Centre launches Statistics Hackathon for empowering youth

New Delhi:  The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), in collaboration with MyGov, is launching an exciting data-visualisation hackathon titled “Innovate with GoIStats”, centred around the theme “Data-Driven Insights for Viksit Bharat”.

The hackathon aims to inspire India’s young and brightest minds – students and researchers – to utilise the vast official statistics generated by the National Statistics Office (NSO) for creating innovative data-driven insights, according to an official statement.

The Hackathon will take place on the MyGov platform, from February 25 to March 31. Students pursuing undergraduate or post-graduate studies or doing research can participate. The top 30 entries, selected by a panel of expert evaluators from the industry and academia will get prize money, with one first prize of Rs 2 lakh, followed by two second prizes of Rs 1 lakh each, two third prizes of Rs 50,000 each and 25 consolation prizes of Rs 20,000 each, the MoSPI statement said.

The hackathon will invite participants to explore and analyse official statistics from the reports, microdata, and other datasets available on the website of the ministry, such as the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), Household Consumer Expenditure Survey (HCES), Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), Consumer Price Index (CPI), Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and more to create impactful visualisations to support evidence-based policymaking in the journey towards Viksit Bharat, the statement added.

Participants can gain hands-on experience with official statistics while creating a stronger foundation for data-driven policy insights.

For more information and to register, those wishing to participate can visit the link: https://innovateindia.mygov.in/goistats

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation releases statistics based on administrative sources, surveys and censuses conducted by the Centre and state governments and non-official sources and studies. The surveys conducted by the Ministry are based on scientific sampling methods. Field data are collected through dedicated field staff.

India is a subscriber to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standards (SDDS) and is currently fulfilling these standards.

In line with the emphasis on the quality of statistics released by the Ministry, the methodological issues concerning the compilation of national accounts are overseen by Committees like the Advisory Committee on National Accounts, the Standing Committee on Industrial Statistics, and the Technical Advisory Committee on Price Indices. The Ministry compiles data sets based on current data, after applying standard statistical techniques and extensive scrutiny and supervision.

–IANS