Open Data Portal - A Technical Enabler to Drive Innovation in Namibia

Promising a world of endless opportunities, open data is increasingly becoming a global phenomenon, attracting interests from many governments, such as the United States of America, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada and Kenya to mention a few. Furthermore, institutions such as the United Nations, World Bank and the African Development Bank. Seeking ways to harness value from open data, these countries and institutions have established open data portals to serve as technical enablers, easing access to public data and acting as one-stop shop for a wide variety of data ranging from environment, education, health, transportation, geo-location, budget, weather, consumer products and consumer finance. These portals do not only enable citizens to access a wide variety of datasets but through APIs allow citizens to transform the data into innovative applications or solutions that solve local challenges and societal problems, thus, improve quality of life for citizens. Sequel to the possibilities that surrounds open data portal, it will be helpful to have an open data portal in Namibia. Consequently, to bridge the gap between the citizens, data and information, an open data portal becomes necessary. In this paper we provide practical, yet technical insights on how an open data portal we developed will ease access to information and facilitate the development of innovative solutions that will aid communities in solving societal problems in Namibia.