Towards this, a national roundtable was held that marked an important milestone with the first three cities, Pune, Surat, and Jamshedpur, being recognized as the first ever in India to achieve WCCD ISO 37120 certification and will contribute immensely to the Smart City Initiative of the Government of India. City data has been a widely used currency globally and is now helping Indian cities break a new ground and emulate global standards.

Sudhir Mungantiwar, Cabinet Minister of Finance, Planning, and Forest Departments, Government of Maharashtra gave a keynote address on the challenges and opportunities of India’s urban transformation and the value of Data.

He said, “Time is money – and this principle is effectively implemented if we understand the value of accurate data. I want to particularly congratulate Tata Trusts for having recognized the importance of accurate data and aiding the process of creating smart cities.  By working with and certifying the three pilot cities – Pune, Surat and Jamshedpur, Tata Trusts has helped the government in taking forward the smart cities project.”

Speaking at the event Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Trusts said, “Through the City Data for India Initiative, we are showcasing the true strength and importance of data for cities. Through our partnership, we are going beyond age of looking at colored data, selected data to non-discretionary collection  and capture of data, setting goals, evaluating ourselves against global peers. It gives me great pleasure to know that we are making the start with Surat, Jamshedpur and Pune as cities who are willing to share their city data. It will enable people in both public and private sector to set civic goals, to evaluate outreach and impact of policy and initiatives.  This is an exceedingly important move in the long term. Tata Trusts is proud to participate in this and congratulate the three cities for being willing to be a partner in what could be a tremendously important movement towards a truly Digital India.”

The roundtable threw interesting insights on how conforming to certain data standards by providing open, certified data will also make an important contribution to making cities more attractive to private investment by reducing perceptions of risk while simultaneously enabling effective interventions and plugging of gaps within the city by the administration.

Keynote presentations were delivered by the three Municipal Commissioners of the City Data for India Initiative pilot cities – Pune, Surat & Jamshedpur; to showcase their existing city data related programs and to highlight the opportunities to further enhance planning, decision-making and infrastructure investment through internationally-comparable certified city data. Another panel revealed insights on the importance of a ‘culture of data’ for innovation & learning for building smart, sustainable, resilient, prosperous & inclusive cities in India and why high-quality data is critical for enabling all aspects of the city infrastructure investment life cycle.

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