The latest in our series of popular GODAN/ CTA Webinars, produced by Chipo Msengezi and moderated by Suchith Anand - Measuring the Impact of Open Data Initiatives in Agriculture and Nutrition - is now available to view.

This Webinar discusses an open data evaluation framework that focuses on process and outcome oriented evaluation of open data initiatives, with an emphasis on earlier stage assessment, as this offers better options to monitor and steer ongoing initiatives, and design new ones.
Open data efforts often do not follow a clear impact assessment methodology. Nevertheless, insight into the (potential) impact of open data is key - to monitor and improve the performance of open data initiatives, to assess the effectiveness of funding and demonstrate their value, and to learn how to best achieve impact under local conditions when developing new interventions. The GODAN Action methodology for impact evaluation combines elements already identified by other methods whilst also taking account of newer perspectives, such as the political economy of ecosystems where open data initiatives are being implemented. 

Presenters

Rob Lokers is a project manager of ICT projects and research infrastructures at Wageningen Environmental Research, Wageningen UR. He has a long year experience in information system development in scientific and commercial environments. His expertise is in ICT and data science in various domains (agriculture, food security, environment), research infrastructures, knowledge technology and agro- environmental modelling. Rob’s focus is on co-creating innovative knowledge infrastructures and applications that advance the level of agro-environmental applications by exploiting the possibilities of Open Data, Big Data and the Semantic Web. He has led projects and work packages in large international research projects and service contracts, e.g. research infrastructure initiatives like the FP7 SemaGrow and Trees4Future projects and knowledge platforms like Climate-ADAPT, the European Platform for Climate Adaptation. Currently Rob coordinates among others the GODAN Action project, focussing on achieving impact by engaging with open data in agriculture and nutrition.

Laura Miguel Ayala Laura Miguel Ayala is a project manager at Wageningen Environmental Research, working on impact assessment in the various domains of expertise of Wageningen University and Research, among others water management and land use. Laura is currently working on impact evaluation of open data in the GODAN Action project and she is also coordinating the impact evaluation for the LEGEND programme of the Land Portal Foundation. Laura has a broad experience in international research and development projects, among others in Latin America and recently worked on the implementation of an integrated water management climate smart coffee production.

Dr Evangelia Berdou is a research consultant with 10 years’ experience in designing and undertaking critical and applied research in the field of international development. Her main area of expertise is the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and positive social, economic and political change. In recent years, her research has focused on: a) the use of mobile phones and digital platforms in supporting citizen voice and improving public service delivery, b) the application of open source, open development principles and models of production in the South and, c) the new opportunities for research and evaluation afforded by open data and big data. She has undertaken applied and critical research for the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), UNICEF, the Humanitarian Innovation Fund and the World Bank.