In public administration, making decisions is a routine affair. Each day revolves around making decisions about various files, processes or public applications. All this is in the pursuit of the hallowed public good. Most of the conclusions that we arrive at are partly induced by what we are aware of the subject and in part how the information is presented before us.
The information on the subject plays a crucial role in public administration. Do we have better sources? The answer is Yes. In today’s digital era, most government services are delivered online, and even services requiring visits to government offices are supported by computerized systems. These digital processes have amassed a substantial quantum of data on the nature & timing of services being opted for by the public.
We are sitting atop a goldmine of data on availing of government schemes and services, but is it being utilised to improve service delivery? What are the challenges in the current environment? Each department has its own data collection standards, storage & access protocols and varying levels of data authenticity. Second, there is no Standard Operating Procedure or API for sharing data between departments. Third, there is a great need for nurturing human resources to handle these Big Data challenges.
First step, we can explore the possibilities of harnessing data within a department/organisation to aid decision-making or improve its services. A detailed study of the various sources of data, how it is aggregated, digitized or manually and the validity of the data collected. The organisation should also identify the questions they seek answers for or areas where there are chances of improvement based on the synthesized data. They need to identify how the information needs to be visualized for ease of consumption regularly.
Let us take NWKRTC for instance. With a 5000-strong fleet operating across 6 districts having an average of 24 Lakhs passengers per day. In every ticket issued, we get the data on the source, destination, time and value of travel. That is 24 lakh data sets per day and over a year it leads to an astonishing data set with 87.6 crore rows. To imagine that so much information is left untapped for increasing efficiency is simply mind-boggling.
This data accumulated over the years may provide us with statistics-based trends on the demands of passengers on particular days or particular times of a day in certain locations. Presently, operations are seen as an intuitive area based on experiences. However, information derived from past passenger data can help us chart out more accurate operational plans. This can give a huge jump in service quality and operational efficiency. A win-win for passengers and the corporation. It can help in decisions like culling out non-remunerative duplication of services thereby improving the financial health of the corporation. This is just an example; many more opportunities lie waiting in all sectors.
To achieve the elusive fantasy of data-based decision-making or strategy development, two things are of utmost importance. A strong-willed leader with the resources and vision for the development of tools suited for the respective organisation. Direct involvement by top management in guiding every step of the project is essential, as such a tech-oriented project rarely finds encouraging reception until it proves its utility. The other is nurturing quality human resources to provide the expected actional information based on the raw source data. We need to recognize this as a specialized task warranting professional personnel on the job.
I have come to realise that a pilot implementation as a proof of concept is always the best way to start something big. It helps us understand the challenges that will come up during full-fledged implementation and also convinces fence-sitters to get on board. A data-rich organisation such as NWKRTC is a perfect place for such a Big-Data analytics project clubbed with interactive data visualization tools that will help the management to explore its data. Such an organisation has the flexibility to create such a project at its level without many bureaucratic hurdles.
While we are discussing much about data, there may be genuine apprehension that the use of public data may lead to a scenario of a surveillance state. The kind in which we are shown in sci-fi movies where the state can track and trace every movement of its citizens and also to predict with some level of accuracy, the next step of any individual based on his/her past actions. Or can we have a scenario like in the movie Minority Report’ where crimes are prevented even before they happen? A crime-free society – a utopian scenario but what will be the trade-off? There are chances of public data falling into the hands of special interest groups/companies that may use it to further their interests.
This takes us to the question of having a strong Data Policy backed with a resilient data security protocol in place. This is much needed for every organisation/department and for the government as a whole. While we focus on utilizing public data for improved service delivery and better focus, there is a huge need for guarding it against any form of misuse. There is a requirement for policy and legislative interventions in this regard. With the pace of data accrual across sectors not slowing down the need for such interventions is highly urgent.
We in the government sector have a long way to go in the domain of data analytics and directing the use of public data towards better governance. Nevertheless, I feel that we are poised to take up this challenge in the coming days as Big Data, Data analysis, and Data visualization have matured and become more accessible in recent years. Surely, it is an exciting time to be in public administration and witness the turn of wheels to the tune of DATA.
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