GSARSII Dissemination Workshop Held in Morogoro, Tanzania: Advancing Open Data Standards

The Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics (GSARS) successfully conducted the second training of its Phase II Dissemination package in Morogoro, Tanzania, from April 15 to 19, 2024. This crucial workshop brought together statisticians and agricultural experts from various Tanzanian institutions to focus on "Open Data and Interactive Data Portals."

The workshop was attended by 17 participants from a variety of organizations, including the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Office of the Chief Government Statistician (OCGS) Zanzibar, and several partner ministries involved in agriculture, livestock, and fisheries. Notably, over a third of the participants were female, reflecting a positive trend towards gender inclusivity in the field of agricultural statistics. 

 The workshop was organized as a one-week intensive training aimed at enhancing the capacity of participants to implement modern data dissemination programs compliant with open data standards. The training covered a wide range of topics, including principles and standards of open data, the practical application of open data in statistical dissemination, and the development of interactive data portals. 

Moving beyond theory, the training focused on the practical side.  Participants explored how to integrate the current tabulation plan for the Tanzania Annual Agricultural Sample Survey (AASS) 2023 with the Open Data Portal. This included discussions on extracting and rearranging tables to align with open data standards. The workshop initiated the crafting of a comprehensive outline for the AASS 2023 survey report, leveraging prioritized tables from the tabulation plan and exploring effective methods to display these tables within the report. 

The training employed a hybrid learning approach, combining presentations and interactive group work exercises. Participants engaged in practical exercises designed to reinforce their understanding of the presented material, including creating datasets on the Open Data Portal, building dashboards and advanced visualizations, and practicing data tabulation for the AASS 2023. 

By the end of the workshop, participants had gained a deeper understanding of open data standards, the practical implementation of open data in statistical dissemination, and the integration of tabulation plans with data portals. The training received positive feedback, with participants expressing high satisfaction with the technical content and training materials.