The scale and scope of urban problems in India are much greater than in almost all other countries due to the sheer size, population, and diversity of its cities. India has seen an increasing concentration of population in urban areas inducing immense pressure on public services like housing, health, sanitation, transport, education, and the city infrastructure.  India’s urban diversity (economically, educationally, socially, and ethnically) is unparalleled, making it extremely difficult to have solutions that are one-size-fits-all.

To address the above challenges, India has started charting a new path towards urban transformation, data being at the core of it all. India’s cities are sitting on a treasure trove of data generated from the various sensors, smart devices, cameras, and data collection systems installed in its cities. The volume of data generated in a country that has cities larger than some countries in the world is staggering. This data can be harnessed to unlock innovation, catalyse new business models, and deliver data governance and policymaking across urban India. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. Data is often present in silos within various government departments, making it difficult for application developers to know who has data of interest.  Furthermore, data is often not in standard formats as each department has its own way of representing and storing data. At the same time, the use of data needs to be balanced in a manner that empowers citizens and protects their privacy and security. As a result of these issues, the available data is often not delivering the expected value.  

The IUDX software platform has three primary functions-  1) A data catalog service to allow applications to programmatically find and understand pertinent data; 2) A consent service to enforce privacy, security and authorization rules; and 3) a run-time resource services to translate all similar data to a common data format and make it available through standard interfaces.  The overall IUDX project is set up as a collaborative open-source effort between the city, industry, entrepreneur, community, and government. All IUDX artefacts including source code, design documents, best practice papers, etc.  are available through an open-source license to all parties. The core IUDX project team takes the lead in developing the platform in general and in deploying it in several cities across India.  Moreover the team also engages with industry partners to add unique new software features to the platform and to develop various use cases of interest using the data onboarded from cities where IUDX has been deployed.  The IUDX project is also active in several research and exploration activities such as Data Policy and Economics, and Data Privacy and Security.  IUDX is exploring and deploying advanced techniques of privacy-preserving computations such as Secure Enclaves, Secure multi-party compute, Differential Privacy, etc.

IUDX is currently deployed in 20 Indian smart cities with each working on creating applications that would benefit the city and its residents. IUDX is an important enabler, however, it cannot be a success without the support of all stakeholders. The concept is also not restricted to urban sector and can be replicated in sectors like education, agriculture, healthcare, finance, and others. In addition, standardization is key to be at par with the best and IUDX has adopted and actively driven international standards.

Ultimately, it is the quality and relevance of the data that will determine the value of a data exchange. The saying “garbage-in, garbage-out” is particularly pertinent here. Thus, three complementary initiatives are essential for the success of such a program. One is a focus on data quality and data curation which ensures that data delivered to the exchange can be used in production applications.  This requires a combination of automation, human intervention and domain expertise. Automated tools are rudimentary at best and human effort is often required. The second essential effort is education of the parties involved on the value and potential of data.  Transforming the city administrators and private parties into effective data stewards who can capture and deliver high quality data is a long and painstaking journey. Often, the people involved are from non-technical backgrounds and have little or no understanding of the nuances of data models and analytics. But effective skill development programs are available and must be a part of an overall effective data strategy.  Finally, the third imperative is a policy regime that encourages or mandates data sharing. Too often, city officials or private companies are reluctant to share data because they are afraid of unforeseen consequences. The seemingly safer way is to hoard data and sit on valuable data, but which can help others and so goes unused. It is incumbent on the various levels of government to make data hoarding the unsafe option, only employed if there are very good reasons to do so.