INTRODUCING MONITORING AND EVALUATION TOOLS AND ACTIVITIES TO DIGDATA GRANTEES
Millennium Foundation Kosovo (MFK) hosted a workshop with the DigData grantees of all three #DigData Challenges; labor force and education, air quality, and energy. This workshop was designed to introduce the grantees to MFK’s Monitoring and Evaluation activities which aim to assess the impact of the data that has been collected and become available through grantees projects; as well as the way this data is being used by institutions, civil society, private sector, and individuals. Furthermore, the workshop served as an excellent platform to facilitate the cooperation between grantees of different challenges to join their efforts in achieving better results.
During his opening remarks, Petrit Selimi, MFK’s CEO, highly valued the impact of open data, and MFK’s DigData challenges to foster transparency. ”DigData Open Data Challenge is among MFK’s core activities to increase institutional transparency while also serving as a bridge between Government and civil society, private sector, and individuals”- Mr. Selimi said.
Sarah Olmstead, MCC Country Director, stated: “Even though a small activity, DigData has a big impact, and we have gotten a lot of engagement out of it. Hopefully, it will bridge the gap in Governmental trust toward civil society and the other way around.” Ms. Olmstead added.
Genta Agaj, M&E Specialist, walked the participants through monitoring and evaluation activities for the DigData project, focusing on key indicators and the activities we will carry out to monitor the impact of open data on transparency.
At the end, an open discussion took place and DigData grantees present at the workshop had the opportunity to discuss their experience; challenges they encountered, and lessons they learned throughout the process.
DigData is Kosovo’s foremost platform to promote transparency through Open Data Challenges that have been organized around clusters of themes identified by MFK and local stakeholders. DigData Challenge seeks to create productive partnerships between government, civil society (NGOs, the media, think tanks), and private sector and support innovation in data use and analysis.