Gaurav Godhwani

I’m Gaurav Godhwani, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Civic Data Lab. At our organization, we develop open data collaboratives to make public data more accessible, aiding decision-making and enhancing data-driven governance. Our efforts extend across India and several other countries in Asia and the Global South. Our biggest insight is the critical need for diverse stakeholders to collaborate in enhancing data access, which is vital for the digital economy’s development. This has proven successful in boosting citizen trust, participation, socioeconomic growth, and providing timely aid to vulnerable populations, especially in scenarios like climate crises and disaster risk reduction.

From the conference, I’ve gathered that we need more cooperatives and multidisciplinary teams to explore and maximize the value of data. It’s important to identify high-value data sets, establish the right access models, and determine how data can be leveraged for the collective good in a timely manner. I am also keen to learn more about how platform cooperatives globally are making a difference, particularly how these models can be adapted for public good data initiatives in India. I look forward to gaining further insights from this event and continuing the dialogue with the community.