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

Fri May 31 11:58:36 UTC 2013

This is brilliant Justin and do keep the list looped in on these great
developments :-)

rufus

On 31 May 2013 09:28, Justin Arenstein <justinarenstein at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Rufus,
>
> These are great suggestions. I'd also looped Nimi into an off-list
> discussion about the pan-African investigative project into extractives
> industries that we're already funding, through the new African Network of
> Centres for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR).
>
> We're investing into a 2yr EI focus with ANCIR, that includes significant
> data-driven tech stuff, as well as hard-hitting investigative reporting /
> documentary making, etc. We've just this week kicked off the 1st of a
> series of planned ddj bootcamps on the issue, have just created a
> standalone African instance of DocCloud and Poderopedia as repositories to
> function alongside the existing CKAN portal (which is in the process of
> getting a makeover), and will be announcing a couple of other related
> projects soon.
>
> Augmenting the journalistic stuff on EI with ANCIR, our Code for Africa<http://code-africa.org>programme is also supporting citizen tech projects in this space. Here's an
> example of one (still very early stage) project from Ghana:
> http://labs.code-africa.org/WhereMyMoneyDey/. The local teams are still
> scraping data, fleshing out the functionality, etc, and building CSO
> alliances for a massive rollout in partnership with major media in the
> country. We've had requests to replicate the platform in Nigeria, Uganda,
> Tanzania, etc.
>
> Cheers,
> Justin
>
> Justin Arenstein*
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> On 31 May 2013 01:34, Rufus Pollock <rufus.pollock at okfn.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi Nimi,
>>
>> This sounds really good. In terms of getting started, I have a few
>> thoughts:
>>
>> - Love the focus on extractives. Could you write out 2-3 most interesting
>> questions you'd like the data to answer
>>
>> - Start with the simplest thing possible e.g. google docs spreadsheets
>> for the data, or contributing data to http://africaopendata.org/ which
>> is a nice CKAN instance already deployed for you!
>>
>> - The fewer the sorts of data you need to collect to get something useful
>> the better (you already seem pretty focused in your design doc so this is
>> great!)
>>
>> I really like this and I think there are natural synergies with
>> http://OpenSpending.org/ + http://AfricaSpending.org/ so would love to
>> help where I can. (I also suggest that it may be posting about your ideas
>> to http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/openspending)
>>
>> Rufus
>>
>>
>>
>> On 15 May 2013 10:40, Nimi Hoffmann <Nimi.Hoffmann at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> 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 Africangovernments, 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 fromOpenCorporates, 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
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *
>>
>>  Rufus Pollock
>>
>> Founder and Co-Director | skype: rufuspollock | @rufuspollock<https://twitter.com/rufuspollock>
>>
>> The Open Knowledge Foundation <http://okfn.org/>
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>

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Rufus Pollock

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@rufuspollock<https://twitter.com/rufuspollock>

The Open Knowledge Foundation <http://okfn.org/>

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