Introducing Bangalore Open Data Repository

Update: Bangalore Open Data Repository has a new home. Its called OpenBangalore.org. Please bookmark it,

I have been collecting data about Bangalore for years. The collected data includes GIS, election, weather reports etc and were from different sources. I have been meaning to distribute it online for a while now. Two big reasons to do it were

1. Unlock data which was locked up in some govt institutes and make it available to everybody
2. Help data enthusiasts, data scientists, researchers, journalists and developers who are interested in Bangalore and its data.

At last I figured a way to do it. It’s through a mercurial repository available at Bangalore Open Data Repository. That's probably the easiest way to distribute and collaborate. If you are a developer you can just clone the project. If not you can download the data dump.

License:
The chosen license is ODbL. For those who don’t know, it’s similar to Creative Commons, Share Alike and Attribute License. It’s used to keep the modifications or additions to data open as well. A gist of the license below.

You are free:

To Share: To copy, distribute and use the database.
To Create: To produce works from the database.
To Adapt: To modify, transform and build upon the database.

As long as you:

Attribute: You must attribute any public use of the database, or works produced from the database, in the manner specified in the ODbL. For any use or redistribution of the database, or works produced from it, you must make clear to others the license of the database and keep intact any notices on the original database.
Share-Alike: If you publicly use any adapted version of this database, or works produced from an adapted database, you must also offer that adapted database under the ODbL.
Keep open: If you redistribute the database, or an adapted version of it, then you may use technological measures that restrict the work (such as DRM) as long as you also redistribute a version without such measures.

The repository also has code examples to play with the data and to convert it from one format to another. All code examples are available under BSD license unless otherwise specified.

Contribute:
You are more than welcome to contribute to the project. There are mainly four ways to contribute to this project.

1. The easiest way is to send me data if you have any. Don't worry about the format or any other details. Open an email, attach data and click send. If you want it to be confidential then use my GPG keys. I promise not to leak this information to anybody.
2. Contribute by cleaning up the data. All our data is available in some open format. Download (clone it if you like), clean it, use it and send it back to me.
3. If you are a developer you can send the code examples as hacks. Make sure the code is in BSD or a similar license.
4. If you are a researcher or visualizer, go ahead and use the data. It would be great if you can add a link attributing the project and send us a mail about it. I will list it on our project page.

Please do send me your comments to improve the project. BTW bookmark the link if you haven’t already.

http://code.thejeshgn.com/bangalore