All must lead in the Data Revolution, where all have previously been left behind.

Philip Thigo
Jul 27, 2017 · 2 min read

The #Data ecosystem in Africa is still at is nascent stages, especially within the public sector. A World that Counts report by the UN Secretary General Independent Advisory Group on the Data Revolution noted that the data revolution is not reaching everyone, but its potential for transformation will require Government leadership and collaborations with private sector, civil society and citizens.

The report further noted that there is a proliferation of new technologies that could be applied to address datagaps, especially in health, education, agriculture and other critical sectors that essential for reduction of extreme poverty.

Three years later and two years into the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, most countries lack requisite data to adequately address the ambition 2030Agenda that seeks to leave no one behind.

The recently concluded High Level Meeting on Data for Development in Africa amplified the need, perhaps to begin to look at the challenges, and seek to galvanize actions on what is possible, across the multiple stakeholders that make the Africa Data Ecosystem.

The challenge of data in my view is always a moving target: There are systemic and perhaps unseen burden of history, in that Africa in itself has often been left behind in global development, therefore, how do you leave no one behind, when we all have been left behind. It especially matters when such a situation further makes invisible those who have been at the margins of this little development such as women, the elderly and persons with disabilities.

With the evolution of technology and the digital or internet divide, the data revolution that heavily relies on technological infrastructure, creates a challenge of inclusivity, especially in areas that are hard to reach, are not viable for private sector investments or prone to security risks. While there have been notable smart innovations that address digital inclusion, the overall emancipation could be deemed transformative is still a distant dream.

But there are glimmers of hope as we march towards 2030. The collaborative leadership by Governments, Civil Society, Private Sector and Innovators which brought into existence, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, is one such rarity. In a true democratic fashion, a movement that was launched at the margins of the Financing for Development Conference, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has sustained a conversation over the last three years on why data matters and why all must lead, especially from a continent that has often been left behind.

While democracy is an intricate balance, the holding of the Data for the Development in Africa, almost three years since the establishment of the partnership is something to write home about. A continent that is often left behind now leads with others on what matters and ensuring all are counted and benefit from the promise of SDGs.

Philip Thigo

Written by

Philip Thigo is a Kenyan technology, data & Public policy expert, recognised as World's Top 100 most influential in digital government. https://goo.gl/uQlmqz

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