NDAP enables policy-makers and researchers to exploit the potential of government data

Last Updated24/02/2023

The oft-used phrase “data is the new oil” has almost become a cliché. The world’s ability to generate data is now increasing exponentially.
Every minute, servers log information on all aspects of society, from consumer and industry behaviour to the delivery of government programmes.
In many respects, the Government of India is not only leading this drive but also creating new roadmaps by enabling the development of a rich data ecosystem.

Collecting and storing data is the first step in realising its potential.
A coherent data ecosystem that is, a strategy and a set of tools to process, manage and use data is essential.
At the scale of the Government of India, improvements to the data ecosystem can have profound positive impacts.

In May 2022, the NITI Aayog, Launched a transformational open data platform called the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP).
NDAP serves foundational datasets from central and state government entities in machine-readable formats, with user-friendly interface and powerful analytics.
The platform uses cutting-edge methods to link diverse datasets from across the government and enables the use of several types of data at once.

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It is Explicitly designed to solve the issues that limit the use of government data today.
The design process of NDAP was preceded by extensive research with diverse data users to learn about their demand for government data, skills to use it effectively and challenges faced in doing so.
Public data is often stored on platforms that are difficult to use and in formats that delay analysis.
Data from different sources do not speak to each other, meaning users cannot compare data from different departments or data gathered over time.
Finally, because of slow updating processes and inconsistencies in data quality.
To address these challenges, every step of the NDAP design process includes rigorous user testing to ensure that the platform precisely solves these issues.

Indian government has adopted evidence-based policy-making and implementation. However, such a goal can only be met with active collaboration with states.
NDAP has been made an integral part of the State Support Mission of NITI Aayog.
Its public access has provided opportunities for all, including states, ministries, and India’s data community, to support NDAP by helping improve, expand and update the platform’s existing datasets and capability.
It will also enable incoming government officers to develop a data-driven decision-making mindset from their first field job. Together, we can make NDAP an open data platform that can play a vital role in facilitating data-driven governance