The false economy of Statistics Botswana incapacity
Friday, January 30, 2015
The Open Data Barometer (ODB) global report released recently says that Botswana has been lumped into a cluster of ‘capacity constrained’ countries that are facing challenges in establishing sustainable open data initiatives as a result of limited government or civil society capacity.
Open data refers to data that is proactively published, and made available without charge, in readable file formats and without restrictions on use. While there is a willingness to make government data available in Botswana, observers say in practice, availability is constrained by lack of resources, as Statistics Botswana is terribly under-resourced in relation to what is required.
The BDP as a party known to have ample resources has always held its primaries well in time, but this time around that was not the case. The first leg of the primaries was held last weekend, with the final leg being billed for the coming weekend. This time around, the BDP failed to shine in its primary elections. The elections were chaotic; most if not all polling stations didn't open at the specified time of 6am. Loyal BDP members braved the...