In a move to further the adoption of open data and promote innovation across urban ecosystems, the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) on Monday announced the initiation of the Open Data Week. “It will be conducted during the third week of January, i.e., from 17th January to 21st January,” the Union ministry said.
The Open Data Week is part of a series of pre-event initiatives that will lead up to the ‘Smart Cities: Smart Urbanization’ conference scheduled to be held in Surat, in February 2022. The conference will be undertaken by MoHUA to promote open data use.
According to the Union ministry, the conference will see participation from all 100 Smart Cities that will be publishing high-quality datasets and data blogs on the Smart Cities Open Data Portal. “Presently, more than 3,800 data sets and more than 60 data stories are already available on the portal to various stakeholders to analyse this data and uncover actionable insights,” the ministry said in a note.
The conference on open data also looks to enhance efficiency, transparency, a spur in innovation, and economic growth. “It is divided into two segments – first, uploading of datasets, visualizations, APIs and data blogs on the Smart Cities Open Data Portal from 17th January to 20th January and second, a celebration of a Data Day by all smart cities on 21st January,” Union ministry said.
Under the programme, the Data Day will take place nationally across all smart cities and will include talks, seminars, hackathons, demonstrations, and training on different data tracks identified by the cities.
The Data Day will also see the engagement of people from different backgrounds including government agencies, private sector enterprises, scientific and academic institutions, businesses, start-ups, civil society etc. The idea is to provide a platform that offers ample opportunities on how to continue creating and promoting the use of data that addresses complex urban issues, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The event has been designed to promote the use of and spread awareness about data.
