Data should be made available to improve standard of living: Nandan Nilekani

Former Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Chairman Nandan Nilekani makes a strong pitch for democratising data so that it is available to everybody and not just a few organisations. In an exclusive chat, Shereen Bhan caught up with him and began by asking if he believes that India will be data rich before it becomes economically rich and that the implications that it bears for everyone.

“People are creating a lot of digital footprints when they use their smartphone and you can now see how people can use their own digital footprints to get access to benefits,” he said.

In his view, people are going to be data rich before they are economically rich. So the business model that will succeed are those that will enable people to use the data for their future.

Data should be made available to the individual or to the business to use for doing his work or his life better, he added.