Data governance for energy planning in Zambia

This report explores data governance and management in the context of Zambia’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). It aims to assess and document current data governance and management practices for energy planning, to identify areas for improvement and to evaluate the potential role of a data repository or catalogue to address these gaps as part of a broader reflection on Zambian data governance. The report discusses five key concepts of data governance, explores roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders involved in energy planning and discusses Zambia’s energy planning community. It then explores in detail the data lifecycle of energy data in the country focusing on data sharing, preparation and analysis. The findings demonstrate that while data governance mechanisms are in place, they can be improved through the implementation of a data repository within the data community. In addition to this, incorporating a data officer role within key organizations and throughout data lifecycle processes can further strengthen data management. This work was supported by the Climate Compatible Growth Programme (#CCG) of the UK's Foreign Development and Commonwealth Office (FCDO). The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the UK government's official policies.