Raphael Warjri

Bharti Institute of Public Policy, a key research institute at the Indian School of Business (ISB), launched the Meghalaya Data Portal (https://meghalayadataportal.com), an open data portal that provides access to interoperable, cleaned and analysis-ready datasets to the state’s multiple stakeholders including researchers, policymakers, academia, journalists, and the general public.

The Meghalaya Data Portal was launched at the ISB campus by the Speaker of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Thomas A. Sangma and Prof. Ashwini Chhatre, Executive Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy.

Launching the Meghalaya Data Portal, the Speaker of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Thomas A. Sangma appreciated the state government’s engagement with ISB, and said, “The Meghalaya Data Portal will go a long way in making data accessible to policymakers and stakeholders including researchers, academics, journalists and the general public on a single platform, alike.”

The Meghalaya Data Portal is a part of the Bharti Institute of Public Policy’s larger, country-wide initiative, India Data Portal, to facilitate an open-access ecosystem promoting evidence-based policymaking. With this data portal, users get uninhibited access to free and reliable data along with interoperability among datasets. The portal also allows users to merge datasets using the local directory codes for better insights and analysis.

Currently, the portal includes 50 datasets spanning across 11 sectors including crime, economy, education, elections, food & agriculture, etc. The Meghalaya Data Portal allows users to browse, download and understand datasets for further visualisations. These can be shared across social media networks. The team at ISB will continue to add more datasets in close collaboration with the Government of Meghalaya for the enhanced utility of the data portal for all stakeholders.

The data portal is an outcome of the collaboration between the Meghalaya Institute of Governance, Government of Meghalaya, and Meghalaya Legislative Assembly with ISB.

Prof. Ashwini Chhatre, Executive Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, said, “The contours of the open data landscape have evolved and transformed over time. The readability of data has become easier than before, as we see a departure from non-machine-readable formats to computer vision and image analysis, which are more amenable. Government alone cannot be the harbinger of change in the open data landscape; the growth of new technology would act as a potential solution to reconcile the demand and supply side. These initiatives, led by individuals with extensive domain expertise, aim to simplify and broaden the accessibility of government data for the benefit of all.”