Malawi has been commended and spotted for its regulatory framework on big data.
According to Malawi Communications and Regulatory Authority (MACRA), the country was featured on a ‘big data for social good’ panel alongside India, Colombia and Brazil at the largest gathering of technology practitioners and stakeholders in Barcelona, Spain last month.
Speaking on the high spotlight ministerial panel, Director General for MACRA Godfrey Itaye said Malawi is committed to advancing the case of using big data for social good to enhance livelihoods in areas of health education, financial inclusion, and other key sectors of development.
During the event, Itaye was given a spotlight session on a one on one panel with Kate Wilson, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Digital Impact Alliance, a unit of the United Nations Foundation.
Big Data is a new field that combines use of multiple data sources to generate insights and analytics across fields.
For example, the use of satellite imagery, geospatial, mobile network operator data and routine health systems data have been used to generate insights on management of Tuberculosis in India.
In Brazil, big data is being used to predict air pollution for authorities to deploy interventions while in Uganda, big data is being used to predict food security crises so that organizations like Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) can proactively intervene.
