The Odisha government Saturday signed an MoU with the University of Chicago Trust, India, to set up a data, policy, and innovation center (DPIC) in Bhubaneswar that will enable rigorous, evidence-based governance while using new advances in econometrics, data science and machine learning.
The MoU was signed between CEO of Odisha Computer Application Centre (OCAC) Manoj Kumar Pattnaik and executive director of University of Chicago Center, India, Leni Chaudhari here in the presence of IT Minister Tusharkanti Behera.
The scope of this programmatic partnership will involve researchers from the University of Chicago providing data analysis and evaluation assistance to the government of Odisha schemes and policies to benefit the state districts and blocks.
Talking about the collaboration, Pattnaik said, “We are excited to work with the researchers at EPIC India and it will help lead Odisha to become a leading data Center hub. Using evidence-based research, we hope the DPIC will act as a Center of excellence for collecting big data from many sources, analysing that data using contemporary econometric and statistical models, and producing the necessary creative policy guides.”