data for good ?

@DirkGor | @Taarifa_org

Data for Good?

Dirk Gorissen | @DirkGor

PyData London Meetup2 Sep 2014


Why are you here?


Why are you here?

http://r4stats.com/articles/popularity/


Why are you here?

http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/uk/data%20scientist.do


Data Scientist


Data Scientist?

"Data scientist is just a sexed upword for statistician.”

- Nate Silver


Data Scientist

http://timoelliott.com/blog/2011/10/data-analysts-data-scientists-and-the-rest-of-us.html


Data Science


Data Science

Best question to ask if you want to know if your date will have sex with you on the first date.

However…

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2014/03/06/1297633/govt-aims-significant-poverty-reduction

www.newstarthomes.org.ukhttp://blog.lisacall.com/2013/04/happy-birthday-to-me/

http://nimbuseco.com/2013/01/deforestation-and-pollution-facts/ http://www.diplomatmagazine.nl/

2014/03/02/corruption-netherlands-europe-affirmative-2/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/22/us-arms-treaty-un-idUSBRE92L16I20130322



Data for Good

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/beyond-ad-clicks-using-big-data-social-good

kaythaney/Flickr


Data for Good

http://dssg.io/


Data for Good

http://devinit.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Data-Revolution-DI-briefing.pdf


http://www.meh.ro/2010/03/21/seriously-guys/


Its complex…

http://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/how-to-plan-when-you-dont-know-what-is-going-to-happen-redesigning-aid-for-complex-systems/


Tanzania

• ~1.5 times the size of France• Population: ~50 million• Life expectancy: 60.8

http://www.galdu.org/web/index.php?&odas=5591&giella1=eng

http://gorillasofuganda.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Tanzania_Safari_Of_Tanzania.jpg


Open Government Partnership

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/07/01/remarks-president-obama-and-president-kikwete-tanzania-joint-press-confe


OGP

• Launched by 8 nations in NYC in 2011– Goals

• Promote transparency• Empower citizens• Fight corruption• Harness new technologies• Strengthen governance

– Independent tracking and reporting

• Big Results Now program– Aim: become a middle income country by 2025– Focus areas: energy, natural gas, agriculture, water, education,

transport, resources mobilization


OGP

http://opengov.go.tz/files/publications/attachments/TANZANIA_OGP_SECOND_ACTION_PLAN_2014_-_2016-2_FINAL_213321345_sw.pdf


Water


Water Point Data

• As part of OGP goals a dataset of 75k water points was released– Export of the water point mapping & updating system– Results from 2013 nationwide survey– Constructed over the last 50 years by different organizations

& NGOs• Data– Excel files– Static snapshot– Inconsistencies & missing values– License?

https://www.aht-group.com/cms/index.php?id=597


Water Point Data

• 2013 data estimate that only ~54% of the water points are functional…

• This is about drinking water!

http://blog.msabi.org/2013/02/evaluationassessment-in-ulanga-district.html


Taarifa

“Building the infrastructure of nations”


Infrastructure Reporting

• Connecting citizens with local government– “This public toilet is broken!”

• Helping governments prioritize & track performance– “Which areas need most attention?”


Infrastructure Reporting


Performance Tracking & Prioritzation


Technical Stack


Taarifa In Tanzania

• Recipient of a $100k World Bank Innovation Grant• Citizens can use web app & SMS interface to report

on water point functionality– Help district water engineer schedule and prioritize

• Ministry can use dashboard to understand population reach & determine strategy

• Working with local dev team in Dar Es Salaam


Demo!

http://www.toddmckimmey.com/?m=20081106


Taarifa: Status

• Successful trial in Iringa• Recently presented to the ministry at the

Water Point Mapping Workshop• Currently very much in development– Hope to transition to beta over the next 4 months– Funding local developers to build capacity and

work towards eventual handover


Outlook

• More & deeper deployments• Continue to build out a local community• Working on version for school & education data• Huge impact potential– Integrate census, health, weather data, mobile payments, …– Self reporting water points though sensors– Predictive maintenance– Budget forecasting– Tackle water stealing & fraud– …


Beyond ad clicks


Lessons

• Its complex– Incentive to exaggerate problems and hide water points

• Devil is in the assumptions– What is a water point?

• One station with multiple taps?• Multiple stations that draw from the same source?

– When is a water point non functional?• Water only drips out?• There is no power so the pump does not work?• It only works in the rainy season?

• Important as drives policy & funding• Garbage In – Garbage Out


Lessons

• Technology is shiny but only an amplifier– Why an elaborate updating system if…• ...there is no cell coverage• …the engineer has no money to pay for fuel to actually

visit and fix water points?• …citizens have no confidence in the government to

actually fix things

– Why a shiny dashboard if…• …you are just going to ignore it and make decisions

based on politics


Lessons


Lessons

• We are not going to solve data collection and consistency problems

• We are not going to solve access to clean drinking water

• We are not going to magically make governments more transparent and efficient


Lessons

• We can help accelerate things in the right direction

http://www.dailypaul.com/302770/buckminster-fuller-call-me-trimtab


You can help too!• Data cleaning & processing• Data exploration• Backend python development• Front end development

– Angular, leaflet.js, d3.js, dc.js• UI / UX design• Documentation• Website design• SMS integration• Mobile apps

• https://github.com/taarifa/TaarifaWaterpoints/issues

https://github.com/taarifa/TaarifaWaterpoints/issues


Finally…

• Next time you flush……realize you are doing so with drinking water