In another step towards actualisation of Mo Sarakar and 5-T approaches, the State Government has envisioned developing a Data Policy Innovation Centre (DPIC) in technical collaboration with the University of Chicago.
It was revealed at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy at the Lok Seva Bhawan here on Tuesday. Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Principal Secretary Saurabh Garg outlined utility of a DPIC. The theme expert from the University of Chicago presented different contours of DPIC with its technical and application possibilities.
The Chief Secretary directed to lay out the proposal in convergence with existing systems. The meeting gave in-principle approval for use of ‘big data’ in formation of innovative policies and service delivery.
A DPIC can serve as a center of excellence for accumulation of ‘big data’ from different sources through cutting-edge machine learning and artificial intelligence, analyse such data using modern econometrics and statistical models and come out with required innovative policy guides.
It can create a framework for collaborative work between Government departments and faculty of the Chicago University on select policy areas to design new solutions and evaluate its field outcome.
There is a wide scope for use of ‘big data’ in various sectors of governance. The principal potential areas outlined in the meeting include improving water and energy use policies, encouraging crop diversification through information on potential yield and farming technique, reducing pollution through predictive targeting models, improving learning outcomes, reducing distributive loss of power through strategic enforcement and behavioral changes.
Development Commissioner Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, APC and ACS Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, Finance Principal Ashok Kumar Meena, School and Mass Education Minister Chitra Arumgam, Electronics and IT Secretary Manoj Mishra and Dr Anant Sudarshan from University of Chicago participated in the discussion.