About D4D Asia

Data for Development (D4D): Asia hub aims to improve availability and impact of open data and data for development in Asia. Launched in 2018 by the International Development Research Center, it is partnered with Open Development Initiative (ODI), Sinar Project (Malaysia) to strategically coordinate research and collaborative initiatives in the region. With contributors across the region, D4D AsiaHub aims to build the strength of this community of practice through increasing the quality, impact, and sustainability of initiatives in the region and establishing links with regional and global networks, building on the vision outlined in the Open Data in Asia 2020 report.

What do we do?

The D4D Asia Hub works across Asia to expand the community of open data and data governance practitioners in the region, which includes open data technologists, civil society, government officials, donors, and researchers. It collaborates with contributors across countries and sectors to capture and share locally-relevant expertise and knowledge. These activities support increased and improved civil society impact, government actions and private sector adoption and innovation.

Objectives:

  • To expand a community of practice of Asian open data practitioners across different sub-regions and sectors;
  • To provide support to existing and nascent local and regional open data initiatives in areas of anti-corruption, data journalism, land and environment, Indigenous Data Sovereignty, legislative openness, business and innovation; and
  • To capture and share Asian open data knowledge and experiences within the region and globally, as outputs in support of increased and improved civil society impact, government actions and private sector adoption and innovation.

Who are our partners?

 East-West Management Institute - Open Development Initiative 

The East-West Management Institute (EWMI) is an international not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting civil society, economic and legal reforms in developing countries. Its Open Development Initiative (ODI), whose Director is based in Myanmar, has developed partnerships with the nonprofit, private, public and academic sectors over many years. 

Open Development Mekong (ODM) is a multi-country open data and knowledge platform, with country sites in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as a regional site. Established in 2011 in Cambodia, over the last decade ODM has grown to support regional needs by making information on development trends in the Mekong Region open and accessible. This is done by combining open data, data journalism, data visualization, and research capacities and approaches to provide unbiased resources to  increase public awareness, enable individual analysis, inform rigorous debate, and facilitate constructive dialogues from a social, economic, and environmental perspective. 

Sinar Project, Malaysia

Sinar Project is a Malaysian civic tech initiative using open technology and applications to systematically make important information public and more accessible to citizens. It conducts active research and builds open source tools for open parliament, open government, anti-corruption and transparency, especially in politically and technically constrained environments. Sinar Project also does research, development and training on digital rights and safety of at-risk groups such as journalists, as well as monitoring and testing of Internet censorship. It also provides support for implementation of its tools and open data to other CSOs in ASEAN. Sinar Project was the winner of ISIF Asia 2014 and Open Contracting Global Innovation Challenge for 2017.