Earlier this month, Oorvani Foundation launched OpenCity.in, in partnership with Data Meet. This website will serve as an urban public data portal and is a repository of public data from government sources, via RTI or open data processes. All content on the site is free of charge and free to download and use.
Why did we take this effort? Citizens and RWAs can now use data available on the portal to understand issues better, to question local authorities about works done (or not) in their area, find out about budgets allocated, look at the project documents and more.
At Citizen Matters, we have been focusing on public data for some years now, and published several interesting data-based stories about Bengaluru.
During the elections, we have analysed the performance of elected representatives, and put out ward-specific datato help citizens make an informed choice before they voted. We have crowd-sourced information on water tankers to complement our in-depth coverage on the tanker mafia in Bengaluru. While Dengue continues to plague Bengaluru, data from citizens helped prove that the authorities were painting a rosier picture than was true. These are only some examples.
Thejesh GN, the founder of DataMeet and the brain behind the technology of OpenCity.in is running the TCS10K. And in therun up to him getting past the finish line, he is also looking to raise funds to support data collection and data stories to be published on Citizen Matters and shared free with other media!
To support Thej’s fundraising campaign for Open Data. To make a donation , click here.
Best Regards,
Team Citizen Matters