Reflection on Developing Capacity for the Use of Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition

This Webinar will bring together GODAN Action project partners who have been working since 2016 to develop and implement approaches to developing capacity for the use of open data in agriculture, land and nutrition. The presenters will discuss their experience, lessons learnt and results from curriculum development, MOOC development, face-to-face training, and developing communities of trainers.  This approach has already reached over 5000 people, and the project has begun its M&E and Uptake phase. Invited guest speaker Boniface Akuku from Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) will reflect on the impact the project has made to the organisation. The Webinar will also give GODAN Action an opportunity to share the widely available resources and networks for continued uptake amongst interested stakeholders.
 

About the Panelists

Boniface Akuku, is the Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO). Previously he worked as Chief of Information Technology (IT) at US Army Medical Research Unit (USAMRU). He has more than 15 years of experience and in-depth knowledge in the Information Technology Industry that includes expertise in systems development, architecture, integration and telecommunication. Notable specific expertise include management of research data, information and knowledge, he has undertaken several scientific research assignments as a Principal Investigator (PI) and co-Principal Investigator (co-PI). His research interests include informatics, knowledge management, open data, data science and Big Data. He was the climate information prize winner in 2016 for developing a platform that tackles climate change impacts on farmers in Kenya.

Ilkay Holt is a freelance consultant in information management, currently working for FAO of the UN involved in Research4Life Initiative, on Global Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) Action Project, and for the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) on their OpenAIRE Advance Project for the international alignment of open repositories. Ilkay is a librarian by training with expertise in research management, licensing, open access and open science. Across projects in which she is currently involved, she provides capacity development activities including conducting workshops, developing content, designing and delivering Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC) on access to information, open data management. She also represents Turkey's country chapter in the Creative Commons Global Network. 

Chipo Msengezi is Project Coordinator at the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP-EU (CTA). Since 2017 she has been working on the  GODAN Action Project, managing a work package to strengthen the skills of data users, producers and intermediaries to engage effectively with open data and maximise its potential for impact in the agriculture and nutrition sectors. She has worked in the ICT4D space, capacity development and knowledge management sector for nine years. In that time Chipo worked on various programmes in Sub-Sahara Africa to enhance capacity amongst the research and education communities in the latest information tools and advocate for the adoption of new technologies to drive development.