How can we address data bottlenecks in India?
来源:World Economic Forum;发表于:2022-03-13;人气指数:324
How can we address data bottlenecks
in India?
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/02/data-sharing-by-psus-crossing-the-last-mile/
India
legalised the Right to Information Act in 2005.
Image:
Unsplash/Leif Christoph Gottwald
18
Feb 2022
Arushi Goel
Specialist,
Data Policy and Blockchain, World Economic Forum, C4IR India
Rajeev Chawla
Additional
Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, India
*Data
access and sharing have potential to generate economic value for India.
*Data
bottlenecks, including the speed of data sharing, need to be addressed by India
to capitalize on this opportunity, write two experts.
*Karnataka
government has released a set of guidelines that allow sharing citizens’ data
with prior consent of the citizen.
The journey of data
sharing by the public sector has been fascinating. In India, before being
formalised by way of a law in 2005, the right to information was recognised as
a fundamental right by various international declarations/conventions and even
a few State governments in India.
The premise for the 2005
law (Right to Information Act) was empowering citizens through transparency and
accountability. However, for most part, the onus remained on the citizen to
“seek” information from public authorities. This changed to a certain extent by
the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP) of 2012, whereby
every public authority was required to “share” non-personal, non-sensitive data
produced using public funds (also called as open data) for promoting transparency
and driving innovation.
Aside from open data,
public authorities collect a lot of data, both personal and non-personal, with
a view to provide services and create internal/external efficiencies. While
some of this data might be required to be withheld for reasons related to data
privacy, confidentiality, or intellectual property rights protection, most of
this data should be exchanged in a right respecting manner to unlock the value
of data for social good.
India has the third
largest start-up ecosystem in the world. Many of these start-ups, especially in
agriculture, health, logistics and education require complete, accurate, usable
and validated datasets to train/test their AI-based models, to make
predictions/draw conclusions or to be able to provide personalised or
customised services.
To do so, many
companies/start-ups need to spend significant time and effort in procuring
these datasets expending resources which could have been better spent on
innovation. For data exchange/sharing, businesses source primary data from the
field, enter into bilateral deals for data sharing or at times, use open
datasets in public/private sector, or might obtain data without appropriate
consent/legal compliance. Such operating models are not sustainable.
For an efficient data
economy, it is imperative that data consumers can interact with one/multiple
data fiduciaries through a platform. In the absence of such a mechanism, the
cost of discovery, negotiation and compliance would render the ecosystem
inefficient.
With technological
advancement, it is possible to not just “seek” or “share” open data but also
drive public-private collaborations to share, use and re-use myriad categories
of data in a responsible manner to the benefit of all sectors and people, as
detailed in this Whitepaper as a part of the Data for Common Purpose
Initiative.
Social,
economic benefits
It is estimated that by
2025, data and AI could add up to $500 billion to India’s GDP. With so much
data being generated, even if a part of this data is exchanged between
public-private sector in a trusted ecosystem, the scope for innovating and
driving positive change is enormous. Studies suggest that data access and
sharing can help generate social and economic benefits worth between 0.1 per
cent and 1.5 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) in the case of
public-sector data.
While the imperative for
data sharing by the public sector and the demand for trusted data are
established, what’s missing is the enabling policy framework to accelerate data
sharing and purpose-based application in a rights-respecting environment.
This is the issue that
the Karnataka government set out to resolve. In a first of its kind framework,
the State government, in consultation with the World Economic Forum’s Centre
for Fourth Industrial Revolution India and other stakeholders, released a set
of guidelines that allow sharing citizens’ data with prior consent of the
citizen to avail benefits of various facilities and services. These guidelines
not only ensure privacy and data protection but also catalyse establishing an
enabling ecosystem to leverage the value of data for social and economic good.
Made practicable through
a consent manager, namely, e-Sahamathi, it allows a citizen to provide her
consent to interested third party private service providers to use her data for
specified purpose. Through an open API, the third party can access the data of
only that citizen who has explicitly consented. This ensures that the citizen
always remains in control of her personal data.
As an example, a farmer
could consent to her personal data (such as financial information, land data,
crop sown etc.) being shared with a bank/insurance company for availing
customised terms for credit/insurance. Being able to access validated and
updated data will be an unprecedented social and economic opportunity for the
agri-tech ecosystem that will be able to provide competitive services, thus
benefitting the farmers through increased income and the entire agri-tech ecosystem
through more efficient markets.
Similarly, a student can
consent to his educational qualifications being shared with prospective higher
education institutions, in the form of Verifiable Credentials (VC).
Adhering to the
principles of data protection and privacy, the guidelines provide strict
conditions for data sharing. A third-party service provider desirous of
accessing personal data is required to submit an application with the list of
partners with whom the service provider will be sharing data. They will also be
required to seek datasets only for the purposes specified (to be notified).
Provisions relating to auditing the service provider, preventing misuse of
data, data retention and data deletion upon revocation of consent further
strengthen the trust in the ecosystem.
To ensure that the
service providers remain accountable, they will be required to appoint a
grievance redressal officer for handling/disposing of user
grievances/complaints. Any complaint will have to be resolved within 30 days of
receipt.
Keeping in view the
principles of cooperative federalism, the Guidelines also provide for extending
the services of e-Sahamathi as a consent manager to other State governments and
the Centre.
Way forward
Data is an inexhaustible
and limitless resource. With fourth industrial revolution technologies, data
can be used, re-used and re-purposed with infinite possibilities. Through
appropriate technologies and governance frameworks, data sharing can enable
benefits and innovation.
Access to public sector
data and with time, private sector data as well, in a trusted ecosystem, which
is consent-based and purpose-driven, will be instrumental in creating value and
promote equitable access to digital and data economy.
Rajeev
Chawla is Additional Chief Secretary, Karnataka government, and Arushi Goel is
Project Specialist, Data Policy and Block Chain, Center for Fourth Industrial
Revolution, World Economic Forum, India.