The ‘One Nation, One Data’ portal, designed as a centralized hub for sharing data among higher education institutions in the country, will be operational starting from the upcoming academic session of 2023-24, according to sources from News18. The groundwork for this significant reform, aimed at bolstering the assessment and accreditation system of colleges, universities, and other higher education institutes, is already underway.

An official with inside knowledge stated, “The groundwork for compiling and rectifying data on the portal has already commenced. Considering the massive volume of data provided by various institutions to different agencies, a major task involves consolidating all the existing data. Subsequently, the data is being cross-verified with respective colleges and universities to identify any inconsistencies, ensure authenticity, and eliminate duplication.”

The ‘One Nation One Data’ (ONOD) platform serves as an online unified source where higher education institutions can upload information such as student statistics, faculty details, infrastructure particulars, research projects, and placements, among other relevant data required by regulatory bodies for periodic assessments, rankings, and grading. This streamlines the data collection process, resolving the issue faced by institutions when furnishing information on multiple portals, multiple times throughout the year. Instead, institutions can share the necessary data via an Application Programming Interface (API), avoiding redundant submissions. The official further mentioned that any additional updates can be made directly on the portal.

Different regulatory bodies will utilise the shared data for specific purposes. For instance, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) can employ it for granting approvals to colleges and institutes, the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) can utilise it for ranking purposes, and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) can rely on it for grading evaluations. The committee overseeing this endeavour is chaired by Prof. Anil D Sahasrabudhe, who heads the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), both established by the Ministry of Education (MoE) of the Indian government.

The official elaborated, “We are also working on rationalising the data by identifying the specific information required by regulatory bodies for granting approvals, rankings, and assessments. Our aim is to eliminate any unnecessary data submissions and only retain what is essential. The committee has invited representatives from these regulatory bodies, who utilise the data, for consultations in order to achieve this goal.”