United Nations Development Programme
For The United Nations Global Pulse Lab Kampala Program
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Amount$1,000,000
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Program
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Date Awarded12/16/2022
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Term24.0 Months
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Type of SupportGeneral Support/Program
Overview
Pulse Lab Kampala is a lab of the UN Global Pulse network. Global Pulse is the United Nations Secretary-General’s cross-pillar hub for digital innovation and experimentation. Its mission is to work at the intersection of digital innovation and the human sciences to inform, inspire, and strengthen the ability of the U.N. family and those it serves to anticipate, respond, and adapt to the challenges of today and tomorrow. To achieve its mission, Global Pulse has established five distinct programs: Rebuilding Trust, Inclusion, Fair Digital Commons, Crisis Prevention and Response, and UN Transformation. With Hewlett’s support and Pulse Lab Kampala, through the UN Global Pulse program on a Fair Digital Commons, this grant seeks to advance Uganda’s inclusion in the global emerging digital economy while fostering safe access to data. More specifically, Pulse Lab Kampala will support the government of Uganda in developing a national data strategy that focuses on enabling data use and reuse, including the development and efficient use of digital public goods. This instrument would serve as an example for the countries in the region seeking to explore how to foster inclusive and thriving national digital economies while minimizing technology risks and harms of data use. (Strategy: Evidence-Informed Policymaking)
About the Grantee
Grantee Website
www.undp.org
Address
One United Nations Plaza, New York, NY, 10017-3515, United States
Grants to this Grantee
for practical and resilient data systems in Uganda’s new cities
As part of Uganda's Vision 2040 and related National Development Plans, the government of Uganda has focused on urbanization as key to economic growth. This requires regional and strategic cities beyond Kampala, and to that end, since 2020, the government has been reorganizing the administration of several existing major towns into “new cities.” This will create new opportunities, but it will also put a strain on infrastructure and services. As a result, data and evidence use in decision making at this urban level, together with sound governance of that data and evidence, will be critical to these new cities’ success. To prepare for this, three current Hewlett Foundation grantees based in Uganda — Sunbird AI, UN Global Pulse Lab Kampala, and ToroDev — have been working together with the new city authorities in Fort Portal and Jinja to identify these cities’ core data and evidence needs; train city officials on how to use data and evidence to make decisions; support the institutionalization of data use at the city level; and pilot new data and AI technologies to aid in decision making. This supplemental grant is for UN Global Pulse Lab Kampala’s portion of the collaboration, which will include (among other things) ensuring a direct link between the imminent National Data Strategy of Uganda (a process that UN Global Pulse Lab Kampala is leading with the national government), and the work being done at the urban level. (Strategy: Evidence-Informed Policymaking)
for practical and resilient data systems in Uganda’s new cities
The government of Uganda is planning to create 15 new cities from existing towns by the end of 2023. This will create new opportunities, but it will also put a strain on infrastructure and services. As a result, data and evidence use in decision making at this urban level, together with sound governance of that data and evidence, will be critical to these new cities' success. To prepare for this, three current Hewlett Foundation grantees based in Uganda — Sunbird AI, UN Global Pulse Lab Kampala, and ToroDev — will work together with the new city authorities in Fort Portal and Jinja to identify these cities' core data and evidence needs; train city officials on how to use data and evidence to make decisions; support the institutionalization of data use at the city level; and pilot new data and AI technologies to aid in decision making. This grant is for UN Global Pulse Lab Kampala's portion of the collaboration and plays an important role in ensuring a clear through line between the government of Uganda's national data strategy (which Pulse Lab Kampala is coordinating), and this emergent work at the local (urban) level.
