Rais
Jakaya Kikwete akizungumza na washiriki (hawapo pichani) wa Mkutano wa
Kimataifa wa Mfumo wa Takwimu Huria Barani Afrika katika Ukumbi wa Mikutano wa
Mwalimu Julius Nyerere jijini Dar es Salaam leo. Katika hotuba yake Rais
Kikwete alisema jukumu la utoaji wa taarifa kwa umma si kwa serikali pekee bali
hata kwa Sekta binafsi pamoja na taasisi zingine zisizokuwa za serikali zinatakiwa
kufuata mfumo huo ili kuleta maendeleo katika nchi husika. Mkutano huo ambao
unaudhuriwa na mamia ya washiriki unalengo la kutoa elimu pamoja na kuhamasisha
umma kuhusu utoaji wa taarifa kwa uwazi katika sehemu mbalimbali barani Afrika
Waziri
wa Mambo ya Ndani ya Nchi, Mathias Chikawe akitoa hotuba yake kabla ya
kumkaribisha Rais Jakaya Kikwete (kulia meza kuu) katika Mkutano wa Kimataifa
wa Mfumo wa Takwimu Huria Barani Afrika katika Ukumbi wa Mikutano wa Mwalimu
Julius Nyerere jijini Dar es Salaam, ili aweze kuufungua mkutano huo. Katika
hotuba yake Waziri Chikawe alisema mfumo wa utoaji taarifa kwa uwazi umekuwa
muhimu kwani unaleta uwazi pamoja na uwajibikaji katika utoaji wa huduma.
Mkutano huo ambao unaudhuriwa na mamia ya washiriki kutoka nchi 23 Afrika,
unalengo la kutoa elimu pamoja na kuhamasisha umma kuhusu utoaji wa taarifa kwa
uwazi katika sehemu mbalimbali barani Afrika. Wapili kulia meza kuu, Mkurugenzi
wa Benki ya Dunia nchini, Bella Bird. Anayefuata ni Katibu Mkuu Kiongozi, Ombeni
Sefue.
Sehemu
ya washiriki wa Mkutano wa Kimataifa wa Mfumo wa Takwimu Huria Barani Afrika
wakimsikiliza Rais Jakaya Kikwete (hayupo pichani) kwa makini wakati akitoa
hotuba yake katika Ukumbi wa Mikutano wa Mwalimu Julius Nyerere jijini Dar es
Salaam leo. Katika hotuba yake Rais Kikwete alisema jukumu la utoaji wa taarifa
kwa umma si kwa serikali pekee bali hata kwa Sekta binafsi pamoja na taasisi
zingine zisizokuwa za serikali zinatakiwa kufuata mfumo huo ili kuleta
maendeleo katika nchi husika. Mkutano huo ambao unaudhuriwa na mamia ya
washiriki kutoka nchi 23 barani Afrika unalengo la kutoa elimu pamoja na
kuhamasisha umma kuhusu utoaji wa taarifa kwa uwazi katika sehemu mbalimbali
barani humo.
Mkurugenzi
wa Benki ya Dunia nchini, Bella Bird akitoa hotuba yake katika Mkutano wa
Kimataifa wa Mfumo wa Takwimu Huria Barani Afrika unaofanyika katika Ukumbi wa
Mikutano wa Mwalimu Julius Nyerere jijini Dar es Salaam. Mkutano huo ambao
unaudhuriwa na mamia ya washiriki kutoka nchi 23 Afrika, unalengo la kutoa
elimu pamoja na kuhamasisha umma kuhusu utoaji wa taarifa kwa uwazi katika
sehemu mbalimbali barani Afrika. Wenyeji wa mkutano huo ni Serikali ya Tanzania
wakishirikiana na Benki ya Dunia.
Rais
Jakaya Kikwete akiwa ameshika ndege ambayo inapaa bila rubani (Drone) na yenye
uwezo wa kuchukua matukio mbalimbali ikiwa angani, wakati alipotembelea Banda
la Buni Hub ambalo lipo chini ya Tume ya Taifa ya Sayansi na Teknolojia, mara
baada ya kufungua Mkutano wa Kimataifa wa Mfumo wa Takwimu Huria Barani Afrika
unaofanyika katika Ukumbi wa Mikutano wa Mwalimu Julius Nyerere jijini Dar es
Salaam. Wapili kulia ni Mtaalamu wa Benki ya Dunia, Frederick Mbuya akitoa
elimu ya ndege hiyo kwa Rais Kikwete, Waziri wa Mambo ya Ndani ya Nchi, Mathias
Chikawe (kulia kwa Rais Kikwete) pamoja na viongozi wengine walioambatana na
Rais huyo.
Picha zote na Felix Mwagara,
Wizara ya Mambo ya Ndani ya Nchi.
SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY DR. JAKAYA MRISHO
KIKWETE, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC
OF TANZANIA DURING OPENING OF AFRICA OPEN
DATA CONFERENCE HELD AT JULIUS NYERERE
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE,
DAR ES SALAAM 4TH SEPTEMBER, 2015
Honorable Saada Mkuya, Minister for Finance;
Honorable Mathias Chikawe, Minister for Home Affairs;
Honorable Celina Kombani, Minister for
Public Service Management;
Ambassador Ombeni Sefue, Chief Secretary;
Your Excellencies Ambassadors;
Permanent Secretaries, Deputy Permanent Secretaries;
World Band Country Director for Tanzania,
Uganda, and Burundi;
Head of International Organizations based in Tanzania;
Representatives from CSO and Private Sector;
The Media;
Members from Mass Media;
Distinguished Delegates;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am pleased to get
the opportunity to grace the first ever Open Data Africa Conference in the
history of our dear continent. The fact that it’s the first ever, conference
signifies the dawn of a new era in Africa’s transformation towards knowledge
based development. It gives me great pride that my country has been chosen to
host this first conference. To us, it is a gesture of acknowledgment and
appreciation for the strides we are making to embrace openness in governance
through open data. I thank the organizers for the trust you have reposed on my
country. In a special way, I thank the World Bank for partnering with us in the
preparations of this conference.
I thank you
Honourable Mathias Chikawe, Minister for Home Affairs for your introductory
remarks. I commend you and your team for the excellent facilitation of this conference.
Please continue to do the good work so that all delegations stay happy and the
conference concludes successfully. I am told delegates come from governments,
civil society, academia and business from 30 countries in Africa and
development partners. Such a good response reflects the growing interest on
open data agenda across the continent. It goes without saying that, this conference
will spur more interest and make future conferences be even more successful.
Theme
of the Conference
Ladies and gentlemen;
I
commend the organizers for choosing a very opportune theme for this conference
namely “Developing Africa Through Open
Data”. I totally subscribe to the idea that data is an important tool for
development. No successful and meaningful development will take place without
the use of data. Data assists us with
the diagnosis of the social and economic challenges, informs policy choices and
decisions and helps us with monitoring and evaluation of progress and impact. Much
as data does not in itself, change the world, it is also true however that it makes
change possible.
Information
technology has revolutionalized the way we collect, use and make sense of
data. I has made data open. The impact
of open data has been immense in all walks of life. There is hardly anyone
today who has not benefited directly or indirectly from data being open. Open
data has freed science, spurred innovations and making collaboration across countries
and continent in solving global challenges possible. It has brought together
the researchers, policy makers, financiers, private sector and civil society
across the world to work together to find solutions to world’s challenges in a
manner that has never been seen before.
Africa has not been
spared by this development. As a matter of fact we have no choice but to join everybody
else on this planet. We cannot honestly speak of developing Africa today without
improving on ways we source, process and make use of data. More importantly, we
must transform ways we manage data by increasingly making public data open and
shared. In that way we will enable decision makers to make informed decisions. We
will also empower the public to use data to hold the public officials accountable.
In that way we will enhance good governance and take Africa to the next level.
Challenges
of Open Data in Africa
Ladies and gentlemen;
One teething
challenge you will find across African governments today is the lack of quality
data. This has made planning, policy making and policy execution become a
challenge. As a result, a number of policies and interventions have failed to
produce intended impact. It has all been a source of wastage of valuable resources
and loss of opportunities to solve development challenges.
It is evident,
therefore, that there exist in Africa a disturbing relationship between
underdevelopment and underutilization of quality data (and the vice versa). In
many cases, this has been a function of lack of capacity on the part of
responsible government institutions to collect, process and store data. In many
of our countries, budgetary constraints, poor infrastructure and lack of
qualified human capital have been responsible for this sad state of affairs. At
times also administrative and policy oversight or shortsightened on the
importance of data are to blame. In some ways legal and institutional systems
have played a part in restricting access and sharing of data within and among
various institutions.
There is a need,
therefore, for African governments to explore ways and means to promote open
data in their countries. There is need to undertake requisite reforms in some
aspects of governance to support open data. Open Data strives best where there
is transparency, rule of law, and freedom of expression to mention but a few. There
is a need also to strengthen national institutions responsible for data management
such as bureau of statistics so that stakeholder’s demand for credible,
reliable and timely data can be met.
Open
Data Beyond Governments
Ladies and gentlemen;
It gives me much
comfort that this Conference will discuss among many issues the role of the private sector in the open data
agenda. You should consider including the civil society as well. For quite a
long time, the issue of openness of data was seen as a matter of the government
and public institutions alone. The private sector and civil society
organizations are not only consumers of data but also important sources of
data. It is about time that the demand for transparency on the side of the
private sector is also heard and honoured. As governments making their data
open such as revenues and expenditures; the private sector too has a share of responsibility
to open their data as well, regarding revenues, tax payments and profits.
