Can Big Data enable better and cheaper governance?

Yes, is the quite obvious answer, read on to understand the how and why of it

As the economy is going through a tough phase, it is technology that should be utilized to harness better benefits for the population of the country. Can Big data help the government in terms of enabling better and cheaper benefits for the end user, yes is the answer from the experts.

Today the concepts of “Big Data” are moving well beyond the technological realm to the other side where technology meets the non-technological aspects of data usage. This is the approach to maximizing returns from investments. And today’s maturity of Big Data concepts are ideally poised to perform better productivity for the government segment.

For an institution that takes most of our total gross domestic product, government gets little scrutiny to determine what programs are effective. This problem spans multiple sectors of the economy. And this is where big data can help realize the full potential, also make sure to direct the government in areas they need to focus and also in areas which need to be ignored for better enablement.

Health care – With the advent of electronic health records – more than half of new records are electronic – we will soon be able to monitor and compare treatments for thousands of different ailments, at a much lower cost than limited double-blind studies.

Social welfare – One purpose of the our core political agenda is to – “promote the general welfare” – and this is reflected in the spending of hundreds of crores of Rupees every year for programs ranging from prenatal care to food schemes to various educational schemes. But which of these programs actually works? We don’t know – but we could if we collected and analyzed data. This is where big data can help and superannuate results enhancing the government’s decision making exponentially.

Defense – We do see politicians routinely fighting over the spending of defense budget and debates towards spending more wisely, while the generals often support pet projects of little use. Well, all this can be handled in a much better manner, if we all think about analyzing the data in a better manner. This is exactly what big data is all about.

And yes, it is true that data is only useful if we act on it. On some issues – climate change, education, drug policy and more – it seems many people have made up their minds and don’t care what the data says. It all can be aligned with the help of big data analytics and derive at better and informed decisions.

Today’s young people – hammered by the Great Recession, the loss of middle class jobs and general condition of the economy – may take a more pragmatic approach. And perhaps this is the best time for us to focus on doing more with less and IT solutions can surely help in this direction. So the message is pretty clear, and it says use more solutions and fewer slogans.