India has already built some of the world’s most impactful digital platforms, such as UPI, Aadhaar, and Ayushman Bharat and the next frontier lies in ensuring these platforms are powered by accurate, reliable data -- essential for building public trust in digital services, said experts at a NITI Aayog event in the national capital.

NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub released the third edition of its quarterly insights' series Future Front, titled “India’s Data Imperative: The Pivot Towards Quality," at the event.

"The insights underscore the urgent need for robust data quality to power India’s tech-driven governance and to realise the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047,” said NITI Aayog in a post on X social media platform.

B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, CEO, NITI Aayog; Dr. Saurabh Garg, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation and Debjani Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow, NITI Aayog, shared their perspectives on strengthening India’s data management ecosystem.

This initiative, undertaken in collaboration with Knowledge Partner Gramener, reinforces NITI Aayog’s commitment to fostering a robust, data-driven ecosystem for India’s technological progress.

The report underscores the urgent need for robust data quality to fortify digital governance, cultivate public trust, and ensure efficient service delivery.

The report critically examines the pervasive challenges posed by poor data quality and introduces practical, easy-to-use tools: a Data-Quality Scorecard to measure and track data quality attributes, and a Data-Quality Maturity Framework for self-assessment and roadmap development.

Senior government officials at the event shared their views on how India can make its data management more robust.

Earlier this month, Professor Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to the government, emphasised the need for best policy which blends both traditional and alternative data sources, saying alternate data sources and frontier technologies are increasingly becoming critical for policy making.

While traditional data sources reflect where we have been, the alternate data sources indicate where we are heading, he noted.