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Open Data Intermediaries in Developing Countries - A Synthesis Report
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-data-intermediaries-in-developing-countries
<b>The roles of intermediaries in open data is insufficiently explored; open data intermediaries are often presented as
single and simple linkages between open data supply and use. This synthesis research paper offers a more
socially nuanced approach to open data intermediaries using the theoretical framework of Bourdieu’s social model, in particular, his concept of species of capital as informing social interaction... Because no single
intermediary necessarily has all the capital available to link effectively to all sources of power in a field, multiple
intermediaries with complementary configurations of capital are more likely to connect between power
nexuses. This study concludes that consideration needs to be given to the presence of multiple intermediaries in an open data ecosystem, each of whom may possess different forms of capital to enable the use and unlock the
potential impact of open data.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>This synthesis report is prepared by François van Schalkwyk, Michael Caňares, Sumandro Chattapadhyay, and Alexander Andrason, based on the analysis of a sample of cases from the <a href="http://opendataresearch.org/" target="_blank">Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries</a> (ODDC) research network managed by the World Wide Web Foundation and supported by the International Development Research Centre, Canada. Data on intermediaries were extracted from the ODDC reports according to a working definition of an open data intermediary presented in this paper, and with a focus on how intermediaries link actors in an open data supply chain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Below is an excerpt from the report. The full report can be accessed from <a href="http://figshare.com/articles/Open_Data_Intermediaries_in_Developing_Countries/1449222" target="_blank">Figshare</a> or from <a href="https://github.com/ajantriks/docs/raw/master/ODDC_2_Open_Data_Intermediaries_15_June_2015_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">Github</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Implications for Policy</h2>
<p> </p>
<p>The practical implications of the findings presented here are not insignificant. Given that most of the open data intermediaries in this study were found to rely on donor in order to execute their open data-related social benefit activities, it is perhaps funders who should take heed of the findings presented here when making grants. For example, where a single agency is awarded a funding grant to improve the lives of citizens using open data, questions need to be asked whether the grantee possesses all the types of capital required not only to re-use open data but to connect open data to specific user groups in order to
ensure the use and impact of open data. Questions to be asked of grantees could include: “Who are the specific user groups or communities that you expect to use the data, information or product you are making available?”; “Does your organisation have existing links to these user groups or communities?”; and “What types of channels are in place for you to communicate with these user groups or communities?”. Alternatively donor funders may rethink awarding funding to single agencies in favour of funding partnerships or collaborations in which there is a greater spread of types of capital across multiple actors thereby
increasing the likelihood of effectively linking the supply and use of open data. Such an approach would be more in line with an ecosystems approach to multiple actors being participants in the data supply and (re)use of open data, and the importance of keystone species and positive feedback loops to ensure a healthy system.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In addition to highlighting the importance of social capital in developing-country innovations systems, Intarakummerd and Chaoroenporn (2013) point to the importance of government initiating and coordinating the activities of both public and private intermediaries. Our findings indicate that should governments adopt such a co-ordinating role in the case of open data intermediaries, they would do well to engage with a broad spectrum of intermediaries, and not simply focus on intermediaries who possess only the technical capital required to interpret and repackage open government data. To be sure, this will be a challenging role for government to assume as conflicting vested interests are likely to surface. Although speculative, it is possible that such a coordinating role is likely to work best when there is a strong pact between all actors involved. And this, in turn, will require a common vision of the value and benefits of open data – something that cannot be taken for granted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Should there be agreement on the value and benefits of open data, our findings show that most of the
intermediaries in our study are NGOs that rely on donor funding. This should raise serious questions about the sustainability of open data initiatives that are civic-minded in conjunction with questions about what incentives other than that of donor funding could ensure the supply and use of open data beyond project funding. Funders and supporters of open data initiatives may have to think not only about the value and benefits or funding projects, but of the sustainability and the impacts of the products produced by the projects they fund.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-data-intermediaries-in-developing-countries'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-data-intermediaries-in-developing-countries</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroData SystemsOpen DataFeaturedOpen Data CommunityOpenness2015-06-16T09:40:58ZBlog EntryWorkshop on Open Data for Human Development
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/workshop-on-open-data-for-human-development-2015-06
<b>Sumandro Chattapadhyay and Sunil Abraham will take part in the workshop being organised for government officials from Bhutan, Maldives, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and Tripura, by the International Centre for Human Development (IC4HD) of UNDP India, during June 3-6, 2015. The workshop will be held at the National Institute of Advanced Studies Campus in Bengaluru. Sunil will be one of the panelists in the opening discussion on 'data and transparency in governance,' and Sumandro will provide input for and lead the sessions on developing the draft implementation plan for the Sikkim Open Data Acquisition and Accessibility Policy. Sumandro worked with the IC4HD team to design the objectives and the agenda of the workshop.</b>
<p> </p>
<h2>Sikkim Open Data Acquisition and Accessibility Policy</h2>
<p> </p>
<p>Government of Sikkim passed the <a href="http://www.sikkim.gov.in/stateportal/Link/SODAAP%20Policy%20Document.pdf" target="_blank">SODAA Policy</a> in 2014 so as to streamline and open up the availability of “authentic data to buttress the achievements of the Government of Sikkim and to gather data on key metrics to be able to spur growth in all the areas of human development.” The Policy mandates setting up an open data portal, hosted by the State Data Centre of Sikkim, where data contributed by all the state government agencies will reside, and from which the same data will be made openly accessible to government agencies, non-government organisations, and private individuals alike. Only data that is shareable – data that is not part of negative list prepared by any government agency – and that is non-sensitive – data that does not contain information that can be used to identify any private individual – will be made available through this Sikkim open data portal. The Department of Information Technology of the Government of Sikkim has been assigned the role of being the nodal agency for coordinating and monitoring the implementation “of policy through close collaboration with all State Government Departments and agencies.”</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Objectives of the Workshop</h2>
<p> </p>
<p>The Government of Sikkim understands that data collection, management, and reporting processes at the different departments must go through a structural reconfiguration before systematic and sustainable publication of data through this open data portal can be possible. This work will of course involve a long duration of change, and participation of a wide range of actors. The <a href="http://www.in.undp.org/content/india/en/home/operations/projects/human-development/the-international-centre-for-human-development.html" target="_blank">International Centre for Human Development</a>, at UNDP India, is organising this workshop for Sikkim government officials to conceptualise and develop the outlines of an action strategy towards this goal of streamlining data acquisition and publication processes across government departments.</p>
<p>Discussions in this workshop will focus on the activities of four departments of the Government of Sikkim – Department of Health, Rural Management and Development Department (RMDD), Human Resource Development Department (HRDD), and Department of Agriculture. At least two officials from each of these departments would take part in the workshop. Apart from these departments, officials from Department of Information Technology (DIT), Department of Economic Statistics, Monitoring, and Evaluation (DESME), and others, will also participate.</p>
<p>Apart from government officials from Sikkim, those from Bhutan, Maldives, Meghalaya, and Tripura will also attend the workshop, so as to think ahead towards their respective open data initiatives.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Agenda of the Workshop</h2>
<p> </p>
<h3>Day 1: June 3, 2015</h3>
<p> </p>
<table class="plain">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Time</th>
<th>Session</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>0930-1000</td>
<td><strong>Welcome and Introductions</strong><br />
A.K. Shiva Kumar, Director, IC4HD<br />
P.D. Rai, Honourable Member of Parliament (LS) from Sikkim</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1000-1100<br />
<strong>Session 1</strong></td>
<td><strong>Panel Discussion</strong><br />
<strong>Data and Transparency in Governance</strong><br />
Moderator: P. D. Rai<br />
Panellists:
<ul><li>Srivatsa Krishna, Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka</li>
<li>B. Gangaiah, Additional Director General, Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad</li>
<li>Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, The Centre for Internet and Society</li></ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1100-1130<br />
<strong>Session 2</strong></td>
<td><strong>Sikkim Open Data Acquisition and Accessibility Policy</strong><br />
Moderator: P. D. Rai<br />
Presentation by: T. Samdup, Joint Director, Department of Information Technology, Sikkim</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1130-1200</td>
<td><strong>Tea Break</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1200-1300<br />
<strong>Session 3</strong></td>
<td><strong>Implementing an Open Data Policy - Key Components</strong><br />
Moderator: A. K. Shiva Kumar<br />
Presentation by: Sumandro Chattapadhyay, The Centre for Internet and Society</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1300-1400</td>
