The Learnovation Foundation Network organized the Wikidata Loves SDGs 2024 event on 7 March 2024 at the Mustapha Akanbi Library and Resource Centre in Kwara, Nigeria, to celebrate Open Data Day with mini-grant support. The event focused on enhancing and updating Wikidata items related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria, fostering collaboration and awareness among Wikidatans, SDG advocates, and data enthusiasts.
The event boasted the presence of experienced facilitators and Wikimedia project organizers, including Barakat Adegboye, Blessing Linason, and Miracle James. The theme, “Open data for advancing sustainable development goals,” set the stage for a day of insightful presentations and hands-on activities.
Kehinde Akinsola, the Programs Lead from The Wellbeing Foundation Africa, represented by Miss Jimoh Zainab, delivered an engaging talk on the intersection of open data and SDGs, emphasizing the role of accurate data in achieving sustainable development. Hafisat Ige, a renowned Data Scientist and Women Techstar Fellow ’23, provided a deep dive into data-driven strategies for SDG advancement.
Participants, including Undergraduate Students, Educators, Librarians, Mass media and Medical professionals, engaged actively in the sessions. Despite the limitation of resources restricting invitations to only 20 out of 39 registered attendees, the event was a resounding success, with contributions spanning across various SDG-related topics on Wikidata.
The event utilized the Outreach Dashboard to track participant contributions, which included the creation of 2 new items, the editing of 12 items, and a total of 87 edits by 36 editors. The efforts of participants led to the addition of 28 new references, enhancing the reliability and depth of Wikidata’s SDG-related content.
In conclusion, Wikidata Loves SDGs 2024 not only highlighted the critical role of open data in sustainable development but also demonstrated the power of community collaboration in enriching the global data repository for the greater good. The event set a precedent for future initiatives aimed at leveraging open data for societal progress.
