The Bharti Institute of Public Policy (BIPP), a research institute at the Indian School of Business (ISB), launched the Meghalaya Data Portal (meghalayadataportal.com), an open data portal that provides access to interoperable, cleaned and analysis-ready datasets to the state’s multiple stakeholders including researchers, policymakers, academia, journalists and the general public.
The portal was launched at the ISB campus by Meghalaya Assembly Speaker Thomas A Sangma and Prof Ashwini Chhatre, Executive Director of BIPP.
The Meghalaya Data Portal is a part of BIPP’s larger, country-wide initiative, India Data Portal, which is meant to facilitate an open-access ecosystem promoting evidence-based policymaking. With this data portal, users get uninhibited access to free and reliable data along with interoperability among datasets. The portal also allows users to merge datasets using the local directory codes for better insights and analysis.
Currently, the portal includes 50 datasets spanning 11 sectors including crime, economy, education, elections, food & agriculture, etc. The Meghalaya Data Portal allows users to browse, download and understand datasets for further visualisations. These can be shared across social media networks. The team at ISB will continue to add more datasets in close collaboration with the Meghalaya government for the enhanced utility of the data portal for all stakeholders.
Chhatre said, “The contours of the open data landscape have evolved and transformed over time. The readability of data has become easier than before, as we see a departure from non-machine-readable formats to computer vision and image analysis, which are more amenable. Government alone cannot be the harbinger of change in the open data landscape; the growth of new technology would act as a potential solution to reconcile the demand and supply side. These initiatives, led by individuals with extensive domain expertise, aim to simplify and broaden the accessibility of government data for the benefit of all.”
