DATASHIFT BLOG

Bagamoyo Beach Lovers would have had a difficult time motivating the participation of government officials, artists, school principals, nonprofit directors, fishermen and business owners attending and supporting its World Cleanup Day launch without the community relationship building in the years leading up to the event.

Incorporating citizen-generated data into any phase of a campaign is one of the best ways to improve the overall campaign and make the message stronger. From the research phase to the justification, to detailing the campaign plan or monitoring the impact of the campaign - the inclusion of accurate and reliable citizen-generated data (CGD) is key for any organisation.

Unusual for this small coastal town in Tanzania, government officials, artists, school principals, nonprofit directors, fishermen and business owners filled the courtyard of an eco-hotel. Divided by status, education and environmental awareness, a citizen science data campaign brought them together to map and collect trash.

Discussions of data literacy permeate many of the conversations surrounding big data and the data revolution taking place today. Debates abound about what data literacy entails, who needs to be data literate and what it will take to increase data literacy worldwide.

Evidence shows that civic space in Tanzania and East Africa, in general, is narrowing. In a bid to navigate this, DataShift devised an engagement strategy that targeted National Statistical Offices in Tanzania and Kenya.

When working with citizen-generated data (CGD), there’s one hurdle many civil society organisations (CSOs) struggle to overcome. This hurdle holds back many CSOs from generating, analysing and communicating CGD in a meaningful way, even though in some cases they may already have many of the skills they need to do so.  The hurdle: confidence.