India can play a leading role in Open Access adoption
Large language Models (LLMS) have been in the spotlight recently after Openai, the company behind chatgpt managed to democratise access to an advanced AI chatbot to consumers through their recently launched CHATGPT that seems to provide an uncanny human-like response to prompts. It took only 2 months to reach 100 million users in January 2023, the fastest rollout of all times. In comparison, it took 2 years for prepaid SIM cards to reach 100 million users from its launch in 1996. It is a testimony to the scaling effects of digital tools thanks to an improvement in global connectivity. Large Language Models have been made possible due to training of models like GPT-3 and GPT-4 on massive amount of text data, facilitated through open data initiatives worldwide.
Open data refers to the data that anyone can access, use and share. Governments, businesses and individuals can use open data to bring social, economic and environmental benefits. The data should be machine readable and of high quality (called High Value Datasets HVDS).
OPEN DATA GLOBALLY
Globally, the coordination required to achieve open data administration is increasing, with governments working with each other as well as with private sector to share data and develop open data standard framework. Digital Public Goods are based on open data as well as open-source software. The United Nations Secretary General launched a Digital Public Goods Alliance in 2019 that aims to accelerate SDGS (Sustainable Development Goals) through this multistakeholder collaboration platform. Globally, states are increasingly recognizing the value of open data initiatives. The trend towards open data is reflected in the adoption of policies and initiatives by over 90% of the countries surveyed in the Open Data Barometer (ODB). ODB is a survey-based assessment of open data policies of the government conducted by the World Wide Web foundation. In addition, there is a growing focus on highvalue datasets (HVDS), such as transportation, utility, mobility, health data, that could act as a lower-level data layer over which digital solutions can be built. EU have adopted a single market for data through the launching of an official portal on open data that builds on pre-existing open data initiatives of EU. In the US, NASA has declared 2023 as a year of open science to celebrate the success and promote Open Science, closely linked to open data adoption for collaboration among scientific community.
CHALLENGES
However, there are several challenges ahead for open data adoption before India can fully adopt and champion an open data strategy. One of the most pressing challenges is the limited digital literacy and personnel technical capacity. Many government officials and decision-makers in India at rural and district level, lack the skills and knowledge to effectively use and interpret open data, which limits the impact of open data initiatives. In addition, the absorption of open data is low, particularly for MSMES, which means fewer companies get to leverage the open data for competitive advantage.
Another challenge is the concern for data privacy and security. India has existing laws and regulations that must be complied with to ensure data privacy and security. Any open data initiative must take these concerns into account and ensure that appropriate measures are taken to protect data privacy and security.
To overcome these challenges, the Indian government must take a multifaceted approach. First, it should invest in digital literacy programs for government officials and decision-makers to increase their technical capacity. It should also create awareness programs to educate the public on the benefits of open data and how to use it effectively. MSMES should be specially targeted due to the increase in competitive advantage this may result, and the Indian consumers shall win through a more robust competition from the small players in the industry.
INDIA’S ANSWER TO DATA PRIVACY CONCERNS
There needs to be a balancing act between safeguarding private data with the need to facilitate data flow. In a recently released March 2023 report titled Seismic Shift, it has been mentioned that the earlier requirements stipulated in Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 such as storage and data localisation has been withdrawn by the government and that it plans an overhaul of the bill to reduce compliance for the tech companies. Integrating open data provisions in the new draft bill would be a very timely addition. The same report also refers to the draft of the new Digital Personal
Data Protection Bill 2022 that makes provisions for potential free flow of data to trusted geographies, as evaluated by the government of India. Data flow is a very complex issue and timely intervention may have a domino effect on digital economy of India. In addition, innovative legal tools and instruments must be deployed by the government to ensure that India does not end up becoming a provider of consumer data exclusively.
OPEN DATA IN INDIA
India has launched initiatives such as the National Data and Analytics Platform, which aims to democratise access to public government data and make datasets more accessible and interoperable, addressing one of the major challenges to open data adoption. India is also emerging as a leader in the geospatial sector, using drones to scan terrain and generate detailed maps, and plans to launch a major data initiative that will share anonymized data sets collected under the National Data Governance Framework with the AI ecosystem and research and start-up communities. These efforts align with the goals of the Digital India initiative, which seeks to create a digitally empowered society and a tech-enabled knowledge economy.
Adopting an open data strategy will be a significant challenge for the Indian government in 2023, but it is a necessary step towards increasing transparency and accountability. By overcoming these challenges, India can unlock the full potential of open data and harness it and shape the governance strategy of open data globally as a key player in the game.