Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), Government of India, is organizing a two-day ‘National Workshop on Using Alternate Data Sources and Frontier Technologies for Policy Making’ in collaboration with NITI Aayog and the World Bank as knowledge partner, during 5-6 June, 2025 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

The use of alternate data sources such as mobile phone data (MPD), scanner data and geospatial data for policymaking has progressively gained importance in the last decade, with further potential of using such data on a large scale. At the same time, frontier technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) have experienced tremendous growth in the last two decades.

The workshop aims to enhance the understanding among the stakeholders and to provide a platform to deliberate on the potential applications of alternate data sources and frontier technologies in policy-making. It also aims strengthen India’s statistical systems by supplementing the conventional data sources for evidence-based policy decisions in a timely manner.

On 5th June, 2025, Inaugural session of the Workshop will be graced by the distinguished dignitaries, including Shri Suman K Bery, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog and Chairman of EAC to the PM as the chief guest along with Dr. Saurabh Garg, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation and Dr. M. Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences. Senior representatives from National Science and Technology Management Information System (NSTMIS), UK Office of National Statistics and World Bank will also be present in the session.

The inaugural session will be followed by four parallel technical sessions on the subjects AI & Data Science for Official Statistics; Mobile Phone Data for Tourism Statistics; Geospatial Data for Sampling, Ocean Accounting and Data Dissemination; and Scanner data for CPI compilation, discussion on which will continue for two days.

The technical sessions will feature presentations and panel discussions with the domain experts on the subjects from NITI Aayog, MoSPI, other Ministry/Department, State Government and various national/international organizations, etc. and are expected to foster a deeper understanding of the systems required to be put in place to institutionalize use of alternate data sources in policy making.

Following the technical sessions, the event will conclude with the valedictory session on 6^th June, 2025 highlighting key takeaways from the technical sessions with the objective to integrate the use of alternate data sources and frontier technologies in the statistical eco-system of the country.

Approximately 450 participants representing a wide range of stakeholders including Central Ministries and Departments, State and UT Governments, national and international agencies, academic institutions, think tanks, private organizations, and international speakers are expected to attend the event.

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Samrat/Allen

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