We would have to analyze the performance of India in the recently concluded Open Data Census in order to pinpoint the areas we need to improve more than others. The Open Data Index is a community-based effort initiated and coordinated by the Open Knowledge Foundation. The Index is compiled using contributions from civil society members and open data practitioners around the world, which are then peer-reviewed and checked by expert open data editors. The Index provides an independent assessment of openness in the following areas: transport timetables; government budget; government spending; election results; company registers; national map; national statistics; legislation; postcodes / ZIP codes; emissions of pollutants.
Countries assessed (in rank order): United Kingdom, United States, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Australia, Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, Iceland, Moldova, Bulgaria, Malta, Italy, France, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Israel, Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, Greece, Croatia, Isle Of Man, Japan, Serbia, Russian Federation, Ecuador, South Korea, Poland, Taiwan R.O.C., China, Indonesia, Hungary, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Jersey, Guernsey, Slovak Republic, Bermuda, Romania, Costa Rica, Bangladesh, Tunisia, Singapore, Lithuania, South Africa, Cayman Islands, Egypt, Nepal, Senegal, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Gibraltar, Belgium, Hong Kong, Barbados, Bahamas, India, Bahrain, Yemen, Burkina Faso, Kenya, British Virgin Is., Saint Kitts & Nevis, Cyprus.
Transport Timetables: While timetables for trains are commonly available, for other modes of transport we could do with more easily available information. The data provided is public, still there is a “captcha code” facility which mandates human intervention in the search process. Due the heavy web traffic these websites are slow functioning. Marked as “no bulk download” / “not easily machine readable” due to capcha Real time train data is easier to find than timetable data. Cannot find open licence. http://enquiry.indianrail.gov.in/ntes/ — real time train information https://www.irctc.co.in/ – some train information
Government Budget: The data is fully available in the government website mentioned above. The data is available on Govt of India website “indiabudget.nic.in”. The data is available in both machine readable and non readable formats. The excel format is only available for 2012-2013 data, while the earlier data is available in PDF format. The archives can be accessed at http://indiabudget.nic.in/index.asp under the sub-heading ‘Annual Financial Statement’. The The Excel Sheet contains only data. For complete Statement of Budget Estimates (SBE’s) with notes please see PDF Format. The PDF data is available from 1996-1997 onwards, and the 2011-2012 data is not available at the moment.
Government Spending: This data is taken from ministry of finance website “http://www.finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_expenditure/cca/cca_exp_stat.asp“. It is publicly available. You can also find info on http://cga.nic.in/default.aspx and on http://www.finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_expenditure/cca/cca_exp_stat.asp Data available in pdf not in excel. Data is not available in bulk for all things, though for some. Given the definition of spending I have changed the link to CGA as that is where detailed accounts are available to some degree of disaggregation. The ministry of finance has some but CGA would have more.
National Election Results: Data is available fully in PDF form(state wise). In some cases provisional state election results are available as XLS. Its available for free but cannot see a licence on the data; and website is managed by Election Commission of India. Details include- * List of Participating Political Parties * List of Successful Candidates * Performance of Political Parties * Candidate Data Summary * Electors Data Summary * Women Candidates * Constituency Data Summary * Detailed Results (also see http://eciresults.ap.nic.in/ )
Company Register: There is unrestricted access to the basic data. The interface of the websites is user friendly. The government website while registering for a company, also suggests whether that name is available or not and the probable names that can be chosen. also http://www.mca.gov.in/MCA21/Master_data.html Info only available via search not via download or bulk view.
National Map: The name MapsOfIndia and logo with background grid, and all others related or associated product and service names, distinguished design or Trademarks i.e. black hat with stars, logos, colour scheme and slogans are the trademarks or registered trademarks of MapsOfIndia.com All other products offered and service marks contained herein are the trademarks of MapsOfIndia.com Or of respective third party in agreement with MapsOfIndia.com You may not use any MapsOfIndia or third party trademarks or logos or images without the prior written consent of MapsOfIndia.com The data is available from the source which we can cannot confirm whether it is from official government site. The data available is comprehensive extent fully available. Some information is also available in the site “http://www.portal.gsi.gov.in/portal/page?_pageid=127,529486&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL” and “http://www.surveykshan.gov.in/“
National Statistical Data: http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/site/home.aspx also http://planningcommission.nic.in/data/datatable/ and http://mospi.nic.in/Mospi_New/site/home.aspx Data is completely available. This data is available on the planning commission of India website and was published on 3rd May, 2013.
National Legislation: http://indiacode.nic.in There is no mention of the license applicable, so have marked it as NOT open.
National Postcode Database: Two sites: http://www.indiapost.gov.in/pin/ http://data.gov.in/dataset/all-india-pincode-directory The data is available in CSV format and is updated on 22-Jul-2013. The data consists of pin-codes along with post office information like address and postal code but does NOT include geographic boundaries or lat long information. The data can also be searched by location or pincode on ‘http://www.indiapost.gov.in/‘. The data is available completely and is from official source, i.e the site managed by National Informatics Center which is a government body. It is hard to say whether the post office address which forms each result could be connected to a lat/long location with other information as per the census requirements.
Environmental Data: http://cpcbenvis.nic.in/airpollution/database.htm For specific data, publications are available from the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India at minimal charges. http://cpcbenvis.nic.in/publi.htm data for air quality available for 2005 only at http://cpcb.nic.in/Air_quality_data.php data for air quality in years up to 2006 at http://cpcbenvis.nic.in/airpollution/database.htm