PROGRAM

Description of Program Items

PANEL DISCUSSION: Crowdsourcing Open Data and Thinking Citizen Science

        Open Data and Informational Resources development through Crowdsourcing is the main pillar of Citizen Science. There is no doubt that Open Data has the potential to unleash economic, social and political benefits (2). For the process of knowing, Open Data represents the basic domain of knowledge inquiries and brings in the characteristics of positive democratic participation where citizens are highly engaged and governments are accountable. Sudan is one of those countries that are described as data-deprived with only 1 data point is conducted every 10 years. National planning, response to natural disasters, conflict resolution, and sustainable development, etc. of major challenges that face governments, all depend heavily on data that foster evident based research that can reveal the situational context and guide decisions and actions. In this discussion panel, Open Data and Informational Resources development will be discussed in the context of Citizen Science, where the needs, formats, classification, gathering, and analysis of data (Supply Side) will stem from Citizen and Community in the form of real participation as well as the demand for it. The discussion will venture into the processes of validating the hypotheses and scenarios, construct the knowledge and norms, build the trust, make decisions and take actions, as well as disseminate the Knowledge. We will also discuss Open Data issues not in a way that compartmentalize participation as separate component, but as a continuum and sustained process of community knowing of Prod-usage and Co-design of normative structures that empower the citizen (1). Our discussion will promote the realization of Great December Revolution principles: Freedom, Peace, and Justice, through fostering the Freedom of Information, exploring the politics of knowledge, and re-examining inequality indicators. The Panel will shed light through a diverse set of lenses representing different sectors that use data such as researchers, development agencies, public and private sectors, and Community Based Organization (CBO), in addition to our prime focus – the Citizen:

1. What are your critical needs and challenges that Open Data has the potential to solve; what types/practices of crowdsourcing of information you/may use.
2. Are the needs for crowd-sourced Open Data stem from unavailability official data, or deficiency of it? Can Open Data complement, or clear the blind spots in, Official Data.
3. What technologies can be used for gathering data, ensuring quality, and standardizing classification, codification and formats, as well as promoting reusability?
4. Participation is a key element of development projects if democratic principles are upheld but it is also high correlated with power relations. We will ask who is setting the participation agenda?  Is it externally derived? Is it share with stakeholder? Or is it community/citizens driven? Or only empowered people among them?  How do we re-politicize participation to give it the edge in the continued struggle for a democratic basis for state power (3) within the influences of the dominant politics of knowledge in organizations (4).
5. In your Project/Research are you aware of participation constraints that inhibit effective participation in terms of capacity building, incentive to participate, autonomy of participation, and harmony with reduced or no conflict?
6. Is participation and Engagement of citizens critical in all knowledge production processes? How can we protect the privacy recognize intellectual property?

References:

1. Cañares, M., Shekhar, S. (2016). Open Data and sub-national governments: lessons from developing countries. The Journal of Community Informatics, 12(2), (Special issue on Open Data for Social Change and Sustainable Development), 99-119.
2. Bott, M. and Young, G., 2012. The role of crowdsourcing for better governance in international development. Praxis: The Fletcher Journal of Human Security, 27(1), pp.47-70.
3.  Puri, S.K. and Sahay, S., 2007. Role of ICTs in participatory development: An Indian experience. Information technology for Development, 13(2), pp.133-160.
4. Thomas, T. and Narayanan, P., 2015. Introduction: powering knowledge from the margins. In Books (pp. 1-4). Practical Action Publishing Ltd.

 

KNOWLEDGE CAFÉ: Citizen Science for Freedom, Peace, and Justice

 Knowledge Cafe is a technique that used to open a creative conversation in which a group of people can share ideas and gain a deeper collective understanding of the subject and the issues involved.

The idea of this session is to create a Group’s collective knowledge; learn from each other; share ideas and insights and gain a deeper understanding of a CS and its applications.

Discussion Questions:

How CS (Public Participation) can contribute to attain the Freedom, Peace, and Justice in the new Sudan?
Focus on identifying the possible applications to achieve that in all levels (Public, Private, Academia, etc.)

* Theme could be fine-tuned based on the ideas generated from the day’s discussions.