Off the Field-The Data Century

The challenges, the realities, the ups and downs that a sportsperson faces on the field is always a reflection of life ‘off the field’. As I see it, sport borrows from life and life must be played like a sport. As I navigate the impact sector, trying to work together with the world’s largest philanthropies, governments, and youth, to transform the lives of millions. Today, when I reflect on my 10 years in this space, I feel within me the euphoria and the exhilaration of an innings well played.

In this series titled ‘Off the Field’, I wish to pen down my views that often intersect the sentiments called cricket, governance & India. These three are inseparable and intermingled for me.

This article’s focus is data.

In 2020, Kings XI Punjab had adopted a data-driven approach to evaluate the performance of their players in the tournament. The team's data analysts researched a range of statistics, including run-rate, economy rate, strike rate, and dismissal rates, to evaluate the performance of individual players. Mohammed Shami was someone who benefited from the use of data in this case. He had struggled in the previous IPL season, but in-depth analysis revealed that he had been bowling well, but had been ‘unlucky’ due to bowling choices on the other bowling end. Data brought nuance and depth to decision-making, the team continued to back him, and he went on to have an excellent season, taking 20 wickets in 14 matches. Cricket is a sport that generates a lot of data, including individual player statistics, match data, and ball-by-ball records. This data can be used to gain insights into individual player performances, team strategies, as well as overall trends in the game.

India’s data journey, right from setting up NIC to Aadhaar, from creating a digitised workflow for better citizen-centric service delivery to open data access to provision of single point access to datasets defined by the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy. Data can solve big ticket problems. It can reduce inefficiencies, identify the end beneficiaries and enable direct transfers; data is democratisation not merely of services but of opportunities.??

Recently, Datadotorg launched India Data Capacity Accelerator which will work with three universities - Ashoka University, the Indraprastha Institute for Information Technology, and BITS Pilani. We at GDi, worked with data.org to identify the institutions and a landscaping report on the need for data talent in the social sector.

Today, the data of 8.2 million+ Self Help Groups in India is being digitised through a digital public good (DPG), to unlock billions of INR for rural women and ensure that this reduces leakage of funds to ineligible beneficiaries and improves governance of 8.2+ million local institutions. Further, this can unlock a credit score for these SHGs, connecting their lending needs to the financial system.?

Along with the government of Jammu & Kashmir, GDi is developing a OpenAi-enabled bot, which provides information on schemes and services of the central and UT government. This includes schemes meant to benefit Jammu and Kashmir’s farmers. For instance, a Decision Support System for apple farming provides real-time information and expert help on complex aspects, such as the timing of irrigation, soil-appropriate use of fertilisers,? weather advisory and other information. Previously, in Odisha, one of our projects was focused on helping farmers/fishermen get the best prices for their produce/catch, by converging multiple disconnected datasets to provide the latest information on market price.

In Delhi, we have managed the implementation of the real-time source apportionment and forecasting project for monitoring air quality. This offers real-time data to everyone on a web platform so that they are able to not only respond in a targeted manner, but plan ahead for the future. This was markedly different from the previous studies which aggregated data at the level of an entire season. The data identifies not only the activity (such as construction or burning of biomass), but also the location of that activity. For instance, a traffic signal from where a large amount of vehicular pollution emanates or an unauthorised colony reporting big biomass emissions. This deconstructs the problem for administrators, making it easier to quell pollution at source. So, the concerned agencies (MCD, DPCC, or whoever) can devise a targeted response plan. This decentralises and localises the problem, that seems otherwise colossal.

In Punjab, we have focused on evidence based policymaking. In December 2022, the Department of Education conducted a state-wide mega Parent Teacher Meeting (PTM) for its public schools. No less than 19 lakh plus parents had attended this event and we had collected feedback from over 3 lakh parents. In the programme titled Inspire 2.0, Punjab’s schools were sensitised towards parent-teacher engagement and there were officials at the district and block levels overseeing the preparations for the event. Based on the data collected through the event, future policies can be designed with the greatest granularity.

Today, data is driving our interventions in public policy. Ball by ball, number after number, India can better its game and it will

#Data #PublicPolicy