Statistics agency roots for better usage of data

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) is strongly advocating for improved data utilisation as the country prepares to host the Global Data Festival in June 2026.

Speaking on Tuesday, KNBS Director General Macdonald Obudho noted that despite vast amounts of data being generated, the consumption and application of this information remain insufficient.

“A lot of statistics are being produced, but the concern is how well we utilise them,” Obudho emphasised.

“We need to promote the use of statistics.”

Obudho was speaking in Nairobi during the inauguration of the National Planning Committee for the Global Data Festival to be held next June.

The launch coincided with the National Statistics Conference to commemorate African Statistics Day 2025 under the theme Leveraging Innovations in Data and Statistics to Promote a Just and Peaceful, Inclusive and Prosperous Society for Africans.

Experts at the conference discussed the influence of technology in data collection, analysis, and dissemination.

The conference heard that most of the data collected by researchers remains confined in government departments and agencies. 

Obudho said statisticians should be cognisant of the changes in their spaces, especially in technology.

He said the Global Data Festival will assist in providing better ways, aided by technology, on how to collect and collate data in exercises such as the national census.

Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data Jenna Slotin said Kenya’s leadership has shown that modernising data systems is not only a technical exercise but a deliberate political choice.

She said data is now one of the most important assets that a country can invest in.

“Millions of dollars are spent on data, but often with numerous duplications and fragmentations,” she said.

Slotin noted that for every Sh130 invested in data systems, one gets an average of Sh4,160 in return.

“This is an extraordinary return by any standard, better than any traditional investment and comparable to the highest impact development interventions like vaccines,” she said.