2 national and 10 subnational governments influenced to proactively disclose data;
22 organisations using open data to strengthen their advocacies or help improve service delivery;
182 women and 252 men from different sectors trained on how to use data to advocate for change by understanding the world we live in better;
More than 7000 individuals engaged by the Lab and our partners in disseminating information on how open data can be used to effect social change.
These are but a few of the numbers characterising our accomplishments in the last 12 months.
Officially launched in February 2015, the Jakarta Lab has been engaging with different stakeholders – from governments to civil society organisations, media, researchers, businesses, tech communities, and many others. Our work is informed by a strategy workshop convened in February 2015 and participated in by 36 representatives from different sectors and 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Since the Lab’s inception in 2014, we’ve implemented 10 projects covering research, social innovation, and capacity building. We’ve conducted studies on open contracting, financial statements of public officials, and open data in sub-national contexts. We are currently working with partners in 4 countries in the region to link parliamentarians + citizens + ministries on open data in Nepal, connect follow-the-money communities in the Philippines, assess the possibilities of transitioning smart cities to open cities in Indonesia, and use citizen-generated data in Malaysia to help solve information scarcity in constrained contexts.
All these, but also more than the numbers, stories of change have inspired us to continue our work in testing approaches to hasten or increase access, understanding, and dissemination of open data to achieve wider impact:
- In Banda Aceh, open data became a platform to initiate a conversation between citizen groups and the government on key issues in education and health. Through the project there, we convinced 11 agencies in Banda Aceh to proactively disclose government data through the local data portal.
- In Yogyakarta, we enabled a civil society group to cut their time spent on analysing government budgets and disseminating information through online and offline formats by 60%.
- In Jakarta, we have worked with the Development Planning Agency to establish the legal foundation for open data through the Governor’s Decree No.181/2014, to produce a guide for the publication of data, as well as to train officials to source and clean data, and make datasets from various government agencies available on the national open data portal.
- In Mindanao, in southern Philippines, together with our partner, we enabled a group of Islamic teachers to use their data analysis skills to persuade the local government to use the Special Education Fund to finance their salaries and uniforms and they were successful.
- In Malaysia, we helped a tech organisation realise the importance of engaging with data users to ensure that the systems developed are not only benefitting citizens, but also used by them.
In the coming years, we will continue collecting these numbers and the stories that come with them, as we continue to pursue our vision and role in the region. Follow us, our growth, and our stories on Twitter @ODLabJkt, or visit our blog and project pages regularly for updates.
Talk to us personally and join us this Friday, 4 March 2015, as we celebrate Open Data Day 2016. Aside from members of the team, you’ll also meet many of our partners, hear about their interesting endeavours, and learn from them firsthand through the afternoon workshops. We’re adopting a ‘hop in, hop out’ format, so make sure you check out the full event agenda to note the sessions you don’t want to miss!
To register for the Open Data Day 2016 hosted by Jakarta Lab, visit our Eventbrite page, or email antya@jakarta.labs.webfoundation.org.
Leave a Reply