African countries are generally ranked lowly in embracing information technologies in the public service. FILE PHOTO | NMG
The lack of access to free, up-to-date and machine-readable
government data stands in the way of Kenya tapping into opportunities
brought by artificial intelligence, a Nation Newsplex analysis reveals.
The
country tops Africa and ranks 52 globally out of 194 countries on the
government’s readiness to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) in public
services but only manages positions seven in the continent and 78 out of
94 globally in the availability of government data, according to two
key reports.
The Government Artificial Intelligence
Readiness Index 2019 report, by the International Development Research
Centre (IDRC) and Oxford Insights, factors in 11 inputs grouped into
four main categories — governance, infrastructure and data, skills and
education as well as government and public services.
“An AI-ready government will display both strong political will and capacity to push for innovation,” says the report.
No African country features in the top 50 AI readiness index, whereas only 12 are in the top 100.
“Not
only will they not reap the potential benefits of AI, but there is also
the danger that unequal implementation widens global inequalities,” the
report says.
The Global Open Data Index 2016/17 by the
Open Knowledge Network Foundation, on the other hand, gauges the
availability of government data and hints at how much data might be
available to model and train AI algorithms to carry out various tasks.
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Kenya scores a measly 15 percent, meaning that there is little
useful government data easily available for AI experts or learners in
Kenya to use to develop credible solutions.
This
despite access to information, which includes data, being a citizen’s
constitutional right. In comparison, the leading country, Taiwan, scores
90 percent.
According to the Access to Information Act
of 2016, every citizen has the right to access to information held by
the State, except in special circumstances such as when it undermines
national security or impedes due process of law.
While
the government has made efforts to ease access, this information is
largely not in as many formats as possible for widespread consumption,
in this case, machine-readable formats such as CSV, XLS, XML and JSON.
computer systems
Artificial
Intelligence, which involves training computer systems to do tasks
normally done by human beings, has been embraced by developed nations as
the next frontier of development.
The IDRC report
cites concerns over low and middle-income countries located in the
southern hemisphere lagging as their northern and more developed
counterparts move to enjoy the gains made available by AI, such as
improved quality of service and citizens’ experience of government.
In
Kenya, it would come in handy in areas such as boosting education
outcomes through personalised learning, disease control, citizen
inquiries, weather forecasts and predicting food security issues.
take-off
Over
the last decade, Kenya’s total value of the investment in AI is
estimated at Sh13 billion, which is tiny compared with South Africa’s
Sh165.8 billion and Nigeria Sh60.3 billion, according to a Microsoft’s
Artificial Intelligence in the Middle East and Africa 2019 Outlook
report.
This investment is in the form of support for start-ups and entrepreneurs, with the government investing little.
Many
ICT experts believe that data, more than any other factor, is key to
the development of AI in the country and there can’t be take-off if that
is not sorted out.
“Data is the engine of AI since AI
creates algorithms for predictions mainly based on historical data. If
that’s missing, the power and impact of AI will be suboptimal, or worse
still, have a negative impact,” explains John Walubengo, an ICT lecturer
at Multimedia University and a technology blogger, who was also part of
the Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence Task Force, whose mandate
was to provide the government with recommendations on how to harness
these emerging technologies over the next five years.
One of the proposals made by the task force, which the government formed last year, is to increase data availability.
“Local
public data tends to be in short supply. The availability and amount of
such public data would also need to be improved to ensure the
development of AI solutions that address local needs,” states the task
force report published in July this year.
In 2011,
Kenya launched its first open data portal, providing the public
government data in a machine-readable format. However, several Newsplex
spot-checks on the portal showed that some of the datasets are raw and
not up-to-date.
Government data
South
Africa leads the continent in access to government data with 40 per
cent, followed by Tunisia (22 percent), Tanzania (20 percent), Zambia
(19 percent) and Lesotho and Ghana with 16 percent each.
The openness of government data is measured under six factors in 15 categories.
The
factors include whether it is openly licensed, downloadable at once,
up-to-date, publicly available, free and in a machine-readable format.
The Kenyan government scored nil in 10 out of the 15 categories analysed.
However, it scored 45 percent each in government budgets, national statistics, procurement, national laws and draft legislation.
In
the five areas, the information was available free of charge and
publicly accessible, but none of it was in machine-readable formats that
can be easily fed into algorithms.
Australia
and the United Kingdom have the second-highest open data score (79
percent each), followed by France (70 percent), Finland, Canada and
Norway (69 percent each). Myanmar scores the least (one per cent).
Resistance to change
The
World Economic Forum lists resistance to change as one of the five
major barriers to AI adoption in government and public entities, owing,
in part, to their long-established processes.
“In parts
of the private sector, a strong culture for experimentation encourages
employees to innovate, and positive performance is rewarded.
“In government, there can be less encouragement for employees to take risks,” it says.
This
willingness to adopt AI in the private sector is visible from responses
given by executives of various companies in the Middle East and Africa.
Three
in four companies studied say they wish to use AI for predictive
analysis such as forecasting customer behaviour and maintenance of their
machinery, according to the Microsoft report.
public service
Artificial
intelligence and open data aside, Kenya and African countries are
generally ranked lowly in embracing information technologies in the
public service.
The country ranks 122 out of 193
countries globally and 11th in Africa in the 2018 e-Government
Development Index by the United Nations, which measures how a country is
using information technologies to promote access and inclusion of its
citizens.
Similarly,
in the 2019 Change Readiness Index by KPMG, which measures a country’s
ability to respond to changes like new technologies and climate change,
the Kenyan government, at position 68 out of 140 nations ranks lower
than the civil society (64) and enterprises (63).
too expensive
To
address the government’s poor showing, Mr Walubengo proposes the
creation of progressive policies that would provide safe spaces for
public sector experimentation while at the same time shielding the
decision-maker from any form of punishment.
Second to
the data challenge is the high demand and low supply of AI experts, as
most people with such knowledge and skills are found in the private
sector, at a cost too expensive for governments to hire.
“There
are few AI groups centred in sharing AI knowledge practice, but they
are focused on enterprise-type of AI interventions, largely in the
banking, insurance, mobile lending and transport sectors,” says Mr
Walubengo.
He adds that counties could also benefit a
great deal from AI, especially in areas such as agriculture and health
if policymakers in the devolved units would engage with AI experts.
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