AIMS

Open Data Awareness Program for Nepal’s digital natives

On the occasion of the International Open Data Day 2018, Open Knowledge Nepal launched the beta version of Open Data Nepal !

In October 2017, Open Knowledge Nepal - an open non-profit network of knowledge enthusiasts aiming to support data sharing and use of data -  announced the Open Data Awareness Program, to raise awareness about the concept and usage of Open Data to digital natives from seven districts in Nepal.

The Open Data Awareness Program is supported by The Asia Foundation in partnership with Development Initiatives, with funding from the UK Department for International Development to facilitate and scale innovative approaches to open data to ensure benefits reach citizens in developing countries. 

The Open Data Awareness Program is based on:

  • the Open Data Curriculum (to build the capacity of the learners to understand the value of and make use of open data) and
  • the Open Data Manual (a compilation of information from a series of online resources covering key data topics to explain open data - its benefits and technicalities).

The objective of the Program ...

... is to make the youth of Nepal more aware of the benefits of open data, to fill in the gap of data literacy and to better prepare young people for a rapidly changing world data scenario. 

As part of the program, hands-on training sessions are being organized at different colleges and youth organizations, where participants share their experiences of learning and working with open data and discuss ways to engage more young people in the open data movement in Nepal. In particular, 

Through the learning program, the university students and youths will be empowered to:

  • Use open data for research and new projects
  • Develop innovative data tools, solutions and programming languages
  • Conduct data analysis and reporting
  • Add value to products and services

Throughout workshops, participants will discuss:

  • What is open data and why it is of importance
  • The background and history of open data
  • Open data sources and stories
  • Technical processes to extract, analyze, clean and visualize the available data in Nepal

The program is also an opportunity to:

  • increase civic awareness and engagement and participatory governance, helping Nepal’s (future) leaders and decision-makers to be data-driven;
  • help improve the chances of open data startups and initiatives emerging in the near future. 

For more information about #OpenData Awareness Program updates, check out the program website. 
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