The ‘One nation, One data’ portal, which will serve as a single point of data exchange for all of the nation’s higher education institutions, will be available for use by the start of the new academic year in 2023–2024; preparations for it have already started. The portal, which permits just one source of data gathering and exchange by numerous regulatory agencies, is one of the essential changes to strengthen the assessment and accreditation system of colleges, universities, and other higher education institutions.
The foundation for the data collection and rectification portal has already been laid. Huge amounts of data exist, and gathering all of the information that has been provided by various organisations to various authorities is a significant undertaking. An official with knowledge of the process stated that the data is then being reviewed with the relevant universities and institutions for any consistency issues, authenticity issues, and duplication.
One Nation One Data (ONOD) is an online platform that will serve as an unified and single source for all higher education institutions to upload their data regarding, among other things, the number of students, faculty, infrastructure, research projects, and placements that are required by various regulatory bodies for periodic assessments, ranking, and grading. It would enable data simplification and so address the difficulty faced by institutions when providing information on numerous portals and on a recurring basis throughout the year. As a result, institutions won’t need to submit the same information repeatedly because it may be provided via an API. The official stated that the site itself allows for any necessary upgrades.
The data can be used by various organisations for various objectives. For instance, regulatory organisations like the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) can use the same for grading and granting approvals to colleges and other institutions, respectively. A team led by Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabudhe, chair of the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), which was established by the union’s Ministry of Education (MoE), is working on the project.
We are also working to eliminate any extraneous sets of data while rationalising the data that regulatory bodies need in order to provide approvals, rank, and assess applicants. The goal is to submit only the necessary amount of data. The committee is inviting members of these regulatory agencies who utilise the data to consult on the matter, the official said.
In its draft report titled “Transformative Reforms for Strengthening Periodic Assessment and Accreditation of All HEIs of India,” the Overarching Committee, which was established by the MoE last November and is led by K Radhakrishnan, chairperson of the standing committee of the IIT Council, recommends several critical reforms, including ONOD.
