Search

Open data are the idea originated from philosophy that certain data should be freely available for everyone to use, reuse, and republish as they wish, without restrictions from copyright, patents or other mechanisms of control. The intent of the open data movement is on the same lines as that of other “open” movements such as open source, open content, and open access. Open data have caught attention of research community, government, industry across the world, due to its huge potential to bring constructive changes in the socioeconomic and scientific domain by developing and disseminating information within a vibrant mixed ecosystem comprising of research and developer community, government bodies, business houses, and hybrid solutions of various forms fueled by the sharp elevation of information and communications technologies (ICT) and digital governance. Open data along with data analytics service give a huge opportunity for development and innovation in citizen service delivery. Open data have also formed a part of core strategy of businesses across the world, big or small, digital or non-digital. Research community has also highlighted the potential of data for research and development. Reuse of research data can enable its analysis from a different perspective; processing the data in combination with other related datasets may provide a different perspective of the research findings.

The spinning of time the wheel has seen a lot; but the best gift of mankind to mankind is the discovery of Information and Communication Technologies, the tool that gave birth to the big bang theory of electronic-Governance in the universe of countries and nations. The explosive ingress of technology into every facet of life has changed how people exist, how they work, how companies do business and how governments serve their communities. e-Governance has given new dimensions to the system of governing nations and enhancing citizen services by making the process of governance and public administration much more efficient and effective. e-Government reveals the ultimate visions for public administrations and governments to undergo a huge modernization and reorganization. E-governance has played an essential role in improving governmental processes (e-administration), connecting citizens (e-citizens and e-services) and building external interactions (e-society). With the inclusion of e-governance in governing process came the concept of Single Entry National Portal i.e. One Stop Government which efficiently integrates public services from a citizen's point of view. Such Portals help the citizens and other stakeholders to have a 24 × 7 × 365 access to public service authorities and the services being provided by them at a single point. The various Government Departments at Central, State and Local level collect, use and manage large volumes of information/services and to ensure effective access to government policymaking and operations as well as to ensure government accountability, the public needs consistent, predictable access to government information. One Stop Government Portals step in here and provide full entree to its citizens making their lives easy and smooth. This paper discourses the significance of One Stop Government accentuating india.gov.in, The National Portal of India. The National Portal of India is a huge and comprehensive repository of information and data regarding the citizen services available in India. india.gov.in, is a Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), of the country implemented with an objective to provide a single window access to the information and services of the Indian Government at all levels, from Central to the State Government, from the District Administration and to the village Panchayats, all for the citizens and other stakeholders. The National Portal india.gov.in, acts as a front end to various e-Government initiatives and a gateway to over 6000 websites providing a variety of information and services being provided by different Indian government departments at multiple levels. It is a reservoir of resources and provides in-depth information about the India and its various aspects. india.gov.in plies valuable information to a wide variety of target audience encompassing the citizens, government, business strata and overseas Indians. The National Portal of India is one stop portal for all those who need information on anything related to India, from paying utility bills to accessing information on welfare schemes in different economic sectors, from obtaining licenses/certificates to apply for Indian passport india.gov.in has it all!

Speedy advancements in ICT and the advent of the Internet have given new attributes to citizen services and thus redefining public expectations from the government and its services. Driven by demands for a more responsive government, India has been grappling with how to a one stop government solution using the best technologies to deliver services to the people. Government's use of technology, particularly Web-based Internet applications, to enhance citizen access to government services and to enable citizens to use online services is not only migrating traditionally paper-based and face-to-face services to the Internet, but also has the potential to provide citizens with the fastest and most convenient way of using government services.E-Governance has given new dimensions to the system of governing nations and enhancing citizen services by making the process of governance and public administration much more efficient and effective. E-Government reveals the ultimate vision for public administrations and governments to undergo a huge modernisation and reorganisation. E-Governance has also played an essential role in improving governmental processes (e-administration), connecting citizens (e-citizens and e-services) and building external interactions (e-society). With the inclusion if e-governance in governing process came the concept of Single Entry National Portal i.e. One Stop Government which efficiently integrates public services from a citizen's point of view. Such Portals help the citizens and other stakeholders to have a 24x7x365 access to public service authorities and the services being provided by them at a single point.Various Government Departments at Central, State and Local level collect, use and manage large volumes of information and services. To ensure effective access to government policymaking and operations as well as to ensure government accountability, the public needs consistent, predictable access to government information. One Stop Government Portals provide full entry to its citizens making their lives easy and smooth.This paper discourses the significance of One Stop Government accentuating india.gov.in - the National Portal of India; a comprehensive repository of information regarding the citizen services available in India.

The NeGP (National e-Governance Plan) aims at integrating information network at the district, states and national level to a common e-information grid, which would help faster and transparent dissemination of information to the citizens -- Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, former President of India on 14th October, 2006.The above statement by Dr. Kalam encourages fusion of e-Governance with Right to Information. The Constitution of India has declared that fundamental right to speech and expression and also the fundamental right to life and liberty should include the right of the citizen to access information. The land mark act has come into force from June 2005 which is known as "RTI Act 2005:.To ensure equal opportunity to urban, semi-urban and rural mass and to have proper coverage of the information across India -- a vast country with diverse backgrounds, ICT based solutions becomes a major driver. It helps the government to serve the people better with quick response rates and ensuring the availability of sufficient resources with maximum reach which results in increased social and economic benefits.Indian RTI Act 2005 envisage for a citizen to seek for information from any of the government department/organization(s)/NGOs termed as Public Authorities (PA), virtually on any issue by filing an RTI request to the concerned Public Information Officer (PIO). In case the information seeker does not get the information sought for within stipulated time frame of a month or is not satisfied with the information provided by the PIO can prefer an appeal before 1st Appellate Authority (AA) of the concerned department/organization and subsequently before the 2nd Appellate Authority i.e. Central Information Commission (CIC). Alternatively one can also file a complaint with the CIC in case RTI regime has not been put in place by the Department/Organization.In order to facilitate those citizens who files appeal and complaints before the Commission; two simple user friendly online forms (The Citizen Module, http://rti.india.gov.in) have been designed in congruence with the RTI Act. Whereas on the other hand an internal workflow system has also been designed, developed and implemented within CIC (The Administrative Workflow Module), which ensures proper monitoring of the entire activities during disposal of a case since its filing.

The most powerful weapon on the earth is public opinion [Paul Crouser]Governance encompasses not just government, but also the civil society, the systems, the procedures and processes in place for planning, management and decision-making. Fostering sound public judgment through informed and thoughtful debate is one of the key aspects of the Good Governance. The growing use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools is resulting knowledge based societies and providing greater avenues to the informed masses to participate in the development process. Provision of 'Anytime-Anywhere Access' to government information and services through Internet has been an important facilitator of Good Governance.A concept of Government to Citizen to Government (G2C2G) in many ways is opening up of avenues for direct participation of individuals in the governance processes [6]. This model fully exploits the potential of ICT/Internet and leverages it for greater participation, efficiency and transparency in functioning of the government as well as savings in time and costs relating to decision-making.In order to provide seamless integrated of information and services, Government of India launched National Portal of India two years back as a Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of Prime Minister of India. One of the mandates of the National Portal of India is to provide a platform for encouraging Citizens' Participation in the process of governance in the country.The Sixth Central Pay Commission, constituted by Government of India to revise the pay and perks of government employees, has leveraged on the initiatives of the National Portal of India to invite comments and suggestions in response to a questionnaire. This paper illustrates how the strength and reach of ICT can be leveraged to gather opinions from all stakeholders & citizens and enable them to participate in the process of governance.