It matters who produces data: reflections on two citizen-generated data initiatives

Development Initiatives (DI) and Development Research and Training (DRT) received a Making All Voices Count practitioner research and learning grant to examine the purpose, use and users of citizen-generated data in two case studies. One case study examined how citizen-generated data on the quality of schools and schooling was channelled to the Ministry of Education in Kenya. The other looked at the work of community resource trackers in five communities in Uganda and their role in providing unsolicited feedback to local government actors and other development partners. By reflecting on and contextualising the findings of the practitioner research, this Practice Paper looks at the evolution of the open data movement in Kenya and Uganda, and the growth of citizen-generated data initiatives; the advantages and disadvantages of formal feedback structures and the importance of barazas as spaces for accountability; the need for demonstrating the value of participating in social accountability mechanisms to citizens and the challenges of scaling up citizen-generated data initiatives.