Call for National Researchers in the Caribbean

The Caribbean Open Institute (COI) is currently seeking independent, country-level researchers for the following 8 countries: Bahamas, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti and Dominica Republic.

Selected researchers will act as national researchers for the first edition of the Global Data Barometer (2020–2021). COI acts as a Regional Hub for the Global Data Barometer project and is responsible for the countries in the Caribbean region. This call is open both for individual researchers as well as independent civil society and research organizations from the 8 countries.

The Global Data Barometer (GDB)  is a new study of data for the public good that builds on the foundation of the Open Data Barometer. The pilot edition of the GDB  receives core funding from Canada’s International Development Research Center under grant 109517-001 as part of the Data for Development program of work.

Potential researchers, whether individuals or organizations, should have experience in one or more of the following fields: open data; open government data; data for public good; the use of data for monitoring or evaluating public service delivery; training or capacity-building around the use of data; the use of data to create socially valuable applications; or promoting the use of data among governments, CSOs, private sector, the developers community, or in investigative journalism.

The selected national researcher or organization will be responsible for completing a detailed expert survey that looks at policies, practices, datasets, and research related to the governance, capability, availability, and use of data in their respective country. Responses will be peer reviewed, with researchers asked to respond to reviewers’ feedback and update responses as appropriate. Applicants should be well-known and credible in their respective country, recognized for their independent work, and without government/political affiliation.

Additional Requirements

Country researchers must:

Have a high standard of written English and English comprehension;

  • Be fluent in the language of one or more of the main administrative languages of the country they are researching;
  • Have in-depth knowledge of the country they are researching, including knowledge of recent policy developments;
  • Have relevant knowledge and understanding of data protection, data policy, open data, and data sharing; and
  • Have relevant contacts and networks to draw upon.

Country researchers must not:

  • Be a government official or employee, or a contractor deriving a substantial proportion of their income from the government; or
  • Have any conflicts of interest that would affect their ability to provide impartial assessments.

Country researchers WILL BE REQUIRED TO:

  • Read the research handbook;
  • Participate in an online researcher-training session;
  • Carry out primary desk research to locate evidence in relation to each question;
  • Use guidance from the research handbook to assess the evidence and respond to scoring scales or yes/no assessment questions;
  • Write in clear English and provide justification of any assessments, listing sources used;
  • Submit the completed survey within 6 weeks of it being allocated; and
  • Respond promptly to any reviewer comments.

The process will involve desk research and may involve carrying out key informant interviews. We anticipate this taking up to 20 days of effort (depending on the specific country and the researcher’s experience) over a 1.5 month period during March – June 2021.

Additionally, researchers may be invited to be involved in regional dissemination activities which are anticipated to take place after June 2021. This is optional and may include writing a country summary for a regional report or taking part in regional dissemination webinars.

How to apply

Interested applicants are asked to complete and submit this Form by February 24, 2021. Only shortlisted applicants will be invited to the interview phase. The interview phase is anticipated to take place February 24-26, 2021.

About Caribbean Open Institute
The Caribbean Open Institute (COI) is a regional coalition of individuals and organizations that promotes open development approaches to inclusion, participation, and innovation within the Caribbean, using open data as a catalyst. As a member of the Open Data for Development (OD4D) Network and as the regional hub for the Caribbean, the COI is an active participant in the broad “data for development” community, bringing the Caribbean’s nuanced voice to contribute to the global discourse and partnerships for sustainable development using data as a catalyst. The Mona School of Business & Management, UWI is a founding member of the COI and provides the administrative support and research oversight for the GDB initiative.