By Emmanuel Elebeke

Science  and Technology experts at a two-day Senior Expert Dialogue, SED, said Nigeria can benefit from the Open Data market which has the potential to save and generate about $3 trillion globally.

They said Nigeria government can key into the initiative by creating the enabling environment for the citizens to have free access to all public information to be able to take the right decisions and also hold their leaders accountable for the use of the common funds.

According to them, a recent study on the annual turn over of Open Data globally conducted by McKinsey&Company showed that various countries that opened their doors for open data, have already started reaping the befits by reducing cost of their governance, empowering the citizens to ask questions where necessary and also enabling the private sector to build applications that can host relevant information that guide peoples’ decisions.

They said there is value in Open Data if government is ready to create the enabling environment and make public all public information, not just by pushing them to online platform but also taking them to offline for the benefit of those who do not have access to internet.

Speaking on the initiative, the Principal of a South African based research firm, McKinsey&Company, Lohini Moodley, said Open data and Open government are related but are also separate issues that Africa needs to key into now to improve on the quality of outputs in both public and private sectors.

She said Open data apart from enhancing the quality of output wherever it is adopted,   can also be used to increase transparency in government, benefit consumers and citizens and also encourage establishment of app companies that would in turn create jobs and generate revenue for government.

According to her, every government has a lot of data assets that can be made available and accessible in the right way, which can be utilised by analysts, businesses, and the community in order to benefit in various fields of life.

“Nigeria can use data to plan infrastructure, plan the school system, health etc. It is about change of mindset and data can be used to make right decision. It is also about building capacity. Nigeria needs to have the technical and analytical capabilities to interpret the data. These are necessary to maximise open data potentials.

“To do this, Nigerian government needs to provide the enabling environment, the available data in its disposal and also start to use them.”

Moodley, who cited a Kenya example of using Open data app to guide parents on the choice of school for their wards, said Nigeria can use Open data to reduce the cost of various projects released on regular basis, start discussion, and engage businesses and citizens on how data should be made open and how they should be used.

“I think Nigerian government should ensure that data are made readable and engage the private sector in various projects.   There is various ways to use open data and benefit from it, weather to create new product and services, and help government organisations save money better.

“Because there is value that can be generated from open data, it should be understood that when capability is built, it will pay off in the long term.

“We have done analysis across three sectors where value can come from – education, house, consumer products financing and what we have found is that by using technology to improve transaction, by using technology to enhance studies in schools, allowing students to come in contact with the right employers, it could lead to improvement in education, which ultimately will lead people getting better jobs and earn higher salaries,” she added.

Also speaking on the initiative, the head of research, Nigeria Economic Summit Group, NESG, Dr. Sope Williams, said Nigeria stands a chance to benefit from the $3 trillion worth of Open data market but for it to work in Nigeria, every citizen must see himself as a stakeholder and push for more open government.

She stressed the need for Nigeria to adopt open and transparent government that will be more accountable and people oriented.

“All of us have a stake in government and should push for more open government. We need a government that is more transparent, more accountable and engaging the citizens of Nigeria more,” she added.