How to Contribute to Cameroon Open Data via a Simple Form
Learn how to share local Cameroon knowledge, exam questions, and proverbs through a simple GitHub form without needing coding skills.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- The Cameroon Open Data project collects local knowledge to help students and future AI tools learn.
- No coding skills or Git knowledge are required; contributors simply fill out an online form.
- Various form templates support exam questions, folktales, proverbs, and language translations.
- An automated robot converts answers into organized records and forwards them for review.
Somewhere in Cameroon right now, a student is revising from a photocopy so faded that the numbers are hard to read, and an elder is telling a story that no book has recorded. The Cameroon Open Data project collects these types of knowledge, including exam questions, proverbs, translations between local languages, laws, and facts about places, storing them in an organized manner so that students, researchers, and future AI tools can learn from them.
You do not need to be a developer to help. You do not need to install software, edit files, or learn Git. To contribute, you simply fill out a form on the GitHub website just like any online form and press submit. A robot turns your answers into a properly formatted record and sends it to a reviewer. This guide walks you through every click using the Cameroon Open Data project on GitHub.
The first step is to create a free GitHub account. Open the sign-up page, enter your email address, choose a password and a username that you are happy to see publicly next to your contributions, and follow the confirmation steps sent to your email. If you already have an account, simply sign in and proceed to the next step.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
On the project page, locate the Star button near the top right, which acts like bookmarking and applauding at the same time. It costs nothing, signals to others that the project is worth checking out, and helps find more contributors. Next, click the Issues tab located under the project name, as this is the only section of GitHub you will need to use for data submission.
Click the green New issue button on the right. GitHub will display a list of forms with short descriptions, allowing you to choose the one that matches your content:
- Exam question form: For questions from GCE, BEPC, Probatoire, Baccalauréat, and entrance competitions.
- Text form: For proverbs, folktales, speeches, laws, recipes, and descriptions of customs.
- Question and answer form: For common questions in Cameroon paired with correct answers.
- Translation form: For matching sentences in two languages, such as Pidgin and English, or Ewondo and French.
- Facts form: For details about a named place, institution, law, crop, or event.
Allowing citizens to contribute via an open data platform using standard web forms lowers technical barriers significantly. By leveraging GitHub infrastructure without requiring users to write code or understand version control, local communities can directly build comprehensive national knowledge bases.
The form consists of standard boxes and drop-down menus. Fields marked with a red star are mandatory, while others can remain empty. Choose the correct folder sorted by sectors such as culture, languages, health, or history. Type your text exactly as written or spoken, and describe its source. The final two questions regarding your right to share and special care requirements can safely be answered with "I am not sure" if you have doubts.
Scroll to the bottom and click Submit new issue. Within about a minute, a comment from the project's robot will appear under your issue confirming that your contribution was formatted and sent for review. Behind the scenes, the robot places your data into the correct folder and creates a proposed change for human reviewers to approve, after which your data becomes part of the permanent collection.
Source: Dev.to
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