The time is now ripe for the government to create a data-driven governance architecture.
The audacity of hope for a country with a billion hopes has yet to yield results. The next wave of a technological revolution will not be based solely on data or access to consumer behaviour. The use of data and its integration into solving social problems, enabling better governance, and empowering elected governments to better serve their citizens is ushering in a new revolution. A true paradigm shift occurs when Artificial Intelligence is combined with open data. With consumer behaviour being redefined by choice and information sharing, every company is looking to embrace, or at least appear to embrace, the new paradigm of data-driven innovation.
Consent and privacy
The datafication of businesses has also highlighted the importance of developing data management, storage, and privacy laws. The European Union has been a forerunner with its General Data Protection Regulation, and other countries, including India, have also adopted a collaborative model to develop privacy laws, which includes discussions with data creators (the consumer) and users (corporates).
While concerns about privacy and consent have been well expressed, open government data is a silent but powerful global movement. Over 100 governments have already agreed to proactively share data collected by various government departments for public consumption. Fostering collaboration, enabling creative innovations, and facilitating collective problem-solving give accountability and transparency a boost.
Undertilised Asset
Open government data refers to the publication of all government-collected information, such as government budgets, spending records, health-care measures, climate records, and farming and agricultural produce statistics. If data-driven business models were a watershed moment, this is the real pot of gold.
Unfortunately, this national asset’s potential is being grossly underutilised. We must act immediately for three fundamental reasons. One, such data collected by governments is for the benefit of citizens; thus, they have an implied right to benefit from the information. Two, data sets such as government budget usage, welfare schemes, and subsidies improve transparency and, as a result, trust. Third, and most importantly, it paves the way for the development of technology-led innovations that have the potential to unlock massive economic value, benefiting even the poorest of the poor, the under-represented, and the marginalised.
For example, the availability of data on crop yields, soil data health cards, and meteorological data sets can assist companies in developing customised crop insurance solutions with risk-based pricing. Data points such as literacy rate progress, demographic data, and educator density can all be used to develop customised solutions for villages. Similarly, data on the availability of public hospital facilities, current occupancy rates, hospital and demographic data can pave the way for curated health-care applications. The possibilities are limitless, and technology can have a multiplier effect.
According to PwC research in Australia, open data can boost the country’s GDP by 1.5%. In the Indian context, this could roughly translate to $22 billion. Transport for London, a public utility, is an example of how digitising and sharing only about 80 data sets has resulted in the creation of multiple technology applications for city transportation and maps, unlocking estimated economic benefits and savings for the city of £130 million.
The Indian government is well aware of the value of open data. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has made some commendable efforts, including an open data policy. India currently has over 1.6 lakh data resources and has published over 4,015 application programme interfaces (APIs) from over 100 departments. As a result, India has risen in the Global Open Data Barometer’s global rankings.
This is a good start, but it is insufficient. A closer look at the Open Data project reveals good intentions but sporadic execution. Therefore, while India publishes data points, very little of it is used by data consumers, scientists, and corporations. The socioeconomic impact is, of course, limited.
Framework in Five Points
I proposed a 5C framework to address the Open Data project’s current underlying execution gaps, and I believe it can help India achieve its stated goals of doubling farmers’ incomes, universal health coverage, and micro loans to micro, small, and medium enterprises, among other things.
The first step is to ensure the completeness of data stacks made available for use via machine-readable formats or direct APIs. A data set would be required for completeness. Soil data cards, for example, will include information on all relevant aspects as well as current emerging technologies such as Blockchain and the Internet of Things, which will enable data collection to be automated.
The completeness of a data stack or various data sets is critical. A comprehensive agri-data set, for example, would include digitised data sets on soil data, rainfall, crop production, and market rates. Currently, data sets shared in India are fragmented and incomplete.
The next step would be to group together relevant data sets and APIs. This would imply combining data sets, which could result in the development of applications such as farm insurance based on weather, soil, and crop cycle/sale data. As a result, technology developers have a road map of “in-focus innovations” for national development.
Building anchor cases or use-cases to encourage data usage is the fourth step. One example is Aadhaar/identity data, which has grown at an exponential rate (post identification in e-KYC). Continuing with the Aadhaar example, its API has resulted in the development of market applications, an Aadhaar-enabled payment system, and direct benefit transfers, among other things, all of which are clearly pushing the “financial inclusion” drive.
The final step would be to establish a comprehensive governance framework, which would include an open data council with cross-sector representation to monitor, regulate, and build usage following proportionate oversight.
The time has come for the government to build digital trust in the economy and its intentions in order to create a data-driven governance architecture.
