Promoting Open Government Data and Data Journalism
- Status
- Completed
- AIR approach
- Access, Insight, Resourcing
- FRAME
- Representation and Governance
- Implemented in
What we’re doing
Promoting Open Government Data and Data Journalism is an initiative designed to strengthen access to public data and expand the use of data in journalism, accountability and public-interest discourse in Nigeria. The project combines capacity building for journalists, civil society practitioners, government officials and media managers with the publication and dissemination of open datasets and data-driven stories.
Through training and mentorship, the initiative equips media and public-sector actors with practical skills in data mining, investigative journalism, open procurement tools, gender-sensitive reporting and the use of data for newsroom sustainability. It also works with state governments and other stakeholders to promote the development and adoption of open-data systems, while making datasets on budgets, health, agriculture, oil and gas and economic indicators more accessible to journalists, researchers and the wider public.
By connecting open data, journalism and accountability, the initiative seeks to make government information more accessible and usable, strengthen evidence-based reporting, and create greater opportunities for citizens and institutions to engage with public policy and governance issues using reliable data.
Evidence that leads to action
Designed to create practical, accountable, and lasting public value.
Data Journalism Skills Are Reaching More Practitioners
Journalists, civil society practitioners, procurement officials and newsroom managers are increasingly equipped to use data for investigative reporting, accountability and decision-making. Training on investigative and data journalism, open procurement tools, gender-sensitive reporting and data as a media sustainability option has broadened practical data skills across both media and public institutions.
Open Data Is Beginning to Influence Public Procurement Practice
The training of more than 50 officials from the Ekiti State Bureau of Public Procurement introduced procurement personnel to digital tools for market research, price monitoring and analysis. This is helping to strengthen the practical application of open data in procurement and build capacity to interrogate market and contracting information.
State Governments Are Showing Greater Interest in Opening Public Data
Engagements with government representatives from Ekiti, Sokoto and Enugu States have generated interest in establishing state-level open-data portals. Their willingness to explore collaboration demonstrates growing institutional recognition of the value of making government information more accessible and usable.
Public-Interest Data Is Becoming More Accessible to Journalists and Researchers
More than 40 datasets covering government budgets, agriculture, health, oil and gas, and economic indicators were made available during the reporting period. The growing use of these resources, reflected in data requests from journalists and researchers, is expanding access to evidence that can support reporting, research and public-interest analysis.
Data Is Shaping Conversations Around Nigeria’s Most Pressing Issues
Data-driven reporting is bringing evidence and analysis into public conversations on security, extractives, health, agriculture, the economy and the socio-economic effects of COVID-19. Through reports, infographics, newsletters and digital distribution, complex issues are being translated into accessible insights that can inform public understanding, accountability discussions and policy discourse.
Supported by
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National Endowment for Democracy (NED)Project moments
Let's build the next
project together
We're always looking to collaborate with governments, donors, civil society organisations, researchers, and innovators to create evidence-driven solutions for public good.
