Indian Government Chalks Vision Document For National Data And Analytics Platform

The Indian government is working on making all government data accessible. The Niti Aayog has released a vision document for the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP), where all the data is consistent, accessible, verified, and credible. The document further states that data across all the sectors need to be more coherent to support analysis and dissemination.

What Is NDAP?

"Given that data is the new oil, we at Niti Aayog feel the need to modernize our data system," said Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar. The vision document has listed out what the platform should provide for everyone. The new data platform aims to be user-friendly and easily accessible to anyone looking for data. It is expected to be released in 2021.

"In addition, there should be easy access to the most recent data, published reliably," the vision document highlighted. It was explained that NDAP will host multiple datasets, present them coherently and provide visualization and analytics tools. A user-friendly search engine with seamless navigation will be provided on the platform.

NDAP will provide the data in a machine-readable format that can be customized, creating a world-class user interface, the document notes. The data and various documents will be sourced from different central and state ministries and departments. The benefit is that users can access the required data from multiple sectors in one place.

NDAP Guidelines

Further, the document notes that Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will be developed to keep data updated, which ensures that NDAP will be a reliable platform for updated data. Additionally, NDAP will have a high powered steering committee under the chairmanship of the vice-chairman of Niti Aayog, who will guide and oversee the progress.

The committee will also look into the data sources, authenticity, and address various inter-ministerial issues on collating data. There will also be a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) comprising of sector and technology experts, who will look into the platform development, managing the data flood, and also aligning it to the user's needs.