Mapping the data landscape within the government of Zambia
This purpose of this study is to comprehensively map data within the Zambian government. This will then contribute to creating a data lab which will centralise and analyse the data, highlighting quality as well as any gaps. This will promote using comprehensive data to inform decision-making by policymakers.
The main motivation for this study is to promote evidence-based policymaking within the Government of Zambia. For policy to be effective and efficient, a robust administrative data infrastructure is needed. Currently there is a lack of consolidated information on underlying characteristics of Zambia’s administrative data. The aim of this project is to comprehensively map the data within the Government of Zambia.
The report will provide guidance on using administrative data as well as laying out the foundation for a data lab within the government. The data lab established by the IGC and Ministry of Finance and National Planning (MoFNP) will establish, centralise, clean and analyse the data. As well as informing decision-making by policymakers, this will provide better access to data for researchers and refine policies around data collection and utilisation. The data mapping project will be integral to the success of establishing the data lab.
The team will engage in consultations and interviews with relevant government stakeholders most notably ministries and government agencies. Together with MoFNP the team will collect information on the type of data stored, assess the quality, if the data is currently being used to inform policy and determine its timeliness. The findings will be used to generate key use cases which demonstrate how administrative data could be utilised for policy-relevant research and government decision making. The report will present findings of the data mapping and highlight data gaps, providing recommendations for improving data governance and infrastructure.