<td><strong>Lunch</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1400-1430<br />
<strong>Session 4</strong></td>
<td><strong>Group Exercise 1</strong><br />
<strong>Challenges of Opening up Government Data in Sikkim</strong><br />
Facilitated by: Sumandro Chattapadhyay</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1430-1530<br />
<strong>Session 5</strong></td>
<td><strong>Mobile Phone-based Data Collection</strong><br />
<strong>Introduction to Akvo FLOW</strong><br />
Moderator: Meenaz Munshi, IC4HD<br />
Presentation by: Joy Ghosh and Amitangshu Acharya, AKVO</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1530-1600</td>
<td>Tea Break</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>16:00-1730<br />
<strong>Session 6</strong></td>
<td><strong>Group Exercise 2</strong><br />
<strong>Collecting Data Using Akvo FLOW</strong><br />
Facilitated by: Joy Ghosh and Amitangshu Acharya, AKVO</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p> </p>
<h3>Day 2: June 4, 2015</h3>
<p> </p>
<table class="plain">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Time</th>
<th>Session</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>0930-1000<br />
<strong>Session 7</strong></td>
<td><strong>Analysing, Visualising, and Publishing Data</strong><br />
Moderator: Amitangshu Acharya<br />
Presentation by: Thejesh GN, DataMeet</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1000-1045<br />
<strong>Session 8</strong></td>
<td><strong>Collecting, Visualising, and Publishing Geographic Data</strong><br />
Moderator: Amitangshu Acharya<br />
Presentation by: Shiv Ramachandran, MapBox</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1045-1145<br />
<strong>Session 9</strong></td>
<td><strong>Group Exercise 3</strong><br />
<strong>Organising, Analysing, Visualising, and Publishing Data</strong><br />
Facilitated by: Thejesh GN and Shiv Ramachandran</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1145-1200</td>
<td><strong>Tea Break</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1200-1300</td>
<td><strong>Group Exercise 3</strong><br />
<strong>Organising, Analysing, Visualising, and Publishing Data</strong><br />
(Continued)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1300-1400</td>
<td><strong>Lunch</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1400-1500<br />
<strong>Session 10</strong></td>
<td><strong>Open Data and Health Management</strong><br />
Presentation by: Dr. Shiban Ganju, Consultant, Ingalls Health, Harvey, Illinois, Chicago; Chair, Atrimed Health Consulting, Bangalore</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1500-1600<br />
<strong>Session 11</strong></td>
<td><strong>Open Data and Primary Education</strong><br />
Presentation by: Gautam John, Karnataka Learning Partnership</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p> </p>
<h3>Day 3: June 5, 2015</h3>
<p> </p>
<table class="plain">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Time</th>
<th>Session</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>0930-1030<br />
<strong>Session 12</strong></td>
<td><strong>Panel Discussion</strong><br />
<strong>Regional Experiences and Reflections on Open Data</strong><br />
Panellists: representative from Bhutan, and from Meghalaya</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1030-1115<br />
<strong>Session 13</strong></td>
<td><strong>Implementing National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy</strong><br />
Presentation by: D. P. Misra, National Informatics Centre</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1115-1130<br />
<strong>Session 14</strong></td>
<td><strong>Group Exercise 4</strong><br />
<strong>Drafting the SODAAP Implementation Plan</strong><br />
Facilitated by: Sumandro Chattapadhyay</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1130-1200</td>
<td><strong>Tea Break</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1200-1300</td>
<td><strong>Group Exercise 4</strong><br />
<strong>Drafting the SODAAP Implementation Plan</strong><br />
(Continued)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1300-1400</td>
<td><strong>Lunch</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1400-1500<br />
<strong>Session 15</strong></td>
<td><strong>Group Presentations</strong><br />
<strong>Draft SODAAP Implementation Plan</strong><br />
Moderator: P. D. Rai<br />
Facilitated by: Sumandro Chattapadhyay</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1500-1530</td>
<td><strong>Wrap-Up and Vote of Thanks</strong></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/workshop-on-open-data-for-human-development-2015-06'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/workshop-on-open-data-for-human-development-2015-06</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroOpen DataFeaturedWorkshopPolicies2015-06-02T15:34:06ZBlog Entry International Open Data Charter: First Public Draft
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/international-open-data-charter-first-public-draft
<b>The first public draft of the International Open Data Charter was released at the International Open Data Conference in Ottawa, Canada, May 28-29, 2015. It is being developed by a range of organisations led by the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Open Data Working Group (co-chaired by Government of Canada and the Web Foundation), the Government of Mexico, the Open Data for Development (OD4D) Network, and Omidyar Network. CIS has contributed comments to a previous version of the draft, and also took part in the pre-release meeting of potential stewards of the Charter on May 26 in Ottawa. Here is the text of the draft Charter. Please visit opendatacharter.net/charter/ to submit your comments.</b>
<p> </p>
<h2>Consultation Draft, May 2015</h2>
<p> </p>
<h3>Preamble</h3>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>1)</strong> The world is witnessing the growth of a global movement facilitated by technology and digital media and fuelled by information – one that contains enormous potential to create more accountable, efficient, responsive, and effective governments and businesses, and to spur economic growth.</p>
<p>Open data sit at the heart of this global movement.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>2)</strong> Building a more democratic, just, and prosperous society requires transparent, accountable governments that engage regularly and meaningfully with citizens. Accordingly, there is an ongoing effort to enable collaboration around key social challenges, to provide effective oversight of government activities, to support economic development through innovation, and to develop effective, efficient public policies and programmes.</p>
<p>Open data is essential to meeting these challenges.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>3)</strong> Effective access to data allows individuals and organisations to develop new insights and innovations that can generate social and economic benefits to improve the lives of people around the world, and help to improve the flow of information within and between countries. While governments collect a wide range of data, they do not always share these data in ways that are easily discoverable, useable, or understandable by the public.</p>
<p>This is a missed opportunity.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>4)</strong> Today, many people expect to be able to access high quality information and services, including government data, when and how they want. Others see the opportunity presented by government data as one which can provide innovative policy solutions and support economic and social benefits for all members of society. We have arrived at a point at which people can use open data to generate value, insights, ideas, and services to create a better world for all.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>5)</strong> Open data can increase transparency around what government is doing. Open data can also increase awareness about how countries’ natural resources are used, how extractives revenues are spent, and how land is transacted and managed – all of which promotes accountability and good governance, enhances public debate, and helps to combat corruption.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>6)</strong> Providing access to government data can drive sustainable and inclusive growth by empowering citizens, the media, civil society, and the private sector to identify gaps, and work toward better outcomes for public services in areas such as health, education, public safety, environmental protection, and governance. Open data can do this by:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">showing how and where public money is spent, which provides strong incentives for governments to demonstrate that they are using public money effectively;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">supporting citizens, civil society organisations, governments and the private sector to collaborate on the design of policies and the delivery of better public services;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">supporting assessments of the impact of public programs, which in turn allows governments, civil society organisations, and the private sector to respond more effectively to the particular needs of local communities; and</li>
<li>enabling citizens to make better informed choices about the services they receive and the service standards they should expect.</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>7)</strong> Open government data can be used in innovative ways to create useful tools and products that help to navigate modern life more easily. Used in this way, open data are a catalyst for innovation in the private sector, supporting the creation of new markets, businesses, and jobs. These benefits can multiply as more private sector and civil society organisations adopt open data practices modelled by government and share their own data with the public.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>8)</strong> We, the adherents to the International Open Data Charter, agree that open data are an under-used resource with huge potential to encourage the building of stronger, more interconnected societies that better meet the needs of our citizens and allow innovation and prosperity to flourish.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>9)</strong> We therefore agree to follow a set of principles that will be the foundation for access to, and the release and use of, open government data. These principles are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Open Data by Default;</li>
<li>Quality and Quantity;</li>
<li>Accessible and Useable by All;</li>
<li>Engagement and Empowerment of Citizens;</li>
