Stories, ideas, and updates from DGers around the world

On World Development Information Day, DG reports on the future of the International Aid Transparency Initiative, a global campaign that encourages donors and governments to make aid information open and accessible.

On 25 September, the city of Cape Town explicitly recognized the importance of making city government data accessible to the public with the approval of an Open Data Policy. The policy lays out a plan to make data centrally accessible through the development of an open data portal – with the goal of increasing transparency and empowering citizens to hold the government accountable.

After the 2014 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank, below are some key questions and takeaways on how open data, development finance, and diverse stakeholders mix:Why do we need to publish data?

The Independent Expert Advisory Group on the “Data revolution for development” is giving you only a few days to share your views on what a “revolution” should look like. So here’s your chance to be a revolutionary, channel your inner Beatle per the Data Revolution Group, and act quickly because the deadline is October 15th!

One of the biggest challenges facing a complex entity like the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) is how to coordinate efforts across the 32 agencies, departments, and programs that play a role in the UN’s development work. Coordination means collecting and standardizing data from dozens of offices managing thousands of activities to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, coherence and relevance of UN development assistance.

Since its very beginning, Development Gateway has been committed to open data initiatives, and without a doubt great strides have been made in open data acceptance and adoption. More and more development organizations, practitioners, and national governments have begun publishing all sorts of programmatic and financial information.

What will it take to transform data and technology into improved development outcomes?

Last week, Development Gateway participated in the M&E Tech Conference – moderating two panels and participating in a hands-on session. Below are highlights from each:How Can We Leverage Open Data to Enhance Results?DG’s Senior Director of Operations and Co-Executive Director of AidData Nancy McGuire Choi spearheaded a discussion with Kat Townsend (USAID), Chantale Wong (Independent), Rob Baker (Ushahidi), and Susan Stout (Georgetown).

We often assume that more Open Data is better – but is it?

This is a modified version of a post originally published on Open Nepal’s blog, authored by Anjesh Tuladhar.No one would disagree with the fact that proactive disclosure of public contracts by public agencies improves service delivery, curbs corruption, and helps monitoring. Laura Bacon says open contracting could be a game changer.