Oracle to help govt harness data to improve quality of life in districts

Government think tank NITI Aayog has chosen business software provider Oracle to aid with the data driven transformation of the Centre’s aspirational districts programme, the Redwood City, California based company said in a statement on Thursday.

Oracle’s data management cloud service will help district magistrates improve overall performance and transform the quality of life of citizens in India’s most backward districts, the statement said.

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2018, the Transformation of Aspirational Districts programme aims to transform districts with central and state schemes, inter-level competition for immediate improvement and progress measures.

“Data driven decisions will help identify the strengths and weaknesses of these districts and pave the way for their progress. By using a range of Oracle Cloud services, we are looking to fast track their transformation by providing simplified data access, increased process automation and real-time data governance,” Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog, said.

The programme uses data to identify top performing districts, the statement said, adding that districts showing weaker performance are encouraged to catch up with top performers by competing with and learning from them.

Information is collected across five themes on 49 key performance indicators, such as education, health and nutrition, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development, as well as basic infrastructure including access to road, potable water, internet connectivity and housing.

The programme, Oracle said, houses thousands of data points that are checked for accuracy and integrated for analysis and reporting. The reporting is then fed in real time on the Champions of Change website for the benefit of administrators, district collectors, government officers and the general public.

The data management cloud service will combine four use cases -- Oracle Content Experience will ensure that data and reports are easily accessible, while Oracle Analytics Cloud service will generate insights and detailed reporting for the magistrates to track their district’s progress in real time. Oracle Application Express, a low-code development platform, will help citizens track their districts’ progress, while Oracle Cloud will integrate and track projects undertaken by district magistrates to improve their rating.