<li>Collaboration for Development and Innovation;</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>10)</strong> We will develop an action plan in support of the implementation of the Charter and its Technical Annexes, and will update and renew the action plan at a minimum of every two years. We agree to commit the necessary resources to work within our political and legal frameworks to implement these principles in accordance with the technical best practices and timeframes set out in our action plan.</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>Principle 1: Open Data by Default</h3>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>11)</strong> We recognise that free access to, and the subsequent use of, government data are of significant value to society and the economy, and that government data should, therefore, be open by default.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>12)</strong> We acknowledge the need to promote the global development and adoption of tools and policies for the creation, use, and exchange of open data and information.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>13)</strong> We recognise that the term ‘government data’ is meant in the widest sense possible. This could apply to data held by national, federal, and local governments, international government bodies, and other types of institutions in the wider public sector. This could also apply to data created for governments by external organisations, and data of significant benefit to the public which is held by external organisations and related to government programmes and services (e.g. data on extractives entities, data on transportation infrastructure, etc).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>14)</strong> We recognise that there is domestic and international legislation, in particular pertaining to security, privacy, confidentiality, intellectual property, and personally-identifiable and other sensitive information, which must be observed and/or updated where necessary.</p>
<p><strong>15)</strong> We will:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">develop and adopt policies and practices to ensure that all government data is made open by default, as outlined in this Charter, while recognising that there are legitimate reasons why some data cannot be released;</li>
<li>provide clear justifications as to why certain data cannot be released;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">establish a culture of openness, not only through legislative or policy measures, but also with the help of training and awareness programs, tools, and guidelines designed to make government, civil society, and private sector representatives aware of the benefits of open data; and</li>
<li>develop the leadership, management, oversight, and internal communication policies necessary to enable this transition to a culture of openness.</li></ul>
<p> </p>
<h3>Principle 2: Quality and Quantity</h3>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>16)</strong> We recognise that governments and other public sector organisations hold vast amounts of information that may be of interest to citizens, and that it may take time to identify data for release or publication.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>17)</strong> We also recognise the importance of consulting with citizens, other governments, non-governmental organisations, and other open data users, to identify which data to prioritise for release and/or improvement.</p>
<p><strong>18)</strong> We agree, however, that governments’ primary responsibility should be to release data in a timely manner, without undue delay.</p>
<p><strong>19)</strong> We will:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">create, maintain, and share public, comprehensive lists of data holdings to set the stage for meaningful public discussions around data prioritisation and release;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">release high-quality open data that are timely, comprehensive, and accurate in accordance with prioritisation that is informed by public requests. To the extent possible, data will be released in their original, unmodified form and at the finest level of granularity available, and will also be linked to any visualisations or analyses created based on the data, as well as any relevant guidance or documentation;</li>
<li>ensure that accompanying documentation is written in clear, plain language, so that it can be easily understood by all;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">make sure that data are fully described, and that data users have sufficient information to understand their source, strengths, weaknesses, and any analytical limitations;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">ensure that open datasets include consistent core metadata, and are made available in human- and machine-readable formats under an open and unrestrictive licence;</li>
<li>allow users to provide feedback, and continue to make revisions to ensure the quality of the data is improved as needed; and</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">apply consistent information lifecycle management practices, and ensure historical copies of datasets are preserved, archived, and kept accessible as long as they retain value.</li></ul>
<p> </p>
<h3>Principle 3: Accessible and Usable by All</h3>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>20)</strong> We recognise that opening up data enables citizens, governments, civil society organisations, and the private sector to make better informed decisions.</p>
<p><strong>21)</strong> We recognise that open data should be made available free of charge in order to encourage their widest possible use.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>22)</strong> We recognise that when open data are released, they should be made available without bureaucratic or administrative barriers, such as mandatory user registration, which can deter people from accessing the data.</p>
<p><strong>23)</strong> We will:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">release data in open formats and free of charge to ensure that the data are available to the widest range of users to find, access, and use them. In many cases, this will include providing data in multiple formats, so that they can be processed by computers and used by people; and</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">ensure data can be accessed and used effectively by the widest range of users. This may require the creation of initiatives to raise awareness of open data, promote data literacy, and build capacity for effective use of open data.</li></ul>
<p> </p>
<h3>Principle 4: Engagement and Empowerment of Citizens</h3>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>24)</strong> We recognise that the release of open data strengthens our public and democratic institutions, encourages better development, implementation, and assessment of policies to meet the needs of our citizens, and enables more meaningful, better informed engagement between governments and citizens.</p>
<p><strong>25)</strong> We will:</p>
<ul>
<li>implement oversight and review processes to report regularly on the progress and impact of our open data initiatives;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">engage with community and civil society representatives working in the domain of transparency and accountability to determine what data they need to effectively hold governments to account;encourage the use of open data to develop innovative, evidence-based policy solutions that benefit all members of society, as well as empower marginalised groups; and</li>
<li>be transparent about our own data collection, standards, and publishing processes, by documenting all of these related processes online.</li></ul>
<p> </p>
<h3>Principle 5: Collaboration for Development and Innovation</h3>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>26)</strong> We recognise the importance of diversity in stimulating creativity and innovation. The more citizens, governments, civil society, and the private sector use open data, the greater the social and economic benefits that will be generated. This is true for government, commercial, and non-commercial uses.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>27)</strong> We recognise that the potential value of our open data is greatly increased when it can be used in combination with open data from other governments, the private sector, academic, media, civil society, and other non-governmental organisations.</p>
<p><strong>28)</strong> We will:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">create or explore potential partnerships to support the release of open data and maximise their impact through effective use. This may include local, regional, and global partnerships between governments, civil society, and the private sector;</li>
<li>engage with civil society, the private sector, and academic representatives to determine what data they need to generate social and economic value;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">provide training programs, tools, and guidelines designed to ensure government employees are capable of using open data effectively in policy development processes;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">encourage non-governmental organisations to open up data created and collected by them in order to move toward a richer open data ecosystem with multiple sources of open data;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">share technical expertise and experience with other governments and international organisations around the world, so that everyone can reap the benefits of open data; and</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">empower a future generation of data innovators inside and outside of government by supporting an environment optimised for increasing open data literacy and encouraging developers, civil society organisations, academics, media representatives, government employees, and other open data users, to unlock the value of open data.</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Crossposted from <a href="http://opendatacharter.net/charter/" target="_blank">http://opendatacharter.net/charter/</a>.</em></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/international-open-data-charter-first-public-draft'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/international-open-data-charter-first-public-draft</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroOpen DataHomepageOpenness2015-06-02T15:51:12ZBlog EntryNASA International Open Data Challenge 2015
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/events/nasa-international-open-data-challenge-2015
<b>As part of the initial NASA Open Government 2.0 plan, the NASA International Open Data challenge brings together the FOSS community, citizen scientists, open data practitioners , open hardware enthusiasts and students for collaborative problem solving with the goal of producing relevant open-source solutions to address global needs applicable to both life on Earth and life in Space.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On April 11 and 12, 2015 2015, the event will be organized by the Centre for Internet and Society in collaboration with mentors from Team Indus, one of India's leading Space Technology Start-Ups. The event will start off with the following keynote and workshops at 9am on Saturday, April 11th, 2015:</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Pre-Hackathon Workshop: 9 a.m., Saturday, April 11, 2015</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">IBM Blue Mix Team + OpenCube Labs</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">(Big Data Analytics using Cloud Services like Bluemix/Heroku, with node.js implementation and Android APIs)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">
<div><b>Keynote: Amar Sharma, 12 p.m., April 11, 2015</b></div>
<div>Amar is credited as being the youngest and first Indian amateur astronomer to have an Asteroid named after him in 2014 at the age of 29. <b>(380607 Sharma)</b> He will talk about CCD Astro Imaging and his travails and journey as a self-made astronomer and comet hunter.</div>
<div></div>
<div>We will then break off into teams to commence the hackathon that will end on Sunday,April 12, 2015 at 6pm, after which teams will upload and present their solutions for Local and Global Nominations.</div>
