Technical assistance project to support change management for Open Data in Benin

Open Data is still poorly developed in Benin. Indeed, according to the results of a study conducted by Open Data Watch in 2020, Benin ranks in 83rd place out of 187 countries for its Open Data policy.

Benin’s National Development Plan 2018-2025 identifies weaknesses related to the functioning of the administration. It indicates that public policies do not facilitate access to information and data, which are also either produced little, obsolete or non-existent. This is not conducive to accountability in management and governance.

However, the Government’s objective is to position Benin as a digital service platform in West Africa. A new governance in the digital sector was thereby established in 2016, including the creation of the Digital Council which, under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic, has a mandate to steer and validate the development policy in the sector.

In this context, a technical assistance project has been set up to support the change management for Open Data in Benin. The objective is to help set up and launch the Open Data initiative, by providing an appropriate framework and initiating the change management and the first activities to set the Beninese initiative in motion.

The project will support the work of the Agency for Information Systems and Services (ASSI) for the reform towards a digital administration. It will also set up several activities in four interrelated areas:

1. Establishment of 360° Open Data regulations

2. Development of the Open Data culture

3. Pilot development of cases of data use and reuse

4. Establishment of Open Data governance

The project contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 16: “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development”.