Friday lunchtime lectures are for everyone and are free to attend. You bring your lunch, we provide tea and coffee, an interesting talk, and enough time to get back to your desk.

You can watch the lecture here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRA-SRLawoc

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a range of global objectives to improve the state of the world by 2030, from ending poverty to improving global health, tackling climate change to promoting sustainable economic growth

Spearheaded by the UN, the SDGs offer specific targets and indicators for all organisations working to promote global development – from governments to charities, researchers to community groups – to work towards in order to help reach the goals by 2030.

Data will be crucial to achieving and measuring progress towards the SDGs. In this lunchtime lecture we will hear from three open data leaders working to achieve SDGs in different contexts. In particular, their work supports Goal 17 and its sub-target to increase the availability of high-quality data in national contexts, and part of Goal 16, to provide access to justice for all.

Linet Kwamboka Nyang’au
As coordinator of Kenya’s Open Data Initiative, will reflect on experience she’s gained creating policies and partnerships to encourage government institutions to open their data, ensure government transparency and involve citizens in decision making.

Sandra Elena
As coordinator of the Open Justice Programme at Argentina’s Ministry of Justice, Sandra will share insights into what it takes to convene over 50 judicial institutions around a standardised regulatory framework for producing and publishing data, as well as engaging civil society and promoting new technologies as part of the Justice 2020 programme.

Neil Hoorn
As Open Data Project Manager in the municipal government of Cape Town, Neil has has been instrumental in the rapid development of the City of Cape Town’s Open Data Project. Neil will talk about how he managed the process, along with how he aligns open data policy and programmes with smart city goals.

The panel will be at ODIHQ as part of the Open Data Leaders Network.

The panel will be chaired by ODI Writer/Editor Anna Scott.