<div></div>
<div>Registration is free and you are required to confirm participation at the below link:</div>
<div><a href="https://2015.spaceappschallenge.org/location/bangalore/">https://2015.spaceappschallenge.org/location/bangalore/</a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">Participants are requested to bring their own laptop/computing devices.</div>
<hr />
<p> </p>
<div style="text-align: justify; ">Please see last year's event's focus on Open Science and Big data, and the various Open Data solutions developed at CIS, to get an idea of what the event is about:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://2014.spaceappschallenge.org/location/bangalore/">https://2014.spaceappschallenge.org/location/bangalore/</a> This year, we will have a workshop on Big Data Analytics conducted by IBM BlueMix Labs followed by Heroku implementation and Android Programming by friends of CIS from OpenCubeLabs, that will follow a very special Keynote speaker who is first amateur astronomer to have an asteroid named after him, to join the likes of Ramanujan and Vikram Sarabhai.</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/events/nasa-international-open-data-challenge-2015'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/events/nasa-international-open-data-challenge-2015</a>
</p>
No publishersharathOpen DataEventBig DataOpenness2015-04-27T01:08:27ZEventWhose Open Data Community is it? - Accepted Abstract
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/whose-open-data-community-is-it-abstract
<b>My paper titled 'Whose Open Data Community is it? Reflections on the Open Data Ecosystem in India' has been accepted for presentation at the Open Data Research Symposium to be held during the 3rd International Open Data Conference <http://opendatacon.org/> in Ottawa, Canada, on May 28-29 2015. The final paper will be shared by second week of May. Here is the accepted abstract.</b>
<p> </p>
<h3>Where are the NGOs?</h3>
<p>On February 04, 2013, several members of the DataMeet group <<a href="http://datameet.org/" target="_blank">http://datameet.org/</a>> were invited by the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy Project Management Unit (NDSAP-PMU) – the nodal agency responsible for developing, implementing, and managing the Open Government Data Platform of India <<a href="https://data.gov.in/" target="_blank">https://data.gov.in/</a>> – to share thoughts on the status of the implementation of the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP), the open data policy of India, and discuss potentials for collaboration. A key proposal made by the NDSAPPMU team regarding how DataMeet can contribute to the implementation process, involved DataMeet mobilising the developer community connected to the group to build applications that use the opened up data and demonstrate the value of open government data to drive greater contribution by government agencies and greater utilisation by citizen groups. For DataMeet, a network of open data users and advocates, this invitation to collaborate sets up a slightly different problematic than that in most of the cases of free and open source software development project. The task here is to develop projects that use already available data, which may not offer significantly return to investment at present, but will accellerate the process of opening up of more valuable government data.</p>
<p>However, building an application that effectively utilise government data to foreground a compelling argument or story requires more than a team of developers – it also require domain experts with a deep sense of the context from which the data is emanating. With a vibrant scene of nongovernmental organisations involved in monitoring, analysis, and implementation of developmental projects, many of such domain experts in India are located within such organisations, with some being in the academic institutes too. Reporting from an open data community meeting organised by the World Bank at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, on December 10, 2014, Isha Parihar asks: “Where are the NGOs?” She points out that “[t]he discussions around open data [in India] also highlight the absence of nonprofit organisations among the technologyfocused groups, entrepreneurs, and businesses <strong>[1]</strong>.” This observation is especially critical as the meeting was organsied by World Bank not only to gather public responses to be presented to Government of India, but also to take stock of the open data community in India. The absence of NGOs, although, does not indicate at the lack of interest of the nongovernmental research and advocacy organisations in India to work with government data. Such organisations, on the contrary, have a long history of accessing, using, sharing, and communicating government data obtained through both proactive and reactive disclosure mechanism. While surveying such practices in a recent report, Sumandro Chattapadhyay argues <strong>[2]</strong> that the lack of a common understanding of the open data community in India emerges from both the lack of an established forum where commercial and non-commercial reusers of data discuss and articulate their requirements and demands, and the
existence of an established range of actors accessing, using, and resharing government data for commercial and noncommercial purposes who are still uncertain regarding how open government data will exactly transform and augment their existing practices.</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>Whose Open Data Community is it?</h3>
<p>In the context of the emerging open data ecosystem in India, thus, the notion of the open data community comes forward as both the problem – in terms of the community not yet being there to effectively take forward the open data agenda – and the solution – as the component of the ecosystem that can successfully bridge gaps between interests and capacities of various stakeholders. Given the gap and the stakeholder concerned, the open data community is expected to perform various critical functions. This paper tracks these conceptualisations of open data community in India. Based upon conversations with fourteen organisations working across four cities in India, the question of 'whose open data community is it' is explored in this paper following three pathways – (1) by documenting how the understanding of the open data community, and the location of the organisation concerned in reference to that, changes across these organisations, (2) by describing how the idea of who all are included in the open data community in India changes across these organisations, and (3) by identifying how different organisations formulate the intended audiences of the open data community in India. In doing so, I argue that a range of critical challenges being experienced by the open data ecosystem in India often gets articulated as things that can be resolved by a more active and effective open data community. This distorts the distribution of responsbilities across various kinds of stakeholders for contributing to the open data ecosystem. In conclusion, I note the need to stop using open data community as a solution-for-all-open-data-evils, and for a pragmatic approach to understand the kinds of open data challenges it can address, and those that it cannot.</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>Endnotes</h3>
<p><strong>[1]</strong> Parihar, Isha. 2015. On the Road to Open Data: Glimpses of the Discourse in India. Akvo. January 14. Accessed on March 02, 2015, from <a href="http://akvo.org/blog/on-the-road-to-open-data-glimpses-of-the-discourse-in-india/" target="_blank">http://akvo.org/blog/on-the-road-to-open-data-glimpses-of-the-discourse-in-india/</a></p>
<p><strong>[2]</strong> Chattapadhyay, Sumandro. 2014. Opening Government Data through Mediation: Exploring Roles, Practices and Strategies of (Potential) Data Intermediary Organisations in India. Accessed on March 02, 2015, from <a href="http://ajantriks.github.io/oddc/report/sumandro_oddc_project_report.pdf" target="_blank">http://ajantriks.github.io/oddc/report/sumandro_oddc_project_report.pdf</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/whose-open-data-community-is-it-abstract'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/whose-open-data-community-is-it-abstract</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroData SystemsOpen DataResearchOpen Data CommunityResearchers at Work2015-11-13T05:41:15ZBlog EntryWashington Meet on Open Data Principles
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/washington-meeting-on-open-data-principles
<b>Sunil Abraham was invited to discuss the common international open data principles on February 24, 2015. The meeting took place at the World Bank office in Washington.</b>
<p>The meeting focused on:</p>
<ul>
<li>Reviewing the content of the Open Data Charter document </li>
<li>Understanding the target audience of the document, and how to be inclusive of local governments and non-government organizations </li>
<li>Developing a strategic plan and calendar of key events to support adoption of principles </li>
<li>Setting out practical next steps </li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/g-20-open-data-process.pptx" class="internal-link">Download Sunil's presentation here</a></p>
<ul>
</ul>
<hr />
<table align="left" class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<p align="center"><b>Agenda Item</b></p>
</td>
<td>
<p align="center"><b>Description</b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>1. Welcomes and Introductions</p>
<p>(9:30-9:45)</p>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li> See attendance list </li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>2. Background Information</p>
<p>(9:45-10:30)</p>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li> Presentations on: </li>
</ul>
<p>o G8 Open Data Charter</p>
<p>o G20 open data initiative</p>
<p>o Post-2015 and the Data Revolution</p>
<p>o OGP OD WG</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">
<p align="center"><b>Break (10:30-10:45)</b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>3. Strategic alignment of open data principles initiatives</p>
<p>(10:45-11:15)</p>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li> Discuss need for common approach on OD principles </li>
</ul>
<p>· Discuss whether principles articulated in Int'l OD Charter, meet this need</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>4. Content of OD Charter</p>
<p>(11:15-12:15)</p>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li> Review Int'l OD Charter </li>
<li> Provide comments on content, potential changes </li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">
<p align="center"><b>Lunch (12:15-13:00)</b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>5. International consultation on OD Charter</p>
<p>(13:00-13:30)</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>· Suggest key stakeholders (governments, private sector, and civil society organizations) to consult on OD Charter</p>
<p>· Discuss strategy and methods for global consultation on OD principles, especially with Global South</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>6. Governance of OD Charter</p>
<p>(13:30-14:15)</p>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
<li> Discuss need for ongoing governance for Charter </li>
</ul>
<p>· Discuss mechanisms and resources necessary to keep Charter updated and foster its adoption</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">
