GOVERNMENT
OF INDIA
A Digital India Initiative
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GOVERNMENT
OF INDIA
The Open Government Data Portal of the State Government of Sikkim, i.e. sikkim.data.gov.in, was launched on 10th June, 2016.
The website aims to provide the data related to the various Ministries and Departments of the Government of Sikkim. The data available on the Data Portal, Sikkim can be accessed by not only the citizens of Sikkim or India, but also anyone across the globe 24X7.
The basic purpose is to provide the citizens of Sikkim in particular and the Indians in general; the free access to the data and information related to the various subjects and items of interest to the citizens like education, health related issues and facilities, income and expenditure of the government ministries/departments, gross domestic product of the state of Sikkim, per capita income, data regarding the various government schemes and numerous socio-economic data or information etc. This will facilitate the transparency and better governance.
The sikkim.data.gov.in is, in a way, one of the outcomes of the movement for the digital empowerment of the citizens and inspired by the Digital India program being undertaken by the Government of India in a focused and big way.
The sikkim.data.gov.in website is designed and hosted by National Informatics Centre (NIC), Department of Electronics & Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Government of India. The content of the site is managed by Department of Information Technology, Government of Sikkim. Sikkim Data Portal was developed, under the concept of Software as a Service (SaaS), by NIC, particularly Open Government Data Division, which manages the first Open Government Data Portal in India i.e. data.gov.in.
The sikkim.data.gov.in site has various sections, organized under multiple tabs, like Home, Catalogs, Events, Announcements, Suggestions, Community and Visualization. It also has various other items like banners, links etc.
The screenshot of the homepage of the sikkim.data.gov.in site is displayed below:
The homepage of the Data Portal of Sikkim provides access to the various other sections, facilities and other important links. It also gives the statistics on the available resources, catalogs, ministries or departments contributing data to the data portal etc.
On the top of the homepage of the sikkim.data.gov.in is the banner for highlighting important matters like new resources or datasets added, events, important information etc.
The screenshot of the banner on the homepage of the sikkim.data.gov.in site showing education related datasets, which have recently been uploaded on the data portal, is displayed below:
Here, the datasets related to the education sector have been clubbed together and shown in one place. This helps the user in accessing the specific datasets of his particular interest or area of research.
The screenshot of the Catalogs section of the sikkim.data.gov.in site is displayed below:
The Catalogs section provides information on the number of catalogs which are available on the data portal and also the resources included in various catalogs. Catalog is a kind of envelope which contains the resources or dataset of similar type. The metadata regarding the catalog and related to the resources/datasets included in the catalog also forms an essential part of the catalog.
In the data portal of Sikkim, there are facilities for searching and sorting the catalogs, resources and datasets based on the various parameters or criteria or keywords which can be given by the user.
The catalog and resources/datasets are sorted on the most recent basis by default. We can sort the catalogs and resources/datasets based on other criteria like relevance, last updated and number of views.
The screenshot of the sikkim.data.gov.in site displayed below shows the search box for typing keywords or criteria for search.
The user can also search various catalogs and resources or datasets on the basis of the keywords like education, health, rural, GSDP, government department, government scheme etc. After running query, the various catalogs and resources or datasets related to the keywords or criteria given by the user will be displayed in the results.
The citizens or the users can give suggestions for various types of resources and datasets which are required by him or which can be useful even for other citizens.
The screenshot of the sikkim.data.gov.in site displayed below shows the suggestions tab for writing about the suggestions on the data portal.
The user can also suggest various improvements in the website like presentation of the website, contents as well as on other relevant matters and facilities etc.
There is a facility for endorsing the datasets suggested by other users. In other words, an individual user can endorse the various datasets which have already been suggested by other users or researchers/scholars – this will enhance the importance of the dataset required and it would be taken up by the concerned ministry or department of the government on the priority basis.
There are also various other useful links and items on the data portal like Sikkim Open Data Acquisition and Accessibility Policy (SODAAP) – 2014, Chief Data Officers, Announcement, Feedback, Visualizations, Blogs, Site Map etc. There are also links for Implementation Guidelines for NDSAP, Controlled Vocabulary Services, FAQs and Policies etc. Some of them are in the nascent stage of development. It is an evolutionary process and with the passage of time, much more content and resources would be added.
The government of Sikkim is the first State Government in India to launch an Open Government Data Portal to share data and information with the citizens freely and openly. It will also help various ministries/departments of Sikkim Government in accessing the data of another ministry/department in an easy and smooth manner. This is a pioneering step in the direction of participative, responsive and transparent governance by the Government of Sikkim.
It will lead to Sikkim Government winning accolades from the ordinary citizens, who would feel a sense of empowerment as they can access various types of data and information related to the various ministries/departments of the state government of Sikkim as well as parameter or subject wise on numerous issues/matters like welfare schemes, government activities and programs, health, education, income, expenditure etc.
The researchers, particularly focusing their research on Sikkim, will be immensely benefitted as they would be able to get comprehensive, exhaustive and well-authenticated data on various subjects/topics in one place.