The demand for
transparency in private sector is not alien neither is it new. We are already
witnessing this in the extractive industries under the Extractive Industry
Transparency Initiative (EITI). It is working so well in increasing
transparency and accountability on the part of both governments and investors. Now,
time has come to do the same with other sectors of the economy and other
players whose work impacts the lives of the general public. That information is
vital for the governments and the people to enhance governance and management
of the economy.
Open
Data and Data Sovereignty
Ladies and gentlemen;
African
governments are also grappling with the dilemma between promoting open data on
one hand and maintaining data sovereignty on the other. The challenge has
always been about where to strike a balance between the two. It must be
understood that open data does not and should not mean absolute freedom to
produce, access and publish data. I subscribe to the view that, open data
should not in any way jeopardize national security rather it should enhance it.
It is my considerable opinion that data relating to national security issues
should not be made public for obvious reasons.
Approaches
to open data must, therefore, answer the following important questions: To whom
the data is opened to? Which data should be made open? Why should data be open?
When should data be open? And how should data be made open? Indeed, open data
and data sovereignty can co-exist, and should co-exist. It is up to us to
strike that delicate balance to avoid unnecessary contradictions. It requires the
understanding and cooperation of all stakeholders.
Tanzania’s
Experience with Open Data
Ladies and gentlemen;
Tanzania embraces
open data and sees in it an opportunity to consolidate and entrench democracy
and good governance. We have taken measures and initiatives to promote transparency
and accountability through open data. For that reasons we voluntarily joined international
initiatives geared to promote open data, transparency and accountability such
as Open Government Partnership (OGP), Extractive Industry Transparency
Initiative (EITI) and African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
We publish citizens’
budget to enhance public understanding of the government budget, and reports of
the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) are published and made public for
every Tanzanian to see. They are also debated in Parliament. As you know
Parliament sessions are broadcast live on television. Over and above that, in
line with our commitment to OGP, we have put in place a government portal with
information and guidance about: how one can get public services; acts and
legislation; regulations; policies; speeches and other important government
information.
In our resolve to
improve government’s service delivery, we introduced the famous ‘Big Results
Now’ model. This is a system of improving on the way we decide on priority
areas of action, monitor, implementation and enhance accountability on the part
of ministries, government agencies and officials. In this regard we chose water;
energy; transport; agriculture; education; resource mobilization; health and
strengthening of the business environment as key priorities. Through this
system government implementing agencies act in an open manner, made data open
thus empowering the public to be informed and able to track the progress and
put the duty bearers to task. Therefore open data has been an embedded part of
the BRN process with the data in those priority areas being made public.
Our experience has
taught us that, open data must be backed and supported with a facilitative
legal regime to guarantee access and effective use of the open data. For that
reason, we have enacted the Statistics Act of 2015 that has empowered the
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) as a sole autonomous body, with powers to
direct Ministerial Departments and Agencies to adhere to the principles and
standard of production of quality data. To complement the open data, we have
initiated a process to enact the Freedom of Information Act, on which the draft
has already been presented to Parliament.
Tanzania’s
Commitment
Ladies and gentlemen;
Tanzania shall
continue to support and live up to her commitment on open data. In January
2015, we endorsed the Guidelines for Open Data in Tanzania. The guidelines serve
as a tool for Ministries, Government Departments and Agencies to provide data
to the Open Data Government Portal. We are also in the process of coming up
with the Open Data Policy that will put in place procedures for identifying
government open data, institutional framework for open data management,
establish one window where the public can access to data, and put in place procedures
of uploading and updating data. This way we will enhance for public access to government
data in a friendly manner that allows the use and re-use of data for
socio-economic development. Ultimately our intention is to enact an Open Data
Act.
These and many other
steps we have taken speak volumes about our resolve to uphold open data. For
us, open data is the way to go if we are to transform our country from Least
Developed Country to a Middle Income Country, and ultimately to become an
advanced economy. We are looking at the future of open data in Tanzania with
much optimism. There is no reason or intentions of back tracking. You can count on us.
Conclusion
Ladies and gentlemen;
There is no doubt
that Africa needs to embrace open data in her development agenda. It is an idea
whose time has come. It is the way to go about achieving Africa’s Vision 2063
of “an
integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and
representing a dynamic force in global arena”. Indeed, the road towards
achieving open data will not be without difficulties or challenges. However, it
is the best way forward to a better Africa. Africa where democracy, good
governments and development reign. I believe the rewards of open data far
outweigh the costs.
I vest a lot of hope on
this Conference. I believe it will provide a useful platform for African
governments, private sector and civil society to create an understanding on how
best we can approach open data in the African context. I am glad that, this
conference will be the beginning of annual African Open Data Conferences in
future. Tanzania pledges support and participation in the coming future
conferences for they provide an avenue to share experiences and best practices.
With these many words, I therefore wish you successful discussions and
deliberations.
I
now declare the first African Open Data Conference officially open.
I thank you all for listening!
Asanteni sana!
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