The document presents a survey on the use of government data by research and advocacy organizations in India, focusing on the open data ecosystem initiated by the open government data policy and portal launched in 2012. It highlights the challenges in accessing and sharing government data, such as lack of public accessibility and the need for improved internal usage by government agencies. The study emphasizes the importance of fostering relationships between government entities and non-profit organizations to enhance data sharing and usability.

1. Access and Use of Government Data by
Research and Advocacy Organisations in India:
A Survey of (Potential) Open Data Ecosystem
Sumandro Chattapadhyay
ajantriks.net

2. A Survey of (Potential) Open Data Ecosystem in India
­Supported
by World Wide Web Foundation and IDRC, Canada
­Study
of the practices of accessing and using government data by
selected (non­­governmental
and non­­commercial)
research and advocacy
organisations in India
­Wider
policy context of India adopting an open government data policy
and launching an open data portal in 2012
­Most
of the organisations interacted with are yet to begin substantial
usage of the open data portal, but they are working with national­­scale
government data for a long time
­Objective
of the study is not to establish existence of 'open data
intermediary organisations' in India, but to understand the factors that
determine their existence, relevance, or otherwise

3. Open Government Data Platform of India
data.gov.in

4. Organisations Engaged with in the Study
­Accountability
Initiative, Delhi
­ASER
Centre, Delhi
­Association
for Democractic Reforms, Delhi
­Akvo,
Delhi
­Hyderabad
Urban Portal, Hyderabad
­India
Biodiversity Portal (Strand Life Sciences), Bangalore
­India
Energy Portal (The Energy and Resource Institute), Delhi
­India
Environment Portal (Centre for Science and Environment), Delhi
­India
Urban Portal (National Institute of Urban Affairs), Delhi
­India
Water Portal (Arghyam), Bangalore
­Karnataka
Learning Partnership, Bangalore
­PRS
Legislative, Delhi
­Transparent
Chennai, Chennai

5. Sectors Engaged with in the Study
­Budget
and expenditure
­Education
and social sector expenditure
­Political
representatives and candidates
­Water
and sanitation
­Urban
development
­Biodiversity
­Energy
and natural resources
­Environment
­Urban
development
­Water
and sanitation
­Education
­Political
representatives and parliamentary affairs
­Urban
development

6. Open Data Ecosystem (Working Description)
­The
adjective open applies to both data and ecosystem
­In
other words, open data ecosystem needs to be conceptualised (and
realised) as a network of creators and users of open data, where there is
no unidirectional flow of open data
­The
government agencies, in an open data ecosystem, are neither the
only creators of openly shared data, nor the only agency involved in
(re)sharing data

7. Open Data Intermediary Organisations (Working Description)
Open data intermediary organisations:
­Either
access data generated by other entities or self­create
data
­Add
value to data (through acts of sanitising, organising, compiling,
formatting, documenting, etc.) or not
­Publish
the data as open data to be used by other entities

8. What are the Key Challenges in Accessing Government Data?
­A
great wealth of existing government data is not made publicly
accessible at all (either commercially or otherwise) in digital formats
­Much
unpublished data sets are not kept out of public circulation due to
any specific characteristics of the data itself, but shaped by the reporting
structure between local, state and central government agencies
­Another
key reason for non­publication
of certain data set is a simple lack
of precedence of sharing of that data, or lack of confidence of the agency,
that is aversion of risk of bureacratic criticism
­Among
organisations interacted with, there is a general feeling that the
government has failed to revise and expand its statistical machinery,
leading to lacking quality and timeliness in data publication

9. What are the Key Challenges in Sharing Government Data?
­For
organisations working in certain sectors, such as budget and
expenditure, re­sharing
of data is not a major concern as original data
published by the government is often in a good, directly usable form
­For
organisations working in sectors where official data is produced by
multiple government agencies and are not published in an uniform and
easily­accessible
manner, say water and sanitation, re­sharing
of data by
is more of a common practice
­Key
reasons gives for not sharing data: (1) there is no demand from
final users for disaggregated data, (2) lack of confidence regarding the
capability and motivation of re­­users
of data, and (3) lack of an
organisational history of (re)sharing data

10. Major Findings
­Similar
reasons are often given by both government and non­government
organisations for not sharing disaggregated data (lack of confidence in
capability and motivation of data re­users,
lack of existing practice, etc.)
­Critical
need for government agencies, across the bureaucratic
hierarchy, to start internal usage of the data collected by them
­Long­­term
relationship with government agencies can translate into
very effective models of data sharing, however, such agency­­to­­agency
channels involve the danger of creating new gatekeepers of data
­Mutual
difficulties created by the lack of direct interactions between
government agencies that collect and manage data, and the non­governmental
organisations and individuals that want to use such data

11. Study website: ajantriks.github.io/oddc
Sumandro Chattapadhyay
ajantriks.net