Giving Data its Due
Context:
- The phrase “data is the new oil” is so overused as to be cliché. The world’s ability to produce data is currently expanding tremendously.
- Every minute, servers capture information on every aspect of society, including corporate and consumer behaviour as well as the implementation of government programmes.
- The Indian government is, in many ways, not only leading this drive but also laying the foundation for further initiatives by encouraging the development of a strong data ecosystem.
When used appropriately, the data ecosystem generates advantages:
- To fully utilise data, it must first be collected and stored.
- A strong data ecosystem must have a plan and a set of tools for processing, managing, and using data. Improvements to the data ecosystem are definitely needed, especially at the magnitude of the Indian government.
National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP):
- The National Data and Analytics Platform, a transformational open data platform established by the NITI Aayog in May 2022 in collaboration with state and federal agencies, was created in an effort to satisfy this demand (NDAP).
- The NDAP offers fundamental datasets from federal and state government agencies in machine-readable formats, together with an intuitive user interface and robust analytics.
- Using cutting-edge methods, the platform links various datasets from throughout the government while enabling the simultaneous use of several types of data.
- Decision-makers, government workers, academics and researchers, journalists, inventors, and civil society organisations make up the target audience for the NDAP. NDAP has the potential to become the standard since it is a platform with this level of scope and vision.
Beneficial benefits from NDAP anticipated:
- It is specifically designed to address the issues currently restricting the use of public data.
- Prior to the NDAP design process, extensive investigation with a range of data consumers was undertaken in order to understand the need for government data, the ability to use it effectively, and the challenges faced in doing so.
- Public data is routinely stored on illogical platforms and in formats that make analysis difficult. Data from different sources do not communicate with one another, therefore users cannot compare data from different departments or data gathered over time.
- Last but not least, as a result of sluggish updating processes and unevenly high-quality data. To address these issues and make sure the platform successfully addresses them, extensive user testing is a part of the NDAP design process at every stage.
How might data be used?
- Consider a state employee who wants to build brand-new primary health centres (PHCs) where none already exist in the state’s major communities.
- To identify these communities, she must first locate and combine three datasets from three different organisations: the Population Census from the Registrar General of India, which prioritises villages based on their size; the Economic Census from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which yields a list of communities with private health facilities; and the Health Department’s MIS, which yields a list of communities with existing PHCs.
- Although all of these datasets are open to the public, it takes time and expertise with three distinct portals to find them and obtain the relevant state’s data. Her bigger challenge will be to properly combine the data after that in order to compile a single list of the key communities missing health centres.
- Because the information from all three sources is smoothly combined into a single dataset, the decision-maker can access it via NDAP. She can then use the platform’s built-in analytics and visualisation features to better understand the data, or she can download the data and analyse it using her preferred methodology.
- The public servant can spend less time and make judgements that are more data-driven. Citizens of the state will gain from better programme outcomes and governance as a result. Its ability to combine them on a platform that is precisely tailored to the needs of its customers is what makes NDAP revolutionary; neither the data nor the technical tools that make this improved situation possible are new.
Conclusion:
- The development and implementation of policies based on evidence are encouraged by the Indian government. Yet in order to accomplish this, active state cooperation is needed.
- As a result, the State Support Mission of NITI Aayog now includes NDAP. In addition to guaranteeing that all states are equal partners in this path towards becoming leaders in data-driven policymaking, the development of state-specific portals along the lines of NDAP also saves money and time.
- In order to promote the spirit of cooperative federalism, the NDAP aims to defend the ideals of collaboration everywhere.
- Everyone, including states, ministries, and the Indian data community, has the opportunity to support NDAP by helping to expand, update, and improve the platform’s present datasets and capabilities because of its open access.
- Additionally, it will enable aspiring public servants to use data-driven decision-making from their first field job. We can make NDAP an open data platform that will be essential to data-driven governance by working together.
