NEW DELHI – The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), in collaboration with NITI Aayog and the World Bank as knowledge partner, organized a two-day national workshop on “Using Alternate Data Sources and Frontier Technologies for Policy Making” from June 5–6, 2025, at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.
Addressing over 450 participants from government departments, academia, international institutions, and the private sector, top policymakers underscored the need for a robust, hybrid data ecosystem combining both traditional and alternative data sources to inform effective public policy.
Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India and Chief Guest, emphasized that while traditional data reveals where we’ve been, alternate data shows where we are headed. “The best policy is one that blends both,” he said, stressing the importance of ethical AI use and a secure techno-legal framework for India’s digital public infrastructure.
Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, called for an institutionalized hybrid data system that gives equal weight to traditional and emerging sources. He noted that the key challenge today is not data availability but the ability to derive actionable insights while addressing privacy and regulatory concerns.
MoSPI Secretary Dr. Saurabh Garg highlighted the real-time utility of alternate data to complement survey data, which often comes with delays. He reaffirmed MoSPI’s commitment to implementing use cases identified during the workshop within the next 3–6 months.
Four technical sessions during the workshop explored:
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AI & Data Science in Official Statistics, with inputs from IndiaAI, NITI Aayog, NASSCOM, and World Bank.
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Mobile Phone Data for Tourism Statistics, including global case studies and privacy challenges.
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Geo-Spatial Data in Sampling and Ocean Accounting, featuring experts from UK ONS, ESRI, and Indian institutions.
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Scanner Data for CPI Compilation, with industry and academic experts discussing integration of web-scraped and retail data in official inflation measures.
The workshop concluded with a vote of thanks from Dr. Ashutosh Ojha, DDG, MoSPI, and a call for deeper collaboration between stakeholders to shape a modern, inclusive, and responsive data ecosystem for India’s policy future.