<p align="center"><b>Break (14:15-14:30)</b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>7. Critical path for OD principles</p>
<p>(14:30-15:15)</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>· Develop list of key milestones and events to support Charter adoption and implementation</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>8. Next steps</p>
<p>(15:15-16:00)</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>· Develop list of specific action items for completion in the next 2 months, as well as over the medium- and long-term</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/washington-meeting-on-open-data-principles'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/washington-meeting-on-open-data-principles</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpen DataOpenness2015-03-09T02:05:01ZNews ItemOpen Data in Cultural Heritage – OpenGLAM in Germany
http://editors.cis-india.org/news/open-data-in-cultural-heritage
<b>Subhashish Panigrahi took part in this event as a member of the OpenGLAM Working Group.</b>
<p id="stcpDiv" style="text-align: justify; ">Read the details on the OpenGLAM website <a class="external-link" href="http://openglam.org/2014/06/10/open-data-in-cultural-heritage-openglam-in-germany/">here</a>. Images from the event can be seen at <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:OpenGLAM_2014">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:OpenGLAM_2014</a></p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Are you working in a cultural heritage institution, or interested in opening up cultural heritage data for wider reuse? On the morning prior to the start of the <a href="http://okfestival.org/">Open Knowledge Festival</a>, the <a href="http://www.openglam.org">OpenGLAM initiative</a>, <a href="http://www.dm2e.eu">DM2E project</a>, <a href="http://www.okfn.de">Open Knowledge Germany</a> and <b><a href="https://www.wikimedia.de/wiki/Hauptseite">Wikimedia Deutschland</a> </b> are organising a half day workshop on open cultural data, with a special focus on German cultural heritage institutions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">During the OpenGLAM workshop, we will investigate and discuss the possibilities and obstacles of opening up your cultural data as an institution. After a round of inspiring presentation from initiatives like Europeana, Wikidata, the German Digital Library and Coding da Vinci we will continue the discussion how to overcome the barriers to opening up data in the cultural heritage sector.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Finally, we will hear from the successful local OpenGLAM groups currently active in Switzerland and Finland, and kickstart a local OpenGLAM network for German memory institutions interested in open cultural content and open access. We invite everyone to join and help think about the focus points for such a German OpenGLAM group for the future, and look forward to start up a fruitful collaboration!</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Programme</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">9.30: Welcome & introduction to OpenGLAM – Lieke Ploeger, Open Knowledge</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">9.40: Lightning talks on the value of open data for cultural heritage institutions</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><i>We opened up – now what? An analysis of the open data policy of the Rijksmuseum</i> – Joris Pekel, Europeana</li>
<li><i>1 year in digital cultural heritage – what were the walls I ran into most often & how to tear them down</i> – Stephan Bartholmei, Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek</li>
<li><i>Wikidata – Making your data available and useful for everyone</i> – Lydia Pintscher, Wikimedia Deutschland</li>
<li><i>How to use cultural heritage data: Coding Da Vinci results</i> – Helene Hahn, Open Knowledge Foundation Germany</li>
<li><i>Experiences from German GLAM projects</i> / <i>GLAM-Wiki-Kollaborationen in der Wissenschaft </i>- Daniel Mietchen, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">10.30: Coffee Break</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">10.45: Debate on the current situation around openness in Germany</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">11.30: Forming a local German OpenGLAM group</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><i>With inspiring presentations of the OpenGLAM local groups from Switzerland & Finland</i></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">13.00: End</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
</ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/news/open-data-in-cultural-heritage'>http://editors.cis-india.org/news/open-data-in-cultural-heritage</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpen DataAccess to KnowledgeOpenness2014-07-28T09:49:50ZNews ItemEthical Issues in Open Data
http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/ethical-issues-in-open-data
<b>On August 1, 2013, I took part in a web meeting, organized and hosted by Tim Davies of the World Wide Web foundation. The meeting, titled “Ethical issues in Open Data,” had an agenda focused around privacy considerations in the context of the open data movement.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The main panelists, Carly Nyst and Sam Smith from <a class="external-link" href="http://https//www.privacyinternational.org/">Privacy International</a>, as well as Steve Song from the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.idrc.ca/EN/Pages/default.aspx">International Development Research Centre</a>, were joined by roughly a dozen other privacy and development researchers from around the globe in the hour long session.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The primary issue of the meeting was the concern over modern capabilities of cross-analytics for de-anonymizing data sets and revealing personally identifiable information (PII) in open data. Open data can constitute publicly available information such as budgets, infrastructures, and population statistics, as long as the data meets the three open data characteristics: accessibility, machine readability, and availability for re-use. “Historically,” said Tim Davies, “public registers have been protected through obscurity.” However, both the capabilities of data analysts and the definition of personal data have continued to expand in recent years. This concern thus presents a conflict between researchers who advocate governments releasing open data reports, and researchers who emphasize privacy in the developing world.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Steve Song, advisor to IDRC Information & Networks program, spoke of the potential collateral damage that comes with publishing more and more types of information. Song addressed the imperative of the meeting in saying, “privacy needs to be a core part of open data conversation.” In his presentation, he gave a particularly interesting example of the tensions between public and private information implications. Following the infamous <a class="external-link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting">2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut</a>, the information on Newtown’s gun permit owning citizens (made publicly available through America’s <a class="external-link" href="http://foia.state.gov/">Freedom of Information Act</a>) was aggregated into an interactive map which revealed the citizens’ addresses. This obviously became problematic for the Newtown community, as the map not only singled out homes which exercised their right to bear arms but also indirectly revealed which homes were without firearm protection and thereby more vulnerable to theft and crime. The Newtown example clearly demonstrates the relationship (and conflict) between open data and privacy; it resolves to the conflict between the right to information and the right to privacy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">An apparent issue surrounding open data is its perceived binary nature. Many advocates either view data as being open, or not; any intermediary boundaries are only forms of governments limiting data accessibility. Therefore, a point raised by meeting attendee Raed Sharif aptly presented an open data counter-argument. Sarif noted how, inversely, privacy conceptions may form a threat to open data. He mentioned how governments could take advantage of privacy arguments to justify their refusal to publish open reports. <br /><br />However, Carly Nyst summarized the privacy concern and argument in her remarks near the end of the meeting. Namely, she reasoned that the open data mission is viable, if only limited to generic data, i.e., data about infrastructure, or other information that is in no way personal. Doing so will avoid obstructions of individual privacy. Until more advanced anonymization techniques can be achieved, which can overcome modern re-identification methods, publicly publishing PII may prove too risky. It was generally agreed upon during the meeting that open data is not inherently bad, and in fact its analysis and availability can be beneficial, but the threat of its misuse makes it dangerous. For the future of open data, researchers and advocates should perhaps consider more nuanced approaches to the concept in order to respect considerations for other ethical issues, such as privacy.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/ethical-issues-in-open-data'>http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/ethical-issues-in-open-data</a>
</p>
No publisherkoveyOpen DataInternet GovernancePrivacy2013-08-07T09:19:54ZBlog EntryBig Data, People's Lives, and the Importance of Openness
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/dml-central-june-24-2013-nishant-shah-big-data-peoples-lives-and-importance-of-openness
<b>Openness has become the buzzword for everything in India right now. From the new kids on the block riding the wave of Digital Humanities investing in infrastructure of open knowledge initiatives to the rhetoric of people-centered open government data projects that are architected to create 'empowered citizens', there is an inherent belief that Opening up things will make everything good. </b>
<hr />
