NITI Aayog released its vision for the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP) today. The platform aims to democratize access to publicly available government data. It will host the latest datasets from various government websites, present them coherently, and provide tools for analytics and visualization. NDAP will follow a user-centric approach and will enable data access in a simple and intuitive portal tailored to the needs of a variety of stakeholders.

NDAP will spearhead the standardization of formats in which data is presented across sectors and will cater to a wide audience of policymakers, researchers, innovators, data scientists, journalists and citizens.

The vision document was released by Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, in the presence of Mr Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, senior officials from various ministries and state governments, academics and researchers.

In his opening remarks, Dr Rajiv Kumar said, ‘India has made tremendous progress in generating and using data for policymaking and programme implementation. It is now time to build on these efforts to further strengthen the data ecosystem. I am certain that NDAP, with its mission to be a one-stop and user-friendly data platform, will go a long way in transforming India’s data ecosystem.’

Mr Amitabh Kant explained the context for the development of NDAP, ‘NITI Aayog has always promoted and championed the use of data in all spheres of governance. It is therefore natural that NITI Aayog takes the lead in providing the nation with a simple and compelling platform where various datasets can be accessed together. This has been a longstanding gap in the data ecosystem, which NITI Aayog is now seeking to try and address.’

Senior Adviser Anna Roy, who is leading this initiative within NITI Aayog, expounded the need for NDAP: ‘We are seeking to address three main gaps. One, all datasets are not published in a user-centric manner that is analyzable and visually presented. Two, there are a multitude of datasets out there that is not easily accessible. The NDAP proposes a simple, interactive, visual, and robust platform that will host various Central and state government datasets.’

An inter-ministerial committee will oversee the progress of the development of platform and a group of leading experts have been inducted into an advisory group to provide technical guidance for the development of the platform. The success of the endeavour is dependent on the cooperation and support of various stakeholders.

The development of NDAP will take place over a period of one year. The first version of the platform is expected to be launched in 2021. The process will follow a user-centric approach, and will incorporate feedback received from various users and stakeholders throughout the course of its development.

Access to government data expanded through a unified platform providing standardized datasets, analytics tools and user-driven access. NITI Aayog will create the National Data and Analytics Platform to democratize access to publicly available central and state datasets by aggregating them into a single, user-centric portal that provides coherent presentation, analytics and visualization tools, standardizes data formats across sectors, and addresses gaps in analyzable and accessible publication. An inter-ministerial committee and a technical advisory group will oversee and guide development, which will proceed with user-driven feedback and aims to deliver a first public version in 2021.