E&IT Dept Organizes Consultative Workshop on Odisha State Data Policy 2.0

Bhubaneswar: The Electronics and Information Technology (E&IT) Department, Government of Odisha, organized a consultative workshop on Odisha State Data Policy 2.0 on Wednesday at Hotel Lemon Tree in Bhubaneswar. Principal Secretary Electronics and Information Technology (E&IT) Department Vishal Dev; Special Secretary E&IT Manas Ranjan Panda, Additional Secretary E&IT Dr. Pradeep Raut and other senior officials from Government of Odisha attended the event along with representatives from academia and Odisha’s IT industry. The session was organized to seek expert feedback on the state’s upcoming data policy.

Speaking during the event, Principal Secretary E&IT Vishal Dev said “The purpose of this workshop is to gather valuable stakeholder feedback as we move towards more data-driven governance. While the government holds vast amount of data, challenges around accessibility and utilization remain. By unlocking and analyzing this data effectively, we can significantly improve public service delivery, enable targeted interventions, and make governance more responsive to citizens’ needs.”

Additional Secretary E&IT Dr. Pradeep Raut added, “A robust data policy is essential for any state aiming to deliver efficient, citizen-centric governance. It plays a key role in informed decision-making, driving socio-economic development, and safeguarding citizens’ data. Odisha’s upcoming data policy is a forward-looking and comprehensive document that will position the state for the next stage of e-governance: personalized, proactive, and transparent service delivery. It will establish clear protocols for the entire lifecycle of data, from collection and storage to secure sharing and use, and ensure that governance is both responsible and future-ready.”

The draft policy document has been uploaded on the websites of the E&IT Department (https://it.odisha.gov.in/) and Odisha Computer Application Centre (https://www.ocac.in/or) to seek public feedback which can be shared at feedback.osdp@odisha.gov.in

A comprehensive presentation on the draft of the upcoming policy was delivered during the event, highlighting its key features. The policy will promote data sharing and collaboration between departments, drive economic growth through open data access, enable smarter governance through data insights, streamline data to reduce duplication and redundancy, ensure ethical data use through informed consent, enhance transparency in government data sharing, and enable proper data handling and protection. The draft policy has been prepared after extensive stakeholder consultations and analysis of relevant policies and data protection acts from other countries and states, including the national Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act 2023.

This presentation was followed by an interactive Q&A session, where officials from the E&IT Department provided detailed responses to the queries raised by attendees. The session also served as a platform for gathering valuable feedback, as stakeholders shared insightful suggestions and practical inputs, which were duly noted for consideration in the finalization of the policy.

The workshop ended with a vote of thanks by Special Secretary E&IT Manas Ranjan Panda. Smruti Ranjan Mishra, Dipankar Rath and other officials from Odisha Computer Application Centre (OCAC) coordinated the above event.