United Nations Development Programme

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)

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.