The All Things Data conference being co-hosted by the City of Cape Town in conjunction with the African Data Forum is currently under way in the Council Chambers. It brings together some of the best data experts to share their knowledge and promote innovation. Read more below:
The two-day All Things Data conference kicked off this morning with captains of the data industry and other stakeholders to facilitate a sharing of knowledge and expertise on all things data.
The event is part of Africa’s leading data science conference series which connects business leaders with professionals in data science and analytics – diving into some of the continent’s greatest data-driven opportunities.
‘I trust that there will be some valuable knowledge shared over the next two days and we will be able to apply the lessons learned from the conference in order to more smartly address the socio-economic challenges facing our economy and our municipality,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services Councillor Raelene Arendse.
The City has previously taken the lead in terms of making public sector data available for free to anyone who wishes to use it. There are already some tangible examples of the benefits of the City’s Open Data Portal, which allows business to tap into the City’s data and then use creative and innovative thinking to produce new products/applications.
During her opening address at the conference, Councillor Arendse said that the City is making its data available precisely to maximise its use and thereby benefit the public.
‘We have set a goal to become a more data-driven organisation in line with our Organisational Development and Transformation Plan. Our data is available in a useable format at no charge and by opening up our data sets, we increase transparency and accountability. This in turn empowers residents and civil society organisations. We encourage more businesses and innovators to access the free data to make more resident-facing services available on digital platforms. This will help to further enhance service delivery to our residents,’ said Councillor Arendse.
The City’s Open Data Portal provides residents with access to some of the City’s huge datasets, covering everything from mapping of the urban edge, to the location of recreational facilities and fire stations, to tenders awarded, among a whole host of other datasets.
Below is a snapshot of the City’s Open Data Portal:
- 100 datasets available
- Approximately 27 000 datasets have been downloaded since February 2015
- On average about 1 100 downloads per month
- The top five datasets most frequently downloaded include tenders awarded (2 067), resorts (1 051), street addresses (1 023), budgets (904), and air quality (887)
‘Based on available information, the data is being accessed by researchers, small businesses, professional consultancies, non-governmental organisations, entrepreneurs and residents. It is no longer business as usual at the City. We are looking to become a more evidence-based organisation that will be driven by data while focusing tirelessly on our customers.
‘Our investment in technology platforms has positioned us well in terms of this goal. The growing volumes of data generated by and available to the City, which will likely be added to given the increasing use of smart technology, mean that we are in a good position to use our data to understand the needs of our customers better, increase response times, monitor trends and manage performance. We are getting on with building a data-driven organisation and the most digitally connected city on the African continent,’ said Councillor Arendse.