Sunbird AI
For General Operating Support
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Amount$550,000
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Program
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Date Awarded10/14/2019
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Term24 Months
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Type of SupportGeneral Support/Organization
Overview
Sunbird AI is a new nonprofit organization in Uganda focused on translating artificial intelligence and data technologies into usable products for societal good in Africa. This grant will support a start-up phase for Sunbird AI. The organization’s internal goals include a focus on organizational building and product development. External-facing goals focus on engagement with partners outside the technology space to determine how sophisticated data analysis can be a resource in informing policy change.
About the Grantee
Grantee Website
sunbird.ai
Address
P.O. Box 11296, Makerere Hill Road, Kampala, Uganda
Grants to this Grantee
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 Sunbird AI's portion of the collaboration, and (among other activities) will support the pilot projects that demonstrate the potential of AI and other data-driven technologies for improving decision making at the urban level in Uganda. (Strategy: Evidence-Informed Policymaking)
