International Open Data Day 2019 celebration in Achham
Observations from Sanfebagar and Bannigadhi Jayagadh municipalities
March 2nd, 2019 saw open data day celebrations from across various parts of the world. Nepal was no exception to join the celebration. For the first time, the day was celebrated in 10+ municipalities in Nepal - Sanfebagar and Bannigadhi being two such municipalities.
The International Open Data Day was celebrated in both of these municipalities organized by the local governments in collaboration with MDO Nepal (Malika Development Organization Nepal). DCC coordinator, Mr. Nar Bdr Kunwar, inaugurated the program in both municipalities. The event included discussions on the benefits, opportunities, and challenges of open data whereby local representatives, stakeholders, journalists had participated.
The objectives for the celebration at Sanfebagar and Bannigadhi Jaygadh were:
- Engage the community especially women and marginalized groups in open data initiatives of the local government.
- Create awareness about the right to information
- Show the benefit of open data and encourage the adoption of open data policies in government, business, and society.
- Share the vision and plans made by the local government for future use of open data in various spaces.
- Disseminate open data initiatives (develop portals and commitments of local government) with community people.
- Discussion on the prospects of using data in the local context.
- Collection feedback and suggestion of stakeholder for efficient and sustainable use of developed mechanisms regarding open data
Summary of activities conducted on the day
Introduction of Open Data Day and its importance
The day kicked off with an overall introduction of Open Data Day, its usage, access, and scope. IT officers from both municipalities facilitated the programs in their constituencies. Through the use of open data, target groups can easily access the required information making it useful for their daily life. Both municipalities have created an e-portal platform to make public aware and reachable of open data. Also, the promotion of good governance through the use of tools was discussed in the event. The standards of the open data ie Completeness, Primacy, Timeliness, Ease of Physical and Electronic Access, Machine Readability, Non-Discrimination, Use of Commonly Owned (Open) Standards, Licensing, Permanence and Usage Costs were also discussed and shared with the target groups.
Demo of data portals and tools of local government
The e-portal, its tools and usage procedure were thoroughly discussed along with a demo session among the participants. Tools such as POI (Points of interest — Sanfebagar POI and Bannigadhi Jayagadh POI), e-library, Municipality Voice of representatives (Sanfebagar Municipality Voice, Bannigadhi Jaygadh Municipality Voice) attracted public interest and all participants tried it in their mobile and laptops. Elected representatives also expressed their happiness in making such platforms whereby two-way public and government relation is fostered along with the practice of good governance. Both the mayor and chairperson of local governments promised to increase the access to more stakeholders and target groups in the future.
Official launch of Grievance Redressal Management System (GRMS)
The Grievance Redressal Management System that includes the use of integrated technology within the e-portal was launched on the same day. The system has been developed with an aim to promote good governance through complains, suggestions, inquiries on the service delivery by the local government and its effective addressing by responsible body. With the help of this system, the departments from the local government would be able to provide the right information in time. Attendees of the event tried out the IVR (Interactive Voice Response) functionality of the system in a short demo session. Chairperson and mayor requested all the participants to use this system in order to create good governed society.
All in all, it was a day to remember at both Sanfebagar municipality and Bannigadhi Jaygadh rural municipality where people from different walks of life joined hands for a better and more open government.
Author: Ratan Rawal, District program Coordinator, SUSASAN project
