On the DataMeet list we have started referring to each other as DMers. So I wanted to start highlighting people who are pretty interesting and have a great insights into open data.
Dilip has been a major contributor to the list for a few years. He is always sharing data, advise, and information. He has contributed to the pincode and shapefile conversations and it always a source of support.
Where are you from? What do you do?
I am from India, born and studied in Goa. Presently (last 28 years) based in Delhi.
By qualification I am a Mechanical Engineer.
Presently I am a freelancer (worked as an employee between 1981 and 1992) As a one man SOHO professional I provide services to different Private organisations for themselves and some Private organisations in turn providing services to Government agencies. Area of specialisation is mainly application of computers to Engineering, CAD, Technical publications, Cartography, Data Maintenance, MIS reports and custom software.
I am a part time hobby programmer and have been programming since 1983 for fun and to automate my own work– VB, VBA and Autolisp.
How did you find out about DataMeet?
I wanted to make and publish editable version of Election maps and was looking for the source of updated maps after delimitation. I bumped in to [Raphael] Susewind’s Blog and via that page came to know about Datameet.
Why are you interested in data?
Mainly to make editable maps in common software, which I have a plan to offer free. More recently I have been doing less work on CAD and more on databases. In the process I am also hooked to the beauty of clean data represented especially in Database as against Excel.
Do you believe in open data? and why?
Yes, At least the data that is relevant to society as a whole.
Reasons:
- Only open data can be that Single Truth. Otherwise multiple mismatching versions float around for commercial reasons.
- There are no unnecessary fights over wrong data.
(The most classic example is the India’s Boundary map. In this world of computers we have not provided a “Correct” Boundary accessible to all in a digital format and and want to stop all “Incorrect” data freely available just by legislation and expecting everyone to hold a print in your hand and come to Dehradun for “approval”. It is ridiculous.) - Let there be commercial exploitation by value addition like visualization, Web Access but raw data generated by agencies that run from taxpayer’s money should be available in the open. Except for security, military and personally identifiable data.
What do you hope to learn?
I hope to interact with varied people and know newer things and techniques that I might not have even heard of before.
What is your impression of the DataMeet community?
Good people but It is too small, needs to be bigger.
What kind of civic projects do you work on? What kinds of civic projects are you interested in working on?
I have worked on Water Supply and Sewer networks mainly the application of computers for several years. A little on Storm water.
In future I wold love to work on Transportation modeling.
Share a visualization that you saw recently that made a big impression? Share an article you have read recently that made a big impression? (does not have to be data related)
Share a visualization that you saw recently that made a big impression? Share an article you have read recently that made a big impression? (does not have to be data related)
A visualisation about Evolution.
