[okfn-za] Request for help: creating an open African mining database

Nimi Hoffmann Nimi.Hoffmann at gmail.com
Wed May 15 09:40:16 UTC 2013


Hi all

As far as I'm aware, there's currently no open continental database for
measuring and comparing the actions of extractive industries across
the African continent. The little data that exists is hidden or is behind a
paywall. The poor quality of data is compounded by the lack of transparency
in the sector, the lack of oversight by African governments, and the low
levels of investigative research and journalism.

This data poverty has bummed me out for too long. I'm greedy for
continental data which is collected, organised and curated so that it is
verifiable and actionable.

In my quest for an open, relatively comprehensive database, I'm planning to
create a platform for crowdsourcing information from specialists and
affected parties. The areas covered are incidents related to water, land,
labour, violence and finances.

To this end, I have two requests for help. One for hacks, the other for
hackers.

First, I'm not a coder, and I'm not sure how to set up this database. I'd
considered using CKAN, but I got a little confused by the site. If anyone
can point me to an online architecture for setting up a database, that
would be wonderful.

Second,  I've got a rough first draft of the variables I'd like to capture.
It would be fantastic if some of you guys could take 20 minutes out of your
day to look at it and briefly let me know - am I missing any
importantquestions; could some questions be dropped or modified? Problem
areas are highlighted in yellow in the document. I'm also planning to try
and integrate this with other open data, such as financial data from
OpenCorporates, Money to Metal and EITI (where it exists), as well
asMiningAtlas, an application of google maps to
mines. The idea is that one should be able to cross-check data with other
sources, as well as try to use techniques such as GIS for checking some of
the larger environmental claims. If you have thoughts on this, do let me
know as well.

There are two documents. The first concerns the design, and the second
concerns design notes. If you want to make changes to the design, please
add them as track changes. If you want to make notes, or comment on the
workflow or potential problems, please do so in the design notes. Comments
in the margins get very messy after a while!

Please note: first *data freeze* *is* *30 May.* Just so's this project
doesn't get stuck in cyber limbo.

If anyone is interested in taking a more active role in the project, please
do let me know. The more the merrier :)

Cheers,
Nimi
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