Centre for Internet & Society

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:
  • Srivatsa Krishna, Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka
  • B. Gangaiah, Additional Director General, Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad
  • Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, The Centre for Internet and Society
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

 

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