<p>This blog post was <a class="external-link" href="http://dmlcentral.net/blog/nishant-shah/big-data-peoples-lives-and-importance-openness">published in DML Central</a> on June 24, 2013.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">I am not an Open-data party pooper. In fact, I firmly believe that opening up data – through hardware, through software, through intellectual property regimes on content – and enabling access to information and data is one of the most basic needs of the information age. I also advocate for strong policies that curb corporate and government control and monopolies over data and information. Along with my colleagues at the <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/">Centre for Internet and Society</a>, and the many networks we work with, I have thought of myself as an open data advocate and have worked towards examining openness not only at the level of content, but also openness in infrastructure and conditions of access, distribution and storage. More than ever, it is necessary to build systems of Open Data that not only have distributed, collective and ethical ownership but also ensure the fair use and integration of information in our everyday life – especially given the sinister age of relentless remembering, as lives get incessantly archived through ubiquitous and pervasive technologies of portable computing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Having said that, there is a strange thing happening around Openness right now. Openness seems to have been separated from the fact that it is a response to things being gated and closed. Openness, as it is being deployed right now, in e-government initiatives or rapid digitization processes in university libraries, seems to suggest that Openness is merely about making things in the physical format available in the digital medium. Hence, for example, the National Mission for Education through Information and Communication Technologies, India’s largest flagship government initiative to build learning conditions of the future, is investing almost all of its budget on digitizing historical and local language material in digitally intelligible and legible records that can be easily distributed. While the effort at building the infrastructure and preserving this material is absolutely worth supporting, making it the be-all and end-all of Open data initiatives is symptomatic of what I call the ‘politics of the benign’. We need to realize that Openness is not merely about making already available content in physical formats in the digital domain. Openness is about battles with Intellectual Property Regimes, which charge an extraordinary amount of money for high-value knowledge to anybody who wants to access it. In other words, openness is not about digitizing our grandparents’ pictures; it is about claiming access to knowledge and information hidden behind paywalls and gateways that is often produced using public resources.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As you can imagine, the perpetuation of this politics of benign fits many agendas; there are numerous stakeholders and actors who seek to neuter the radical nature of demands made by the Openness movements while retaining the vocabulary of political change. And that is why, if you look at the ways in which openness debates have changed, they get immediately deflected to questions around infrastructure, access, last-mile, etc. – which are all presented to us as the infrastructure of being political and being open. In the last few years, especially with Digital Humanities emerging as the playground where politics is not allowed, I find too many instances where the Humanities and Social Sciences questions get morphed into similar sounding questions that pretend to be the same but dislocate the political content and intention from the engagement.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">One of the ways this works really well is by a separation of data from the lived reality of people. Data is seen as something that is out there – something that is <i>about</i> the real rather than <i>the</i> real. It is seen as an abstraction, which, when it further enters the circuits of pretty visualizations and graphic representations, becomes so entrenched in questions of reading and coding that it often becomes a surrogate for the larger realities that it is supposed to intervene in. So, for example, in India, the concerns around agriculture infrastructure and conditions of the farmers have easily been replaced by agriculture informatics – leading to a strange paradox where the states with the highest community informatics infrastructure also have the highest <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers%27_suicides_in_India">incidences of farmer suicides</a>. I am not suggesting there is a cause-and-effect relationship here. However, it is a telling story that the community informatics infrastructure which was supposed to change the bleak realities of agriculture and farming in India has definitely not changed the nature of the reality it set out to solve.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Or in a similar vein, the ways in which the landscape of education is changing in the country, because of the emergence of the digital as the new organizing principle and in some instances, the <i>raison de etre</i> for building education infrastructure also needs to be examined. So, for instance, India has seen a rapid improvement of the Gross Enrollment Ratio in education that measures the annual intake and successful completion of education programs by students in the country. The GER shows that with remote education processes, the attempts at building distributed learning environments and the building of digital infrastructure has led to more students in different parts of the country getting enrolled in formal education systems. There is a celebration that more children are entering schools and colleges and are also in a state of socio-economic mobility. There is a clear causal relationship established in producing digital infrastructure and greater access to education and learning resources for an emerging information society like India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, this particular mode of looking at education, through the lens of access and inclusion, is no longer able to reflect on the core concerns that education institutions in the country were historically supposed to address. If the primary function of education was to address the questions of inequity, uneven modernity, disparate wealth distribution, and widespread socio-cultural conservatism, these are no longer questions that are featured in the Data-Technology driven education programs. These problems, which have been at the center of education debates in the country – leading to widespread affirmative action and violent resistance to it – have now been reformulated around quantifiable parameters of intake, credits, employability, affordability, accessibility, merit, etc. So there is silence about the nature of the students who enter education. There is an implicit push for the disinvestment of the state from education resources in favor of privatization. We remain enamored by the numbers joining the system, without worrying about the categories of discrimination – caste, gender, sexuality, language, location – that have affected the quality, intention and function of education. These issues have become moot points, to be replaced by visualizations and data sets that remain opaque in looking at the negotiations of identity politics and the need to embed education processes in lived realities of the students who enter formal education.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">These problems are not new. And the intention of this articulation is not to deny the power of digital technologies or the opportunities they produce. Instead, it is a call to say that we need to stop thinking of data – an abstraction, an artifact, a manual product – as a natural state of being. We need to remind ourselves that engagement with data is not a sterile engagement, rendered beautiful through visualizations and infographics that can make reality intelligible. It is perhaps time to realize that Data has replaced People as the central concern of being human, social and political. Time to start re-introducing People back into debates around Data, and acknowledging that Data Informatics is People Informatics and data wars have a direct effect on the ways in which people live. And Die.</p>
<hr />
<p>Banner image credit: sugree <a class="external-link" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73462957">http://www.flickr.com/photos/73462957</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/dml-central-june-24-2013-nishant-shah-big-data-peoples-lives-and-importance-of-openness'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/dml-central-june-24-2013-nishant-shah-big-data-peoples-lives-and-importance-of-openness</a>
</p>
No publishernishantOpen DataOpenness2013-07-03T04:23:11ZBlog EntryWikipedia Introductory Session organized for Data and India portal consultants
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-introductory-session
<b>On May 13, 2013, the Access to Knowledge team led by Subhashish Panigrahi conducted a Wikipedia Introductory Session at the National Informatics Centre in New Delhi for the consultants working for Data and India portal. This session was aimed to emphasize how these portals and their useful data could be used on Wikipedia to create good quality articles.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Recently <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/" class="external-link">Centre for Internet and Society</a>'s <a class="external-link" href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge">Access To Knowledge</a> team was invited to demonstrate the usefulness of Wikipedia for the consultants of <a class="external-link" href="http://www.nic.in/">National Informatics Centre</a> (NIC) working for the <a class="external-link" href="http://data.gov.in/">Data.gov.in</a> and the <a class="external-link" href="http://india.gov.in/">National Portal of India</a> at NIC's New Delhi office. Data portal being one of the very important open data portal of the Government of India has worked immensely to populate over 2400 datasets from 32 departments participating in it.<a class="sdfootnoteanc" href="#sdfootnote1sym" name="sdfootnote1anc"><sup>1</sup></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Many of the data need to be transcribed in popular medias especially on web. Wikipedia being world's largest online encyclopedia could be one such primary platform to use these useful data. <a class="external-link" href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Psubhashish">Subhashish</a> from A2K team explained the usefulness of Wikipedia for the people associated with this project. The session went with discussing about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_policies">policies</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style">Manual of style</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars">Five pillars of Wikipedia</a> followed by a demonstration of editing articles on English Wikipedia. Post editing session there was a discussion session about the notability and how to check accuracy of articles by using valid references.</p>
<hr />
<div id="sdfootnote1">
<p class="sdfootnote"><a class="sdfootnotesym" href="#sdfootnote1anc" name="sdfootnote1sym">1</a> <a class="external-link" href="http://bit.ly/11DMH5w">http://bit.ly/11DMH5w</a></p>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-introductory-session'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-introductory-session</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaOpen StandardsDigital GovernanceDigital AccessOpen DataOpen ContentOpen AccessOpennessOpen Innovation2013-07-17T06:33:20ZBlog EntryOpen Government Platform: An Open Source Solution to Democratizing Access to Information and Energizing Civic Engagement
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/informatics-nic-in-neeta-verma-alka-mishra-d-p-mishra-july-2012-open-government-platform
