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| Open Data Index |
Introduction :
Opening up government data to free public access is a global trend that aims to foster better governance by improving transparency. India makes official data available through its portal launched about a year ago, but it has been ranked low in the just-published Open Data
Index.
Index.
India's Position
Though India's open government data initiative has gained momentum with the adoption of an official open data policy and the publication of neraly 4,900 data sets so far on the portal data.gov.in, it has still quite some way to go in making its mark globally on this front going by the rankings of an international Open Data Index.
In the Indian context the Index indicates that the data is generally available but does not meet some of the parameters. India has a score of 215; the UK with a score of 940 tops the list. Right at the bottom is Cyprus with a score of 30. Open Data Index
The Index published by the non-profit organisation Open Knowledge Foundation has ranked India among the bottom 10 in a list of 70 countries which have been evaluated in terms of transparency and usefulness of the open data they have made available to the public.
The Open Government Partnership has been described as an "international platform for domestic reformers committed to making their governments more open, accountable, and responsive to citizens." India is not part of the partnership.
To rank countries it has evaluated the availability of what it considers ten datasets of high value - transport timetables, government budget, government spending, election results, company registers, national map, national statistics, legislation, postcodes/ZIP codes and emissions of pollutants.
