Draft data policy: Govt initiates public consultation

India Data Accessibility and Use Policy

• It will be applicable to all data and information created, generated and collected by the govt directly or through ministries, departments and authorised agencies

• The policy aims to 'radically transform' India's ability to harness public sector data for large scale social transformation

New Delhi: The IT ministry has come out with a draft policy that proposes a framework for government-to-government data sharing and moots that all data for every government department or its organisation shall be open and sharable by default, with certain riders.

The draft 'India Data Accessibility and Use Policy' - circulated for public consultation - will be applicable to all data and information created, generated and collected by the government directly or through ministries, departments and authorised agencies. The policy aims to 'radically transform' India's ability to harness public sector data for large scale social transformation.

All data for every government ministry, department and organisation will be open and sharable by default, with certain exceptions, according to the draft policy that outlines an institutional framework entailing 'India Data Office', India Data Council, and Data Management Units as key components. "Any data sharing shall happen within legal framework of India, its national policies and legislation as well as the recognised international guidelines," the document said. India's ambition of becoming $5 trillion digital economy depends on its ability to harness the value of data, said the draft document.

With that in mind, the India Data Accessibility and Use Policy aims to enhance access, quality and use of data, in line with the current and emerging technology needs of the decade. A robust data sharing ecosystem will be unlocked by maximising access and use of quality public sector data, improving policy making, evaluation and monitoring, and facilitating creation of public digital platforms. The document also talks of protecting privacy and security of citizens, and streamlining inter government data sharing.

"This policy will be applicable to all data and information /created/generated/ collected/archived by the Government of India directly or through authorised agencies by various ministries/departments/organisations/agencies and autonomous bodies," it said. State governments will be free to adopt the provisions and protocols as applicable.