<b>If government could release these datasets in open format for people to use & reuse, a whole lot of new innovative apps could be built around these datasets to provide better, customized services to citizens. </b>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This article by Neeta Verma, Alka Mishra and D.P. Mishra was <a class="external-link" href="http://informatics.nic.in/uploads/pdfs/bf8ad9e4_lead_story.pdf">published as a lead story in the July 2012 edition of Informatics Magazine</a>, printed by the National Informatics Centre.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Online publishing of Government data in open format shall play an important role in enhancing transparency and accountability of the government. It shall enable new forms of citizen engagement & innovation in citizen service delivery. More customized & personalized services could be offered to citizens. When implemented at large scale it shall bring a paradigm shift in development of e-governance applications. At NIC we have recently developed an Open Government Platform (OGPL) to enable government ministries & departments to launch their open data initiative.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Conceptual Overview</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">OGPL as a product caters to two sets of users - the government and the citizen/civil societies. It facilitates government departments to contribute their datasets, Apps, tools, documents, services etc., which gets validated and published, after passing through a predefined workflow to the citizen interfacing data portal. The single-point citizen interface is designed in such a way that catalogs can be searched with ease and datasets can be accessed/downloaded in various open formats. It also provides a platform for citizens and civil societies to engage with government on various aspects of socio economic development.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">OGPL also facilitates building of subject specific communities through Citizen engagement modules. Communities shall discuss online the kind of datasets, government should release and also what kind of apps should be developed around these datasets. This shall provide first hand information to government as well as developer communities on public demand and prioritize their schedules accordingly.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">OGPL Components</h2>
<p>OGPL essentially consists of three major modules:</p>
<ul>
<li>Dataset Management System</li>
<li>Data Portal</li>
<li>Monitoring and Management</li>
<li>Dashboard</li>
</ul>
<h2>Dataset Management System</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Dataset Management system or DMS shall be used by all contributing ministries, departments as well as organisations using which, authorized officers of the departments can contribute datasets, documents, services, tools and apps which shall then be processed through a predefined workflow of moderation & approval to ensure that datasets being released in public domain are in compliance with existing acts & policies of the government<br />concerning privacy, security etc.<br /><br />Through DMS each Ministry/Department can contribute their datasets in the form containing a set of Standard Metadata elements. After passing through various stages of moderation and approvals, these datasets gets published on the data portal viz. data.gov.in</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Data Portal</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Data Portal is the citizen facing frontend of the OGPL which shall provide single point access to all the datasets, apps as well as services. Portal has a strong component of search, discovery as well as citizen engagement. The development of the data portal is in compliance with the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This Citizen interfacing Data Portal would also have a Communities component built into the system. This component facilitates Forums/Discussions around various datasets, apps available on the portal as well as platform to express and discuss the kind of datasets & apps they would like to have. This shall give first hand input to development community for building new components, apps. It shall also give input to departments as what kind of datasets are more useful and accordingly can raise the priority of their release.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Monitoring and Management Dashboard</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Monitoring and management dashboard of OGPL helps government monitor & manage its Open Data Programme through three dimensions</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "> Metrics, analytics & feedback from citizens: Metrics help understand amount of datasets uploaded, updated by different Departments. Frequency of upload is also available on a single dashboard.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Analytics module gives use perspective in terms of their usage of datasets, Number of downloads, aggregated ratings provided to datasets determine their value and to some extent quality of data released by government.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Feedback from citizens provide government with first hand input from citizens on quality, relevance of datasets, new datasets needed, kind of apps need to be developed, etc. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Open government platform can be used in multiple ways. One can directly publish their datasets after one time registration & authentication. Departments could build their subject specific catalogues through a cloud based services of OGPL. One can also ask for independent installation of OGPL with customized look & feel. OGPL can be used by any central or state government department, organisations as well as district and panchayat administrations. It can also be used by private organisations as well as non government organization and civil societies to bring in more<br />transparency in their functioning.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">OGPL isn't simply about setting up a new web platform, moving to cloud computing or adopting open standards but it's about establishing a platform to enhance transparency, accountability & foster development of Innovative applications to better serve the citizens & other stakeholders. Open government data is gaining a lot of popularity & acceptance with governments across the world. Its led by government themselves, development communities, international organisations. OGPL is a perfect platform for them to launch their open data initiative.</p>
<hr />
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<h2>Note by BK Gairola</h2>
<p><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/BKGairola.png" alt=" BK Gairola" class="image-inline" title=" BK Gairola" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In India, National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP) has been recently notified by the Government. According to this policy, all government departments shall release their datasets in open format for citizens and other stakeholders to freely use & reuse. To make these datasets easily accessible by citizens, policy has also mandated NIC to provide technology solution for establishing an Open Data Portal (http://data.gov.in) for Departments, Subordinate Offices and Organizations. OGPL implementation in India is being executed by NIC, DeitY in close coordination with DST.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">OGPL is an open source product with generic architecture, which would easily facilitate other organizations and institutions to adopt for their open data initiatives. Communities could also contribute further by developing innovative apps around datasets and also enhancing the product in terms of features & functionalities.<br /><br />The purpose of the platform is to enhance access and use of government data to foster innovation, promote transparency, accountability and public participation. I am sure it shall go a long way in democratizing the government information.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<h2>Indo-US Collaboration</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Open Government Platform (OGPL) was developed jointly by India & US government as a result of announcement made by President Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the Indo-US Open Government Dialogue in 2010. OGPL leverages on the best practices & features of the India’s “India.gov.in” and the “Data.gov” of United States.National Informatics Centre (NIC) from Government of India and General Services Administration (GSA) of United States executed the development of OGPL. Open Government Platform, developed to promote access to government data and information and energize citizen engagement was launched by Hon’ble Minister of Communications & IT and HRD, Govt. of India during a press conference held on 30th March 2012 in New Delhi in presence of Dr. Sam Pitroda, Advisor to Prime Minister of India. Secretary(DEITY), DG(NIC) & Joint Secretary, MEA also participated in the press conference, Senior officers from US Government & US Embassy were also present along with GSA team in India. CIO, US Government along with Deputy CTO also addressed the event over video conference.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/KapilSibalPressBriefing1.png" alt="KapilSibal1" class="image-inline" title="KapilSibal1" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/KapilSibalPressBriefing2.png" alt="KapilSibal2" class="image-inline" title="KapilSibal2" /></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<h2>OGPL - An Open Source Solution</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Open Government Platform is completely developed using Open Source Stack. In fact complete management of the collaborative development of OGPL by two teams stationed in two continents of the world was also handled using open source tools.It complies with the best practices of open source development, which helps in leveraging the strengths of future versions of the open source base products used in development of OGPL.<br /><br />OGPL being an open source initiative not only facilitates cost saving in terms of software and licenses but also facilitates community participation in terms of further development of product with additional components and<br />innovative apps around the published datasets. This shall define a paradigm shift in the manner electronic government applications shall be developed in future. The entire source code is made available to public for review, feedback and participation for further development and enhancement.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<h2>Citizen Engagement</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">OGPL has a strong component of Citizen engagement. Citizens can view, download datasets as well express their opinion on the quality of datasets, they can rate the datasets on a scale of 1 to 5. One can embed a dataset in their blog or web site as well as contact the owner of the datasets for any query or clarification. One can also publish or connect the datasets on their social media pages such as facebook, twitter etc. for wider reach.<br /><br />Ratings given by citizen are transparently shared on the portal in terms of number of views, current star rating which help new visitor understand quality of data sets, its popularity. Portal also enables visitors to submit their ideas, feedbacks and as well suggest datasets they would like government to release in open domain. These ideas are further rated by citizens to help government allocate priority in release of data sets.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/informatics-nic-in-neeta-verma-alka-mishra-d-p-mishra-july-2012-open-government-platform'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/informatics-nic-in-neeta-verma-alka-mishra-d-p-mishra-july-2012-open-government-platform</a>
</p>
