Democracy, science, and development: the nexus in the East African Community

Accessibility, accountability, and transparency are crucial tenets of any democratic society. East African Community member states are hybrid democracies. Each member country’s development agenda identifies science and technology as crucial drivers to leapfrog each one of them to middle-income status. For science and technology to thrive in these emerging economies where resources are limited but the demand for investment in science is high, the power of transparency, accountability, and accessibility in galvanising public support for science cannot be downplayed. Development too requires a structured and rewarding atmosphere for it to manifest – if political, public support and funding are garnered for science, desired development will occur. This article will focus on Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, and demonstrate that science and democracy are interconnected in a symbiotic relationship. While democracy on the political front is weak at best, science needs to adhere to the tenets of democracy and spur the development of social aspects. This could in turn accelerate and inspire political actors to emulate and trek the path to true democracy.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Karl Raymond Kaddu Ssentongo

Conference

Publication date: September 2021

Publication date (Print): September 2021

Pages: 247-252

Affiliations

[0001]Uganda National Council for Science and Technology

Outreach Unit

Kampala, Uganda

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/POM2021.32

SO-VID: 6f0623cd-af9c-411b-b43a-d9a4937ee87d

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Proceedings of Politics of the Machines - Rogue Research 2021

Conference acronym: POM 2021

Conference number: 3

Conference location: Berlin, Germany

Conference date: September 14-17, 2021

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: debate and devise concepts and practices that seek to critically question and unravel novel modes of science

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/POM2021.32

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] A Acker & L Bowler, 2018. Youth Data Literacy: Teen Perspectives on Data. 1923–1932. University of Manoa, Honolulu.

[2] Air Water Earth Ltd, 2021. News and Events. http://www.awe-engineers.com/index.php/news-and-events/28-lake-victoria-is-at-risk-of-dying-off-from-pollution ( 8 August 2021 ).

[3] Anon., 2021. data-literacy-gap-among-young-people-could-impact-businesses. http://www.techrepublic.com/article/data-literacy-gap-among-young-people-could-impact-businesses/ ( 9 August 2021 )

[4] Avert, 2020. Sub Sahara Africa. http://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/sub-saharan-africa/kenya ( 9 August 2021 )

[5] A Balliett, 2020. Killer Visual Strategies: Engage Any Audience, Improve Comprehension, and Get Amazing Results Using Visual Communication. John Wiley and Sons Inc., London.

[6] BCG, 2021. what-keeps-women-out-data-science. http://www.bcg.com/en-gb/publications/2020/what-keeps-women-out-data-science ( 9 August 2021 )

[7] J Cawthorne, 2015. Knowledge Management and Big Data: Strange Bedfellows?. http://www.cmswire.com/social-business/knowledge-management-and-big-data-strange-bedfellows/ ( 9 August 2021 )

[8] E Deahl, 2014. Better the Data You Know: Developing Youth Data Literacy in Schools and Informal Learning Environments. MIT Press, Boston.

[9] B Dykes, 2019. Effective Data Storytelling: How to Drive Change with Data, Narrative and Visuals. John Wiley and Sons Inc., New Jersey.

[10] East Africa Community, 2007. EASTECO. https://easteco.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/PROTOCOL-ON-THE-ESTABLISHMENT-OF-THE-EAST-AFRICAN-SCIENCE-AND-TECHNOLOGY-COMMISSION.pdf ( 15 August 2021 )

[11] East African Community, 1999. Protocol for the Sustainable Development of Lake Victoria Basin. East African Community, Nairobi.

[12] Exasol, 2019. D/NATIVES: The future, Nuremberg: Exasol. Foundation, 5. R., 2021. data-literacy. http://5rightsfoundation.com/our-work/data-literacy/ ( 15 August 2021 )

[13] Government of the United Republic of Tanzania, 2002. Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act. 1st ed. Government of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam.

[14] Government of Uganda, 2020. The Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act, 2019. 1st ed. Government of Uganda, Kampala.

[15] IFPRI, 2018. ebrary. http://ebrary.ifpri.org/digital/collection/p15738coll2 ( 15 August 2021 )

[16] B Jones, 2020. Data Literacy Fundamentals: Understanding the Power & Value of Data (The Data Literacy Series). Data Literacy Press, Washington.

[17] C Knaflic N., 2019. Storytelling with Data: Let’s Practice!. John Wiley and Sons Inc., London.

[18] J Morrow, 2021. Be Data Literate: The Data Literacy Skills Everyone Needs To Succeed. Kogan Page, London.

[19] D Project L., 2021. The Data Literacy Index. QLIK, Philadelphia.

[20] D Roe, 2019. The Role of Data Literacy in the Digital Workplace. http://www.cmswire.com/digital-workplace/the-role-of-data-literacy-in-the-digital-workplace/ ( 15 August 2021 )

[21] S Taylor, 2020. Telling Your Data Story: Data Storytelling for Data Management. Technics Publicattion, London.

[22] WHO, 2020. World malaria report 2020: 20 years of global progress and challenges., World Health Organisation, Geneva.

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