Skip to content

Open Science in Practice

Reflections on attending Stormwater Drain Data Jam organised on 23rd May 2026

Written on 25th May 2026, published on 22nd June 2026.

Link to Data Jam: opencity.in/bengaluru-stormwater-drains-datajam-may-2026

As someone working in geospatial science, I increasingly feel that our role isn't just to make maps. It's to make knowledge reusable.

To me, Building a Resilient Bengaluru (BRB) is a good example of what that can look like.

BRB is more than a citizen awareness campaign. Looking back, it is also an example of open science in practice.

Open science is built on a simple idea: research should be transparent, accessible, and reusable. People should be able to understand how data was collected, how it was analysed, and, wherever possible, reproduce the results themselves.

BRB demonstrates many of these principles in practice.

  • The stormwater drain audit data has been made openly available.
  • The data collection methodology has been documented, making it possible for others to replicate or adapt the approach.
  • Open-source tools such as KoboToolbox/ODK, QGIS, Python, GitHub, and web mapping technologies were used throughout the workflow.
  • The outputs aren't just reports. They include dashboards, maps, and other resources that anyone can explore, learn from, and build upon.

This is where the real value lies.

When data, methods, and tools are open, a project doesn't end when the funding ends. Students can learn from it. Researchers can validate or extend it. Other cities can adapt the methodology. Citizens can understand how evidence is generated instead of simply accepting conclusions.

I think this matters even more in India.

We have no shortage of complex urban challenges in India. To name some, fooding, mobility, air quality, waste management. Often, valuable datasets and methodologies remain locked away in PDFs, hard drives, or institutional silos. Every new project starts from scratch because the previous one cannot be reproduced.

Imagine if every publicly funded urban project published not just the final report, but also:

  • the data,
  • the methodology,
  • the code,
  • and the workflows used to generate the results.

We would spend less time recreating work and more time building on what already exists.