NITI Aayog deploys Oracle Cloud to modernize IT infrastructure for Aspirational Districts Programme

Oracle announced that NITI Aayog has engaged Oracle to help it modernize vital IT infrastructure underpinning the Aspirational Districts Programme. A key project of the Indian Government, its purpose is to help improve the quality of life of citizens in 112 of India’s most backward districts, constituting 28 percent of India’s population of nearly 1.4 billion.

Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog said, “This program is aligned with our Prime Minister’s vision of a new India. It focuses on improving people’s capacity to participate in India’s economic development. Data driven decisions will help identify the strengths and weaknesses of these districts and pave the way for their progress. By using a range of Oracle Cloud services, we are looking to fast-track their transformation by providing simplified data access, increased process automation and real-time data governance.”

The programme uses data to identify top performing districts – these could be Dantewada in Chhattisgarh, Nandurbar in Maharashtra, Dahod in Gujarat, Kupwara in Jammu & Kashmir, Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh, or Godda in Jharkhand, among others. The weaker performing districts are encouraged to catch-up with top performers, by competing with, and learning from them in the spirit of competitive and cooperative collaboration.

Information is collected across five key themes, on 49 Key Performance Indicators, identified as having the greatest impact on the quality of life and economic productivity. They include: education, health and nutrition, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development, basic infrastructure including access to road, potable water, internet connectivity, and housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G). 

This work requires assimilating thousands of data points from multiple sources and in differing formats from across the country, which are checked for data accuracy (triggering alerts in the case of the data feed appearing to be inconsistent), and  integrated for analysis and reporting. Critical to the success of the programme is for this data to be fed back in real time to administrators, district collectors, government officers and the general public via a highly visual and intuitive dashboard to ensure the data is accessible and understandable by all.

Oracle Autonomous Database, the world’s first and only true autonomous database, is at the heart of data management in this programme. Being self-driving, self-securing and self-repairing it requires a minimal IT team and resources to support it. Highly secure by nature, the system and the data it manages are protected from system failure and attack by machine learning (ML) and automation. ML and AI built into its data capabilities, enable greater insight to be gained than a human based system alone.

Shailender Kumar, Regional Managing Director, Oracle India said, “Oracle has committed nearly 30 years in India, serving its people, the government and enterprise firms. Robust and modern technologies are the backbone for real social and economic transformation at micro and macro levels. We are honoured to support NITI Aayog in this transformation programme. With a range of Oracle Cloud services, we look forward to support this programme’s success and facilitate the creation of a new India.”

The complete Oracle Cloud solution incorporates: 

•             Oracle Content Experience to ensure data and reports are easily accessible.

•             Detailed reporting for the District Magistrates to track their district’s progress real-time, via insights generated with Oracle Analytics Cloud service.

•             Key Performance Indicator tracking by citizens to check how their districts are faring, made available by the use of Oracle Application Express (APEX), a low-code development platform that’s at the heart of this reporting process.

•             Oracle Cloud is also able to integrate and track projects undertaken by District Magistrates to improve their rating.