Govt's intervention essential to leverage data as public good: Economic Survey

The government's intervention is essential to leverage data as a "public good" and to unlock its benefit for larger betterment of the society, the Economic Survey 2018-19 tabled in Parliament said on Thursday.

"This is very important as the private sector may not invest in harnessing data where it is not profitable," it said.

According to the survey, in the endeavour to create data as a public good, it is also "very important" to consider the privacy implications and inherent fairness of data being used.

"The government already holds a rich repository of administrative, survey, institutional and transaction data about citizens, but these datasets scattered across various ministries. The government can deliver a better experience to citizens by bringing disparate datasets together," it said.

"Utilising the information embedded in these distinct data sets would inter-alia enable the government to enhance ease of living for citizens, enable a truly evidence-based policy, improve targeting in welfare schemes, integrate fragmented market, bring greater accountability in public services and generate greater citizen participation in governance," it added.

The survey indicated that with the data explosion of recent years, the marginal cost of data has declined exponentially, while its benefit to society has increased mfold.

"Therefore, the society's optimal consumption of data is higher than ever. The global data infrastructure has largely proved reliable, fast and secure enough to handle this deluge of data," it noted.

The survey commended Aadhaar for securing the system in terms of data authentication.

"Going forward, the data and information highway must be viewed as equally important infrastructure as the physical highways. Such a stance can help India leapfrog to utilise the benefits of technological advances for the welfare of its people," the document added.

( With inputs from ANI )