Workshop on Open Data for Human Development
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.
Sikkim Open Data Acquisition and Accessibility Policy
Government of Sikkim passed the SODAA Policy 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.”
Objectives of the Workshop
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 International Centre for Human Development, 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.
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.
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.
Agenda of the Workshop
Day 1: June 3, 2015
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 0930-1000 | Welcome and Introductions A.K. Shiva Kumar, Director, IC4HD P.D. Rai, Honourable Member of Parliament (LS) from Sikkim |
| 1000-1100 Session 1 |
Panel Discussion Data and Transparency in Governance Moderator: P. D. Rai Panellists:
|
| 1100-1130 Session 2 |
Sikkim Open Data Acquisition and Accessibility Policy Moderator: P. D. Rai Presentation by: T. Samdup, Joint Director, Department of Information Technology, Sikkim |
| 1130-1200 | Tea Break |
| 1200-1300 Session 3 |
Implementing an Open Data Policy - Key Components Moderator: A. K. Shiva Kumar Presentation by: Sumandro Chattapadhyay, The Centre for Internet and Society |
| 1300-1400 | Lunch |
| 1400-1430 Session 4 |
Group Exercise 1 Challenges of Opening up Government Data in Sikkim Facilitated by: Sumandro Chattapadhyay |
| 1430-1530 Session 5 |
Mobile Phone-based Data Collection Introduction to Akvo FLOW Moderator: Meenaz Munshi, IC4HD Presentation by: Joy Ghosh and Amitangshu Acharya, AKVO |
| 1530-1600 | Tea Break |
| 16:00-1730 Session 6 |
Group Exercise 2 Collecting Data Using Akvo FLOW Facilitated by: Joy Ghosh and Amitangshu Acharya, AKVO |
Day 2: June 4, 2015
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 0930-1000 Session 7 |
Analysing, Visualising, and Publishing Data Moderator: Amitangshu Acharya Presentation by: Thejesh GN, DataMeet |
| 1000-1045 Session 8 |
Collecting, Visualising, and Publishing Geographic Data Moderator: Amitangshu Acharya Presentation by: Shiv Ramachandran, MapBox |
| 1045-1145 Session 9 |
Group Exercise 3 Organising, Analysing, Visualising, and Publishing Data Facilitated by: Thejesh GN and Shiv Ramachandran |
| 1145-1200 | Tea Break |
| 1200-1300 | Group Exercise 3 Organising, Analysing, Visualising, and Publishing Data (Continued) |
| 1300-1400 | Lunch |
| 1400-1500 Session 10 |
Open Data and Health Management Presentation by: Dr. Shiban Ganju, Consultant, Ingalls Health, Harvey, Illinois, Chicago; Chair, Atrimed Health Consulting, Bangalore |
| 1500-1600 Session 11 |
Open Data and Primary Education Presentation by: Gautam John, Karnataka Learning Partnership |
Day 3: June 5, 2015
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 0930-1030 Session 12 |
Panel Discussion Regional Experiences and Reflections on Open Data Panellists: representative from Bhutan, and from Meghalaya |
| 1030-1115 Session 13 |
Implementing National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy Presentation by: D. P. Misra, National Informatics Centre |
| 1115-1130 Session 14 |
Group Exercise 4 Drafting the SODAAP Implementation Plan Facilitated by: Sumandro Chattapadhyay |
| 1130-1200 | Tea Break |
| 1200-1300 | Group Exercise 4 Drafting the SODAAP Implementation Plan (Continued) |
| 1300-1400 | Lunch |
| 1400-1500 Session 15 |
Group Presentations Draft SODAAP Implementation Plan Moderator: P. D. Rai Facilitated by: Sumandro Chattapadhyay |
| 1500-1530 | Wrap-Up and Vote of Thanks |
Author
Sumandro Chattapadhyay
As a Director at CIS, I co-lead the researchers@work programme, and engage with academic and policy research on data governance and digital economy. I can be reached at sumandro[at]cis-india[dot]org.
