Open Data, Open Government & Open Minds - by Nalaka Gunawardene - 15 Oct 2015

Open Data+ Open Government

+ Open Minds!

Remarks by By Nalaka Gunawardene

nalakagunawardene.com


Are you curious?Do you sometimes wonder…

What does it cost us the public each day Parliament meets?

How many trishaws/3-wheelers are running on our roads?

Just how bad are continuing losses by SriLankan Airlines & MihinAir? (LKR billions)

Who pays for Lanka’s ‘free education’?


Conversations in the Dark? Often times, we

guess, or just extrapolate from what we know

Often we miss out the Bigger Picture!

NOT GOOD ENOUGH for policy debates!


Data sources multiplying! Remote sensing & sat imagery Biometric data GIS tracking Facilities-based data Household surveys Social media Crowd-sourcing Many other channels


UN: “We Need a Data Revolution!”

“Data are the lifeblood of decision-making and the raw material for accountability!”


2015: Year We Rediscover The Joy of Stats?

“…Without high-quality data providing the right information on the right things at the right time; designing, monitoring and evaluating effective policies becomes almost impossible.” - Report of UN SG’s Independent Expert Advisory Group on a Data Revolution for Sustainable Development (IEAG), Nov 2014


Report recommended… global consensus on principles and

standards; sharing of technology and innovation

for the common good; dedication of new resources for data

capacity development; establishment of a UN-led Global

Partnership for Sustainable Development; and

establishment of a ‘SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) Data Lab’


Never Say Never Again?

“Never again should it be possible to say ‘we didn’t know’. No one should be invisible. This is the world we want – a world that counts.”Full Report:www.undatarevolution.org/report/


Data underpins SDGs, just adopted by govts of the world


Sri Lanka just committed to SDGs 17 SDGs, adopted at

Sustainable Dev Summit 2015 held at UN HQ, NY

Addressed by President Maithripala Sirisena

Implicit: LKA Govt accept reasoning behind SDGs, incl. Data 4 Development

Open Data in LK Govt?


We ask Maithripala Sirisena:OPEN Your Govt’s Data, Mr Prez!

HAL 9000’s famous answer to“Open the pod bay door, HAL”


In 2001: A Space Odyssey, astronautsunplugged unresponsive HAL 9000…


And in Sri Lanka, we citizensunplugged MR govt on 8 Jan 2015!


“Why do you need Right to Info (RTI)?Ask me whatever you want to know!”

Former LKA President Rajapaksa to editors


Does ANT Govt want citizens to know too much? Probably not!



An apt description of LKA state sector’s PUBLIC data custodians?

Dog in the manger attitude?


RTI is coming (we sure hope so!)But Are We Ready?

“To draw an analogy from water management, opening sluice gates of a water reservoir can benefit only if the downstream systems are in place and the users are ready. With both water and information, recipients need to know how to make the best use of what comes through.”- Nalaka GunawardeneDaily Mirror op-ed 14 Sep 2015


https://www.data.gov.lk


8 Principles of Open Data1. Data Must Be Complete2. Data Must Be Primary3. Data Must Be Timely4. Data Must Be Accessible 5. Data Must Be Machine-processable6. Access Must Be Non-Discriminatory7. Data Formats Must Be Non-Proprietary 8. Data Must Be License-free


Open Data Portal of the Govt of Sri Lanka

As of 15 Oct 2015, has 89 datasets… Census & Statistics Dept: 43 datasets Central Bank of Sri Lanka: 12 Info & Communications Tech Agency: 10 Sri Lanka Police: 10 Dept of Motor Traffic: 5 Import & Export Dept, SL Bureau of Foreign

Employment: 3 each Board of Investments: 2


From Dept of Census & Statistics http://nada.statistics.gov.lk/index.php/


Lanka Dattahttp://nada.statistics.gov.lk/index.php/

Backed by Dept of Census and Statistics - central statistical agency in Sri Lanka, LankaDatta disseminates relevant, reliable and up-to-date statistical information being produced by the Agencies in the National Statistical System of Sri Lanka while preserving strict confidentiality of the respondents.


Lanka Datta public data portal: Collections as at 15 Oct 2015

Demography: 90 datasets Education: 27 datasets Health: 7 datasets Agriculture: 75 datasets Socio-economic: 93 datasets Industries: 30 datasets Trade: 36 datasets Other (transport, tsunami, etc): 29


Are these harbingers of Govt opening public data collections?

Useful baby steps… But woefully inadequate Not clear if Govt of LKA as

a whole is committed to proactive sharing of public data and info

Needs clarity and uniform approach to Open Data


What about geo-spatial data?

“We need to democratise maps everywhere in South Asia. For too long, maps have been produced and distributed by a few and among a few!” - Sudarshan Rodriguez, prog manager, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), India


Maps for All? Not yet in Sri Lanka!


Open your treasure trove of maps,Mr Surveyor General!

LKA Civil War ended, 6+ yrs ago: Restricting access to detailed maps no longer justified!

Make available not just paper maps, but also geo-spatial data

At AFFORDABLE prices With MINIMUM procedure! MAKE Lanka a Map-using Nation!


LKA needs Open Data Policyfor entire public sector!

India’s Dept of Science and Technology issued a National Policy on Data Sharing and Accessibility (NPDSA) in 2012:ALL governmental agencies -- including public universities – MUST publicly share data generated using public funds AND in specified DIGITAL formats.

http://dst.gov.in/nsdi.html


What about demand-side of Open Data?

Data is useless without skills to analyse it

Many among us scared of numbers (avoid use)

Need to promote Data Literacy among LKA civil soc, media and citizens at large


Are we Data Literate? The Sunday

Times, 11 Oct 2015

Visualising LKA budget data helps us to better see govt priorities


Millions and Billions:Just what do they MEAN?

Visualising Data helps many of us see the bigger picture



Data needs to be accessible!Cartoon by Dharshana Karunathilake


Finally…


Twitter: @NalakaG

My Ravaya columns archived online: http://nalakagunawardene.com/ravaya-column/


We need all 3:Open Data + Open Govt+ Open Minds!

Open Data, Open Government & Open Minds - by Nalaka Gunawardene - 15 Oct 2015

Data & Analytics