Case Study Code for Africa
Communication does not exist in a vacuum; it is part of a total life environment. It is conditioned by a country’s economy, technological infrastructure, politics, social-cultural traditions and goals. Today, this is a growing problem throughout various countries in Africa. Cynicism about African democracy has led governments to narrow their development priorities, leaving liberties like press freedom and open data off of the agenda. Data is an important tool that makes journalism more immediate and more relevant to individual readers. Code for Africa is an organization whose key initiative is under the title “Data-Journalism”. The program aims to catalyze African media to deliver ongoing, high-quality news that engages audiences and sparks systemic change around important issues. One specific partnership is with a grassroots organization, Hacks/Hackers Africa, and helps synchronize and amplify their programs. This partnership includes evening seminars, more intensive policy roundtables, weeklong skills boot camps, advanced master classes, and Code4Democracy hackathons. The organization has expanded throughout Africa, howeverseveral chapters are in need of support and leadership to become active. This is a detailed assessment that provides a concise source of information that exposes the necessity of data-journalism in developing countries.
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