The importance of Data is growing not just in the private sector but also in the Government. Data can help in decision making. In fact, Data not only helps the citizens but the governments too can benefit by making better-informed decisions. Let us touch on what the 3 sites do – Data.gov [US Govt], USAFacts.org [US Non-Govt owned] & Data.gov.in [Indian Govt].
Any open data platform from a government must allow their departments to provide data & make the data available for others to analyse. Such platforms don’t host the data themselves but rather aggregates metadata about open data resources in one centralized location.
It must be noted that the US government already has a superb Open Data site Data.gov. The site has data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications, design data visualization.
Under the terms of the 2013 Federal Open Data Policy, structure,-generated government data is required to be made available in open, machine-readable formats while continuing to ensure privacy and security.
Data.gov is built on WordPress & CKAN (world’s largest open source data portal platform). Data.gov source code is available on GitHub].
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer launched USAFacts [see video], which has detailed statistical reports on local, state and federal governments. He rightly said in the era of fake news “numbers” speak for itself, it shows how the country (US) is being run. You can listen to Steve Ballmer’s podcast here,
Before we get into the current state of Open Data in India it would be useful to get familiar with the highlights of USAFacts,
To summarise,
Factual | Only official government data |
Comprehensive | Integrated federal, state and local government data |
Contextual | Relevant statistics and historical trends |
Comprehensible | Logically organized by government mission |
Unbiased | No political agenda or commercial motive |
It has become a common spectacle for us to see political parties claiming what they have achieved, they are opposite to reality. This is where Data could help bring the real facts for citizens.
Media focuses on many unwanted topics to confuse readers, one of them being how many foreign trips the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been on. And this number is compared to his predecessors. Best for government to provide all such data officially from data.gov.in.
Many may not be aware, as part of Digital India program, the govt of India has a developed platform Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India – Data.gov.in, built on Drupal. This is a joint initiative of Government of India and the US Government. A good number of countries today are having Open Data sites.
There are many good reports & visualizations available on Data.gov.in but I wish the raw data was made available to Data Scientists to build some interesting models & reports (I still think it is available on data.gov.in but I am not finding it). We need access to datasets the way it is provided in the US by Data.gov.
Do we know how many employees Govt of India has?
The private sector in India has Data Science departments. Were you aware these positions exist in Govt of India today?
I learnt about the above positions from Data Science Congress. On browsing DST, RBI and NITI Aayog sites I wasn’t able to find a page(s) which talked about their work in Data Science. #fail
Few sites in India which focus on data,
Conclusion
Data.gov.in and Data.gov are similar, they are the official providers of government data. India needs a third party to build and analyze reports on the lines of USAFacts.org. There are many data enthusiasts these days in the country who could crowdsource their talent / passion / energy to work on this interesting project.
Govt of India and State Govts need to provide a lot more data for public consumption. It increases accountability on various govt departments which is in the interest of the country.
Only two states in India have an Open Data Policy: Sikkim & Telangana.
Delhi Govt rolls out an Open Data Platform for city’s public transit system. Get static datasets & real-time feeds via APIs abt routes, stops, live GPS bus positions.
India should champion this first in English, then make all the reports available in all Indian languages (not just Hindi). The data is structured and to create reports from structured data in multiple Indian languages is very much achievable.
Also see,
We live in a world awash with digital transformation, and yet filled with painful and…
It is a well-known fact that branding plays a significant role in the success of…
Lately I have been coming across the frustrations faced in the visa application process. Earlier,…
India has the second-largest online population. The rapid Internet access and mobile proliferation is the…
The digital media landscape has changed tremendously over the last decade. Social media has amplified…
It is not surprising to see advertising will grow in the year 2021. It does…