The Technology Salon (TSNYC) on the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), held April 13th, offered an overview of IATI as a coming-together point for aid transparency. It also stimulated discussion on opportunities and challenges for organizations and institutions when publishing information within the IATI standard and shared some available tools to support publishing NGO data. . IATI [...]

Instead of a post on how Malians are using social media to promote the now-delayed April 29th, 2012 presidential elections, we turn to see how social media has been used to spread information of a military coup on March 22, 2012. By now, word is out that Malian army officers toppled President Amadou Toure’s government [...]

Does ‘openness’ enhance development? This was the question explored in a packed Room 3 (and via livestream and Twitter) on the last day of the ICTD2012 Conference in Atlanta, GA. Panelists included Matthew Smith from the International Development Research Center (IDRC), Soren Gigler from the World Bank, Varun Arora from the Open Curriculum Project and [...]

Today South Africa is celebrating Human Rights Day. We’re celebrating the long road to democracy covered with sticks and stones leaving apartheid’s oppression behind us. The path we’ve tread has been a long one, but 18 years into our democracy we enjoy rights many others around the world are still denied. Freedom of speech and [...]

Kayode Fayemi, Governor Nigeria’s Ekiti state, has declared yesterday his administration is ready to integrate fully Information and Communications Technology (ICT).   He even launched a new official website for the state. The new website will enhance accountability and transparency in governance he believes. The website is also expected to be interactive, easing access to government by [...]

Eleven Ghanian government departments and agencies will commence with e-government projects to improve service to its citizens, the government said on Wednesday. These agencies include Food and Drugs Board, National Communication Authority, Births and Death Registry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional integration, Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Passport Office, National Health Insurance Scheme, National Information Technology [...]

This post is an update of October 2011′s list of African leaders with a Facebook presence. The numbers and a couple of links have been adjusted. Stats from July 2010, December 2010, March 2011, and June 2011 are still available. As always, the challenge is determining what share of fans of these pages are diasporans. [...]

This is a guest post from Jamie Lundine, who has been collaborating with Plan Kenya to support digital mapping and governance programming in Kwale and Mathare. The original was published on Jamie’s blog, titled Information with an Impact. See part 1 of this series here: Digital Mapping and Governance: the Stories behind the Maps. Mapping [...]

Sierra Leone has carried the momentum from the October 2011 landing of the ACE fibre cable in Freetown and is off to a progressive start to 2012. We must all be ready now to embrace change, change in our attitude towards one another, change in our attitude to our work and responsibilities. All of those [...]

Most of Senegal is a-buzz with the upcoming presidential election just days away. After all, there is plenty to talk about – constitutional amendments, a stubborn incumbent, dueling political parties, campaign promises, and unfortunately, violence. Word-of-mouth and traditional media are certainly still the main sources of information about the candidates, controversy, and election-day logistics. Still, [...]