The Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business, held its first Governance Summit—a unique platform that brought a multitude of stakeholders including policymakers, senior functionaries of the state governments of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, central government agencies,   thinktanks, NGOs, academicians from various research education institutions, media, etc., under one roof to deliberate upon governance through the lenses of “ Data &Technology”, on Friday, at the Mohali campus of the Institute.

On the occasion, the honourable Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Shri Sukhwinder Sukhu, launched the state data portal of Himachal Pradesh-HIM Data Portal, developed by the Bharti Institute of Public Policy, Indian School of Business, in collaboration with the department of Information Technology, Government of Himachal Pradesh. The data portal will serve as a one-stop platform to provide easy access to more than 200 datasets with all state-specific information available at the highest spatial granularity including block and village-level information.

In his keynote address, the Chief Minister, highlighting the importance of data and technology in today’s time, said, “A good government needs good governance. Data and technology drive the agenda of good governance with improved outcomes, ensuring that the benefits of public policies and key decisions are leveraged by the last man on the line”.

Expressing happiness with the association of the Indian School of Business and the government of Himachal Pradesh, the chief minister highlighted the collaborations between the two in the areas of forest governance, education, information technology and bioenergy sector. He also shared his vision for the state to be developed as the Green State by 2026 and sought collaboration with the Indian School of Business to achieve this goal.

Earlier in the day, Dr Aarushi Jain, Policy Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, welcomed the delegates and participants to the Inaugural Plenary Session. In his speech, Dr Vinay Thakur, Managing Director, National Informatics Centre Services Inc, Government of India who spoke on the theme” Digital India: Data & Governance”, said, “Governance cannot take place in silos. The government faces several challenges when it comes to data governance such as non-uniformity in data collection, missing data, incomplete data, etc. There is a need for all the stakeholders to come together and drive data for the larger benefit of the society”.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Ashwini Chhatre, Executive Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, underlined the key aspects of the ‘HIM data portal’ which is interoperable, makes data useful and usable in real time. He commended the Himachal Pradesh government for taking the initiative and entrusting the Indian School of Business with the responsibility of setting up the state data portal. He said that the state of Himachal Pradesh can be the leader in driving the change and showcase effective governance through data and technology.

Dean Madan Pilitula, thanked the CM for his time and highlighted the collaborations with other state governments such as Telangana, Punjab, Andhra and Himachal Pradesh and ISB. He said that what the Bharti Institute of Public Policy is doing with HP government is what ISB intends to do with the rest of the state governments in terms of adding value and becoming a knowledge sharing institution for policy making and implementation.

Dr Abhishek Jain, in his speech lauded the status of ISB as one of the best institutions in management education across the world. He explained in detail how the project of HIM Data portal was envisioned three months ago and is fructified in such a short span of time.

A Roundtable on Open Data based Governance Platform, moderated by Mr. Rakesh Dubbudu Founder, Factly, was held, with panellists including Mr. Mukesh Repaswal, IAS, Director, IT, Department of Information Technology, Government of Himachal Pradesh; Mr. Manpreet Singh Chief Programme Officer, National Urban Digital Mission, National Institute of Urban Affairs Mr. Pratap Vardhan Founder, Stats of India; Mr. Ashish Aggarwal VP & Head Public Policy, NASSCOM; Professor Vikas Kathuria Associate Professor, School of Law, BML Munjal University; Mr. Karthik Kittu Chief of Staff to Chairman, Startup Karnataka; Ms. Rwitwika Bhattacharya CEO, Swaniti Initiative. These experts dwelled on the challenges, gaps and the way forward for an Open Data based Governance platform and the overall ecosystem.  A second Roundtable was held on Digital Financial Inclusion focusing on the progress and challenges of achieving the larger goal of financial inclusion in India through the use of digital public infrastructure, specifically the components of India Stack.

The closing plenary session was held on the theme of “Scanning the Horizon: Future of Technology and Data for Governance”. Rohini Srivathsa, Chief Technology Officer, Microsoft India and Mr RS Singh, Former Chairman UIDAI and NHA, were the guest of honour during the session.