The World Bank Group has developed a first-of-its kind web app that lays out the full spectrum of our engagement in India in an easy-to-use manner. Everyone can now see what we do, why we do it, and the results of our work in the country.
The interactive app – OpenIndia – breathes life into India’s Country Partnership Strategy. It connects the dots between our projects and knowledge activities through a logical results framework that clearly links to the challenges our program is addressing.
It is perhaps fitting that our India office is the first among the larger development community to take this bold new step forward for it is the sheer size of India’s population that will determine whether the world achieves its goals for reducing poverty or not.
The app allows you to see how the whole institution (IDA, IBRD, and IFC) comes together across sectors and states to help India move forward on its enormous development agenda, and meet the World Bank Group’s overall goals.
Want to know whether we are making progress in implementing our strategy and where we are falling short? Track it along our strategy’s three broad engagement areas - economic integration, spatial transformation, and social inclusion.
Check how our projects are contributing to improving access to education, health, electricity, or in developing rural livelihoods. In fact, you can track progress across 19 outcomes and 33 project level indicators.
What’s more, you can put this information together in new and dynamic ways. Under education, for example, you can learn about gender parity in India’s schools, or how many students are enrolled in secondary education, and against what target.
Project details are also on hand. Find out what a project aims to do, who is implementing it, and how much money has been disbursed so far. And, discover what key studies have been published or are underway and which companies are benefiting from IFC’s advisory service.
You can also take a comprehensive look at our engagement in 14 low-income and special category states in which we work. Check whether our program is shifting to these states as planned, which projects are operating in which state, and which key development challenges are being addressed.
Since the app is linked with the World Bank Group’s Open Data site, it includes an accompanying database for over 100 indicators at the subnational level—all from official sources.
And this is not all. The team continues to work on developing version 2.0 to allow two-way communication, possibly enabling beneficiaries to upload feedback from project sites. But for now, this innovative tool of transparency remains a work in progress. We therefore welcome suggestions for improvement.
Do give us your feedback on #OpenIndia and check out the Q&A with Country Director, Onno Ruhl on Facebook.
