Accurate data key to development planning — Kohima Municipal Council Administrator

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Jan. 21 (EMN): Administrator and Public Information Officer of KMC, T Lanusenla Longkumer on Friday stressed on the importance of providing accurate data for effective planning and policy making of the government.

She was addressing the ‘Open Data Day’ organised by the Kohima Smart City Development Limited (KSCDL) at the Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) building, with an aim to promote the use of open data for urban governance and efficient service delivery.

The KMC Administrator said that data provides a clearer picture of the prevailing issues of the society as well as the gaps and shortcomings that need to be addressed.

She informed that 2021 census was supposed to be over by now but its process has been halted for the last two years due to the prevailing pandemic situation.

‘Census, which is held once in 10 years, is the basis of all the policy making for the next decade years. So, data becomes very important. Having a solid, authentic and most accurate data is key to proper planning for future development,’ she said.

‘If there is an accurate data, everything will improve and things can be planned out in a proper way. However, in its absence, things would go in the opposite direction,’ she said while urged all to be honest and give accurate data.

The KMC administrator requested the residents of Kohima to give their data from the town and not from somewhere else. She further urged the people to provide accurate information so that planning can be robust and make Kohima better.

Additional Director of Economics and Statistics, Charles N Kikon, observed that statistics is responsible for good governance. Based on the available data, planning is made accordingly, he said, adding that wrong statistics results in wrong policy.

He said that Nagaland is lagging behind in terms of quality data, which in turn hampers the social growth.

‘Multiple enrolments troubling census officials’

Maintaining that respondents are responsible for giving accurate data, Assistant Director of Census Operation, Mhathung Rangthang called upon the people to be honest in providing their details.

He pointed out that data is always lower in urban areas and higher in rural areas in Nagaland, a result of dishonesty in providing information. If not responsible and honest, the data will speak, he added.

The census officials are having a hard time getting accurate data due to multiple enrolments, he said while urging the people to enrol from where they reside. He further informed that 2021 census is the 16th series and the eighth such exercise since independence.

Kezhochole Rhetso, City Data Officer and General Manager of KSCDL, while speaking on open data platform and its impact on urban development, said that urban areas depend greatly on how resources are managed.

‘Through big data analytics, urban researchers and planners can get accurate insights on how city resources are being utilised and use these insights to allocate resources to areas where they are most needed. Therefore, available data is one of the valuable assets of cities.

However, data availability becomes an issue without a data-driven initiative,’ she pointed out.

She further said that through open data initiatives, cities are being impacted in several ways like, economic opportunities by enabling business creation, job creation, and innovations with facts and figures.

‘It (open data) also helps solve complex public problems through improved situational awareness and preparedness, increase knowledge and expertise, and allow policy makers, civil society, and citizens to target interventions better and track the impact. Open data also empowers citizens with participatory capacity and act as catalyst for social mobilization,’ Rhetso added.

GIS expert, Nagaland Science and Technology Council (NASTEC), Thsope Medo gave a presentation on remote sensing and GIS projects, sustainability, monitoring, water resources, services and Nagaland state spatial data infrastructure.

He spoke on the facilities available in the department, which includes GIS and RS lab,

State Water and Referral and Testing Lab, Biotech Hub, analytical and Engineering Wing, Patent Information Cell, and Nagaland State Climate Change Cell.

He informed that researchers, individuals, public, etc., have availed the facilities at NASTEC and urged students and even departments to avail their services.

Chief Executive Officer of KSCDL, K Theunuo informed that the event was a pre-initiative to the smart city national conference. He added that open data will help citizens in innovation, transparency, efficiency and economic growth.

The programme was organised as per the directive of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to observed ‘open data week’ across 100 Smart Cities from Jan. 17 to the 21st as part of the yearlong celebration of Azad Ka Amrit Mahotsav.