About usCivicDataLab (CDL) works at the intersection of data, technology, design and social science to strengthen access to public information, evidence-based decision-making and citizen participation in governance. CDL harnesses the potential of open knowledge movements to strengthen the data-for-public-good ecosystem and enable citizens to engage in matters of public reform. We work closely with governments, non-profits, think-tanks, media houses and universities to enhance their data and technology capacity to better data-driven decision-making at scale.
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Our current areas of expertise include digital public goods & infrastructure (DPGs & DPI), climate change, public finance, urban development, open contracting and law & justice. We have co-created digital public goods like open data platforms, data exchanges, data science models and citizen-led apps for improving participatory data-driven governance in India and other countries.
In the last five years, we have collected, cleaned and published nearly 30,000+ public interest datasets and are catering to an active user base of more than a million citizens. Some of our publicly available open data initiatives include Open Budgets India, Justice Hub, Open Contracting India, Open City, CogniCity among others. We have co-created digital public goods with National Informatics Center (NIC), Ministry of Electronic & Information Technology (MeitY) and the Government of Assam. Additionally, we actively build capacity for a diverse group of partners working to enhance social impact, situated in India, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Panama and Scotland.
Our Initiatives
initiative logoClimate Action
Asia is the world’s most disaster-prone region, with 80% of extreme weather events caused by floods and storms. To help better prepare Asia for climate change, we are actively working with frontline workers, government agencies and other stakeholders to strengthen climate action and disaster risk reduction. These efforts are spread across all our initiatives, including projects like Green budgeting, Disaster Modelling and Citizen-led Disaster Reporting.
initiative logoDigital Public Goods
We are co-creating people-centric Digital Public Goods (DPGs), especially Open Data Platforms, Data Exchanges, Data Science Models and Citizen-led Apps for improving participatory data-driven governance and attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and do no harm by adhering to privacy practices and applicable laws. DPGs and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) are critical enablers of digital transformation and are helping to improve public service delivery at scale.
initiative logoLaw and Justice
To better understand implementation of laws, judicial reforms and attainment of human rights, its essential to track timely data of our courts, police, correctional homes, legal aid and other institutions. We have co-created Justice Hub - a crowdsourcing open data platform to help various stakeholders publish, consume and analyse legal data in India. We are also working to publish and analyse data to improve child protection in the country.
initiative logoOpen Contracting India
Demystifying public finance helps in understanding government’s fiscal and development priorities, supports equitable public policymaking and enables citizen trust. We are working at the national, sub-national and local level to help publish, standardise and analyse public finance data at Open Budgets India and other platforms, for data-driven decision-making and citizen participation. We also collaborate with various stakeholders to set best practices for green and inclusive budgeting for our sustainable future.
initiative logoPublic Finance
Demystifying public finance helps in understanding government’s fiscal and development priorities, supports equitable public policymaking and enables citizen trust. We are working at the national, sub-national and local level to help publish, standardise and analyse public finance data at Open Budgets India and other platforms, for data-driven decision-making and citizen participation. We also collaborate with various stakeholders to set best practices for green and inclusive budgeting for our sustainable future.
initiative logoUrban Development
With rapid urbanisation, cities are becoming constantly evolving complex clusters, presenting new challenges and opportunities of economic development, infrastructure growth, migration and sustainability. To better understand and shape the development of our cities, we are opening-up crucial urban data and building the capacity of urban governments and local stakeholders. We are co-creating solutions like - city data platforms, citizen-led disaster reporting platforms, data science models for effective urban service delivery and more.