Publication: The Expanding Role for Open Data in Burkina Faso: Program Gains Wider Use in the Transitional Government
Date
2015-04
ISSN
Published
2015-04
Author(s)
Melhem, Samia
Rifon Perez, Axel
Abstract
The widening drive to provide open data
in the public sector has taken a new turn in Burkina Faso.
Open data has always been recognized as an enabler of
economic development and government transparency. But in
October 2014, when a popular uprising ousted Burkina Faso’s
long-standing leader and established a transitional
government, the country’s nascent Burkina open data
initiative (BODI) took on new life as an enabler of the
transition. With support from the ODI and the World Bank,
BODI had debuted just four months before the uprising,
showcasing about 50 data sets of government information and
an app that focused on education. In the months since then,
the development of BODI has only accelerated, with more
staff, more data sets posted, and new applications launched
or planned. Under the transitional government, BODI has
expanded with a web page for finding data on government
contract awards and a program to help track and manage the
country’s persistent drought problems. And BODI envisions a
polling-place finder and reporting of vote totals as ways to
support turnout and transparency for the scheduled October
2015 national elections.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Melhem, Samia; Rifon Perez, Axel. 2015. The Expanding Role for Open Data in Burkina Faso: Program Gains Wider Use in the Transitional Government. Transport and ICT connections,no. 14;. © World Bank Group, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22300 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”