Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) is currently seeking independent, country-level researchers for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan to act as national researchers for the first edition of the Global Data Barometer (2020–2021). IDFI acts as a Regional Hub for the Global Data Barometer project for Central Asia and Eastern Europe and is responsible for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan in the region. The Call is open both for individual researchers as well as independent civil society and research organisations from the 6 countries.
The Global Data Barometer, is a new study of data for the public good that builds on the foundation of the Open Data Barometer. The pilot edition of the Global Data Barometer receives core funding from Canada’s International Development Research Center (IDRC.ca) under grant 109517-001 as part of the Data for Development (D4D.net) program of work.
We’re looking for national independent researchers or civil society, research organisations with experience in one or more of the following fields: open data; open government data; data for public good; the use of data for monitoring or evaluating public service delivery; training or capacity-building around the use of data; the use of data to create socially valuable applications; or promoting the use of data among governments, CSOs, private sector, the developers community, or in investigative journalism.
The selected national researcher or organisation will be responsible for completing a detailed expert survey that looks at policies, practices, datasets, and research related to the governance, capability, availability, and use of data in their respective country. Responses will be peer reviewed, with researchers asked to respond to reviewers’ feedback and update responses as appropriate.
Applicants should be well-known and credible in their respective country, recognised for their independent work, without government/political affiliation.
Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
Global Data Barometer is a diverse, inclusive, and equitable global project in which all participants, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education, or disability, feels valued and respected.
Additional Requirements
Country researchers must:
- Have a high standard of written English and English comprehension;
- Be fluent in the language of one or more of the main administrative languages of the country they are researching;
- Have in-depth knowledge of the country they are researching, including knowledge of recent policy developments;
- Have relevant knowledge and understanding of data protection, data policy, open data, and data sharing;
- Have relevant contacts and networks to draw upon.
Country researchers must not:
- Be a government official or employee, or a contractor deriving a substantial proportion of their income from the government;
- Have any conflicts of interest that would affect their ability to provide impartial assessments.
In frames of the cooperation, country researchers must:
- Read the research handbook;
- Participate in an online researcher-training session;
- Carry out primary desk research to locate evidence in relation to each question;
- Use guidance from the research handbook to assess the evidence and respond to scoring scales or yes/no assessment questions;
- Write in clear English a prose justification of any assessments, listing sources used;
- Submit the completed survey within 6 weeks of it being allocated;
- Respond promptly to any reviewer comments.
Optionally, researchers may be invited to be involved in regional dissemination activities. For example, writing a country summary for a regional report, or taking part in regional dissemination webinars.
The process will involve desk research, and may involve carrying out key informant interviews. We anticipate this taking up to 20 days of effort (depending on the specific country and the researcher’s experience) over a 1.5 month during March - June 2021. Applicants are asked to complete and submit the Form by February 7, 2021
Only shortlisted applicants will be invited to the interview phase. The interview phase will be February 8-15, 2021
The engagement of IDFI and national researchers in the Global Data Barometer project is supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Regional Office for EECA.
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