A Global Pulse team has worked in Kampala since the beginning of 2011 to foster partnerships between government, the United Nations and private sector, to understand information gaps and national priorities, identify potentially valuable data sources, and develop a strategic plan for solving local problems. There are three big data UN sponsored labs all over the world. These labs are subsidiaries of UN’s Global pulse labs network and they include the Pulse labs in New York, Jakarta and recently in Kampala. The growing need to formulate data driven decisions has brought about creation of initiatives to mine data within the local areas affected. Besides the pulse lab in Kampala, there are also other initiatives by some collaboration and innovation spaces such as the iHUB and Outbox’s research wings which are geared at sharing stories about the vibrant East African technology community by conducting ICT research on technology innovation within the community. The Kampala Pulse Lab is supported by the National Planning Authority (NPA) of the Ugandan Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development; the Ugandan Bureau of Statistics; the UN Resident Coordinator; and Makerere University among others. The Lab will build on UNICEF’s work in Uganda on technology innovation and mobile phones for rapid data collection and analysis. Image via Global Pulse lab
