Friday, August 9, 2013

NIC and NASSCOM organized a Conference on “Open Data Apps for Innovation in Governance” to encourage use of Open Government Data

The Government of India, under the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP), is in the process of proactively releasing a large number of Government datasets from various departments to enhance delivery of government information, foster innovation; promote transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement in governance. To boost innovation through Open Government Data and engage start-up & developer community to build an open data ecosystem, the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in association with NASSCOM organized a conference on “#OpenDataApps for Innovation in Governance” at the India Habitat Center on August 8, 2013.

Today, we have released the data portal, which is the single window access to Open Government Data. The portal would have a significant impact on enhancing the reach and accessibility of Government services and information though innovative apps around the Open Data.  The Open Government Data initiative of India is not only a step towards greater transparency, accountability and citizen engagement in governance, but also a platform for innovation.

The government has the objective to facilitate access to the Government of India owned shareable data in a pro-active manner. In last few months, around 49 departments have contributed their data and it has grown from less than a hundred few months back to over three thousand now. It is our belief that there is need to create awareness of the Open Government Data initiative in the industry, and this programme will go a long way in encouraging the use of open data in the country.

NIC, Department of Electronics & Information Technology has setup the Data Portal (http://data.gov.in) and has been implementing the Open Government initiative of the country. So far 3500+ datasets from 49 departments have been published on the portal which is increasing every day. During a pilot exercise with Delhi University, NIC could exploit the potential of students for development of Mobile and Web Apps using Open Data. Some of those Apps demonstrated are on current Mandi Prices, Export Import policies, Postal services, habitation level facility of Piped Water and Sanitation. These are available through http://data.gov.in and one can install those in a Smartphone or access using a Web Browser for availing enhanced Government information and services.

NIC in association with NASSCOM, has organized an “#OpenDataApps Challenge” inviting Entrepreneurs, Innovators, Start-ups, Developers, Civil Society and IT industry to create unique and useful Apps for cross platform and device ranging from Mobile/Tablet, Web, SMS to Voice based applications using Open Government Data.

The Government of India is opening thousands of datasets on Data Portal. The need of the hour is to ignite the data-driven innovation in order to make the Open Government Data initiative more relevant and useful for citizens. The Open Data Apps Challenge is an important initiative to harness the benefits and power of Open Data. The datasets released on the portal get added advantage through visualizations, enhanced presentation, discoverability & usage. This contest would further enhance the usage of Open Government Datasets.”

To encourage active participation of start-ups and developers in the “#OpenDataApps Challenge, a series of engagement sessions were organized at Adobe India, Microsoft India, International Institute of Information Technology - Bengaluru & Wipro in July. More details are available at http://storify.com/DataPortalIndia.

A great journey has started with the vehicle Open Government Data.