 20 2211962 website: www.ict.go.ke local content project: www.tandaa.co.ke, www.facebook.com/tandaakenya twitter:@tandaaKENYA BPO Project: www. doitinkenya.co.ke Digital Villages Project: www.pasha.co.ke personal contacts _______________ Cell: + 254 717 180001 skype: kukubopaul googletalk: pkukubo personal blog: www.paulkukubo.co.ke personal twitter: @pkukubo ____________________ Vision: Kenya becomes a top ten global ICT hub Mission: To champion and actively enable Kenya to adopt and exploit ICT, through promotion of partnerships, investments and infrastructure growth for socio economic enrichment