Open data for cities, or urban open data, can build trust, promote innovation, and enable collaboration between municipal corporations, city residents and private companies. It can inform the economic and spatial planning of cities and support their sustainable development, acting as a crucial input for emerging tech-enabled governance tools. An analysis of the existing urban open data ecosystem is the first step towards this goal. For the Data Governance Network, with Rajeswari Parasa and Anushka Bhansali, I conducted a study that fills that gap by investigating the state of open data in urban India through a people and data lens.
The paper identifies the different ‘people’ or stakeholders in the ecosystem and maps them according to their power and interest in developing urban open data. It then discusses three major ‘data’ aspects that need improvement: the lack of city open data stores or data platforms, data accessibility and the limited albeit emerging use of new technologies, such as GIS, in urban governance. Using case studies, the paper demonstrates how improving these data aspects can enhance decision-making in our cities. The paper offers recommendations on how the Indian urban open data ecosystem can be improved in the short and long term.
Read the paper here.