India Urban Observatory & Video Wall inaugurated in MOHUA

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Minister of State (I/C) for Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Hardeep S Puri on March 9, 2019, said that as cities begin to implement ‘smart’ solutions, data becomes a significant asset and enabler for data driven Governance leading to urban transformation. Inaugurating state-of-the-art India Urban Observatory here in MOHUA, Puri said that it will plug into the myriad sources of data from cities, both from real-time and archival sources.

Inaugurating the Video Wall, Puri said that it will showcase the insights gained from the Observatory and the various Missions/offices with the idea to proactively engage with citizens/ visitors in spreading awareness about the various initiatives of the Ministry.

Speaking on the occasion, Puri said that the future of Governance is data-driven and Indian cities are beginning to adopt this change in their functioning. He said, bringing PEOPLE in ‘focus’ needs a move towards outcome-based planning in governance. “The Observatory will help in getting reliable, up-to-date information on a meaningful set of indicators over various domains such as transport, health, environment, water, finance and so on, which will further assist in developing best practices, future strategies and policy interventions as and when required,” he added.

Puri pointed out that the conceptualisation of this Observatory recognises the value of enhancing engagement among all four stakeholders of the ‘quadruple-helix’ model— Government, citizens, academia, and industry, along with improvements in the internal work flow and decision-making processes of city Governments. He said that the India Urban Observatory would progressively become the chief data analysis and Management Hub of the Ministry and would enable evidence-based policy formulation, and capacity building of ecosystem partners on data-driven governance. “It will provide scientific response to the complex challenges to urbanisation through use of state-of-the-art technologies and collaborations,” he said, according to a PIB release.