Introduction

Unlocking Potential of India’s Open Data is a report published by NASSCOM in collaboration with industry partners such as Fractal, Microsoft, Infosys, IDFC Institute, TCS & Amazon. The report identifies the existing challenges in the open data ecosystem and recommends ways to harness the potential of non-personal data. For this, NASSCOM and its partners have conducted in-depth interviews with various users and have performed data audits to arrive at holistic recommendations.

In today’s world, data is the highest form of intangible asset that can drive innovation and change the way an economy functions. India, has millions of datasets, thanks to its favourable demographic dividend. In accordance with the provisions of the National Data Accessibility & Use Policy 2012 (NDSAP), some of these datasets that are classified as open are currently published on the Open Government Data Portal (OGD).

However, the datasets and the platform often face multiple challenges impacting their usability thereby hindering its potential growth. The focus of the report is on these valuable datasets that have a high potential for social impact. Such datasets help in policy-making, create new and high-quality jobs, create innovations and start-ups and promote research and education. The challenge is to identify these high value datasets through a set of criteria and their regular maintenance. It also advises creating transparent, standardized, and risk-based data classification guides along with model data sharing framework.

Some of the recommendations provided are: make open government data a policy priority, apply reasonable data classification policies to avoid the over-classification of data, adoption of international standards and tools, create regulatory sandboxes and allow for responsible testing of data sharing approaches and provide non- binding guidance through regulators on how existing regulations apply in data sharing contexts.

Relevance of the Report

The report is highly structured with sections on problem framing, methodology & approach, insights & findings and recommendations & roadmap. It emphasizes the need to understand the current demand and supply side challenges in the overall open data ecosystem. The report has made a genuine attempt to provide holistic recommendations to transform India’s data ecosystem.

Key Takeaways

• Data is a valuable economic and social resource that can offer enormous opportunities for all stakeholders in an economy
• Open data promotes increased civil discourse, improved public welfare, and more efficient use of public resources
• To ensure quality datasets and information is usable by the ultimate consumer, one needs to understand the current challenges in the open data ecosystem from both demand and supply perspective
• Implementation of recommendation will benefit all stakeholders and enable AI related research and initiatives