No publisherNeeta Verma, Alka Mishra and D.P. MishraOpen DataOpen ContentOpenness2012-11-19T03:15:01ZBlog EntryTechnology Evangelists and Religious Evangelists — A Talk by Katherine Sydenham
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/technology-evangelists-religious-evangelists
<b>Katherine Sydenham from the University of Michigan School of Information will deliver a lecture at the Centre for Internet & Society office in Bangalore on August 10, 2012, from 5.00 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.</b>
<h3>Abstract</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The current investigation explores the possibility of comparison of techniques used by technology evangelists and religious evangelists. The study sought informants from three major categories: proprietary software evangelists, proponents of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), and religious evangelists of several religious traditions. A preliminary analysis of qualitative data indicates that there are enough similarities in strategies used by members from each group to make the inquiry relevant. Early data also reveal significant differences in each group´s strategy that may inform and shape future efforts on behalf of technology evangelists to reach a wider audience for their products.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "> </p>
<h3>Katherine Sydenham</h3>
<p>Katherine is a doctoral student at the University of Michigan School of Information. Her research in the Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) field focuses on technology adoption by marginalized communities. Her background is in Religious Studies and Library and Information Science. Her summer internship at Microsoft Research is exploring the strategic similarities between technology evangelism and religious evangelism.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://www.si.umich.edu/people/katherine-sydenham">Click here</a> to read more about Katherine</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/technology-evangelists-religious-evangelists'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/technology-evangelists-religious-evangelists</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpen DataEvent Type2012-09-04T10:44:34ZEventData-Driven Journalism, Data Literacy & Open Government — Talk at CIS
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/data-driven-journalism-data-literacy-and-open-govt
<b>The Open Knowledge Foundation and the Centre for Internet and Society invite you to an informal talk by Lucy Chambers and Laura Newman on 'Data-Driven Journalism, Data Literacy, and Open Government'. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Government of India recently passed a policy that requires all departments to start opening up data to the public, and NIC is working towards consolidating this on a single website. This workshop would focus on exchanging information on how such data are used by journalists elsewhere, and what can be done in India to drive journalism using data.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Details</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Open Knowledge Foundation is an international not-for-profit with a mission to open up the world's data, build data-literacy and promote evidence-based policy making. Working in 3 broad fields open-government, open research and open cultural heritage the activities of the foundation are focused around projects, working groups and local meetups.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The talk will be very informal, and focus on Data Journalism (<a class="external-link" href="http://datajournalismhandbook.org/">datajournalismhandbook.org</a>), but will also touch on data management for governments (ckan.org), the teaching of data literacy (<a class="external-link" href="http://schoolofdata.org/">schoolofdata.org</a>) and explaining the meaning of the numbers behind government expenditure (<a class="external-link" href="http://openspending.org/">openspending.org</a>).</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">More Details</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Data Journalism Handbook was born at a 48-hour workshop at MozFest 2011 in London. It subsequently spilled over into an international, collaborative effort involving dozens of data journalism's leading advocates and best practitioners including from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the BBC, the Chicago Tribune, Deutsche Welle, the Guardian, the Financial Times, Helsingin Sanomat, La Nacion, the New York Times, ProPublica, the Washington Post, the Texas Tribune, Verdens Gang, Wales Online, Zeit Online and many others. Ms. Chambers was one of the<br />editors of the book.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Additional Links</h3>
<ul>
<li>Data Journalism Handbook - Online Version:<a class="external-link" href="http://bit.ly/Istv8c">http://bit.ly/Istv8c</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Examples of data-driven journalism:<a class="external-link" href="http://bit.ly/8KwHR">http://bit.ly/8KwHR</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Data-Driven Journalism mailing list:<a class="external-link" href="http://bit.ly/hUOQX3"> http://bit.ly/hUOQX3</a></li>
</ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/data-driven-journalism-data-literacy-and-open-govt'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/data-driven-journalism-data-literacy-and-open-govt</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshOpen DataEvent TypeOpenness2012-07-31T06:08:55ZEventWater Data Consultation
http://editors.cis-india.org/news/water-data-consultation
<b>Pranesh Prakash spoke on Policy Issues and Developments around Open Data at an event organized by Arghyam in Bangalore on March 23, 2012. </b>
<h2>Agenda<br /></h2>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>10:00 a.m.</td>
<td> Welcome Address</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>10:05 a.m.</td>
<td>Introduction by participants about themselves and their<br />
organizations</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>10:45 a.m.</td>
<td>Context Setting and Data Project Pranesh/ Nisha *</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>11:30 a.m.</td>
<td> Tea Break</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>11:45 to 1:15 p.m.</td>
<td>Planning Commission Report Presentation and Q&A</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1:15-2:00 p.m.<br /></td>
<td>Lunch</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2:00-4:00 p.m. <br /></td>
<td>Discussion: Role of Civil Society Actors for Data</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>4:00-5:00 p.m.<br /></td>
<td> Road Ahead ( including 15 minute consensus of Summary )</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>5:00 p.m.</td>
<td>Vote of Thanks<br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>5:05 p.m.</td>
<td>High Tea</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Venue: Evoma Hotel, # 14, Bhattarahalli, Near Garden City College, Old Madras Road, K.R Puram, Bangalore<br />
Date: March 23, 2012</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/news/water-data-consultation'>http://editors.cis-india.org/news/water-data-consultation</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpen Data2012-04-04T06:24:33ZNews ItemOpen DataCamp — 2012
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/open-data-camp
<b>A one-day unconference for people working with data from various sectors to come together and share their projects and ideas was organised in Bangalore on March 24, 2012. It was organised by the DataMeet group. Pranesh Prakash participated in the event.</b>
<h2>Sessions</h2>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>9:00am - 10:00am</td>
<td>Registration</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>10:00am - 10:10am</td>
<td>Introduction to OpenDataCamp<br />Team DataMeet <br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>10:15am - 10.55am</td>
<td><strong>Panel Discussion: State of Open Data in India</strong><br />Data in India in general is in a state for much improvement. What does that mean for open data? How can open data help improve the data situation? What are the drawbacks of opening up data?<br />Anand S (Gramener), Zainab Bawa (HasGeek), Nithya Raman (Transparent Chennai), Moderator Nisha Thompson</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>11:00am - 11.25am <br /></td>
<td><strong>Pictures through numbers</strong><br />Anand, Chief Data Scientist, Gramener</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>11.25am - 11.40pm <br /></td>
<td>Tea <br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>11:45pm - 12.10pm</td>
<td><strong>Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens</strong><br />Sridhar Pabbisetty, COO, Centre for Public Policy</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>12:15pm - 12.40pm <br /></td>
<td><strong>Open Data & Free Maps</strong><br />Shekhar Krishnan <br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>12.45am - 1.10pm <br /></td>
<td><strong>Introduction Aadhaar(UID) Data</strong><br />Pramod Varma & Sanjay Jain</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1.10am - 2.15pm</td>
<td>Lunch</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Main Hall</td>
<td>Meeting Room (small) <br /></td>
<td>Food Court <br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2:15pm - 2:40pm <br /></td>
<td><strong>Drawing By Numbers by Tactical Technology Collective</strong><br />Kaustubh Srikanth</td>
<td><strong>Why Big data and why should you bother?</strong><br />Mohan S,CEO, TrendWise Analytics</td>
<td><strong>Karnataka Learning Partnership</strong>
<br /> Data Practices and a Call for collaboration.<br /> Megha Vishwanath</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2:45pm - 3:10pm <br /></td>
<td><strong>ISB's visualisation of migration in India.</strong><br />ISB & Gramener</td>
<td><strong>The State of Climate Data in India - Open and Closed.</strong><br />Pavan Srinath</td>
<td><strong>Anatomy of NSSO Data</strong><br />sumandro <br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>3.15pm - 3:40pm <br /></td>
<td><strong>Water Data</strong><br />Nisha Thompson, India Water Portal <br /></td>
<td><strong>Mobile as a Data Collection Device</strong><br />Thejesh GN <br /></td>
<td><strong>Open data API and the challenges</strong><br />Karthik B. R</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>3.40pm - 4.15pm</td>
<td>Tea <br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>4.15pm - 4.40pm <br /></td>
<td><strong>Modelling car insurance pricing</strong><br />Gaurav Vohra, Jigsaw Academy</td>
<td>Free slot <br /></td>
<td><strong>What is Data?</strong><br />Mrinal Wadhwa</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>4.45pm - 6.00pm <br /></td>
<td>Feedback, etc</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The sponsors included Google, India Water Portal, Gramener, Microsoft Research, Akshara Foundation, DataMeet, HasGeek and the Centre for Internet & Society.</p>
<p><strong>Venue</strong>:Google, 3rd, 4th and 5th floors,RMZ infinity, Tower ENo.3, Old Madras Road, Bennigana Halli, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560 016</p>
<p>For more info, <a class="external-link" href="http://odc.datameet.org/#about">click here</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/open-data-camp'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/open-data-camp</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpen DataOpenness2012-03-30T14:49:14ZBlog Entry