In order to encourage adoption of open data and promote innovation across India's urban ecosystem, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs today announced the initiation of the Open Data Week. The Open Data Week is being conducted from today till 21st of this month. It is a part of a series of pre-event initiatives leading up to the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav – Smart Cities: Smart Urbanization' conference to be held next month.<br />''<br />''The Open Data Week aims to show the benefits of open data such as increased efficiency, transparency, a spur in innovation, and economic growth. It is divided into two segments. The first segment involves uploading datasets, visualizations, APIs, and data blogs on the Smart Cities Open Data Portal from today till 20th of this month. The second segment involves  celebration of Data Day by all smart cities on 21st of this month.<br />