Statathon Launched to Revolutionize India's Official Data Using AI & Innovation
Dr. Saurabh Garg reiterated that the selected problem statements align with MoSPI’s vision for future-ready statistical systems.
- Country:
- India
In a groundbreaking move to modernize and transform India’s statistical landscape, the National Statistical Office (NSO) in collaboration with the Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Education (MoE) launched the national-level Grand Challenge titled “Statathon – A Data Journey Towards Viksit Bharat” on July 15, 2025. The challenge, designed to harness emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Generative AI, was officially inaugurated by Dr. Saurabh Garg, Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), at a high-profile event in New Delhi.
The initiative marks a major milestone in the celebration of 75 years of the National Sample Survey (NSS) and is organized under MoSPI’s Data Innovation Lab (DI Lab)—a pioneering unit aimed at incubating technological advancement in India’s statistical systems.
Empowering a New Generation of Data Innovators
With over 300 participants in attendance, including senior government officials, academic leaders, researchers, and tech entrepreneurs, the Statathon aims to reimagine India’s statistical infrastructure. It focuses on all phases of the data lifecycle—collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination—and encourages a collaborative approach to developing digital public goods for Viksit Bharat (Developed India).
Participants are invited to build cutting-edge solutions across five core problem statements, each designed to address existing gaps in the statistical ecosystem:
The Five Problem Statements
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API Gateway for Survey Datasets Develop a scalable, privacy-compliant, and SQL-enabled API interface to allow controlled public access to NSS datasets, thereby facilitating open research and innovation.
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AI-Powered Smart Survey Tool Create a multilingual, mobile-friendly, AI-driven survey app capable of real-time data capture using voice and text inputs, particularly designed for field-level surveyors in rural and remote regions.
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AI-Enhanced Application for Automated Data Processing Build an AI-powered solution to automate data validation, statistical analysis, and report generation, reducing manual intervention and increasing accuracy.
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Semantic Search for Occupation Classification (NCO) Design a context-aware, NLP-based search tool for easy and intuitive navigation across occupational codes in the National Classification of Occupations database, enabling researchers and policymakers to extract relevant data seamlessly.
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Evaluation and Enhancement of Data Anonymisation Practices Propose a robust framework for secure data anonymization, ensuring the privacy of survey respondents while allowing statistical data to remain usable and accessible for analysis.
A Platform for Mentorship, Learning, and Growth
The Statathon offers a two-phase evaluation process:
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Phase 1: Shortlisting of 50 teams, who will receive mentorship and training from experts in government, academia, and industry to help refine their concepts.
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Phase 2: From these, 25 finalist teams will receive financial support of ₹50,000 each to build working prototypes under continued mentorship.
The Grand Finale will be held later this year, where the top teams in each category will be awarded prizes of ₹1,00,000 for winners and ₹50,000 for runner-ups, along with potential integration opportunities into India’s official statistical infrastructure.
Participants can submit their proposals at the official Grand Challenge portal: https://gc.mic.gov.in/home. Registrations remain open for one month from the launch date.
Leadership Insights and Institutional Support
The launch ceremony featured addresses from several dignitaries who emphasized the strategic importance of innovation in public data systems:
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Shri R. Rajesh, Additional Director General, MoSPI, welcomed the initiative and encouraged wide participation from students and young professionals.
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Dr. Abhay Jere, Chief Innovation Officer, MoE, praised the collaborative synergy between MoSPI and MoE and its potential to mobilize talent from India’s innovation ecosystem.
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Shri P.R. Meshram, Director General, MoSPI, showcased the achievements of the Data Innovation Lab, including in-house tools and methodologies developed over the past year.
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Prof. T.G. Sitharam, Chairman, AICTE (virtually), emphasized the need for cross-disciplinary innovation in statistical data for informed policymaking.
A Step Toward Digital Governance and Data Sovereignty
Dr. Saurabh Garg reiterated that the selected problem statements align with MoSPI’s vision for future-ready statistical systems. He emphasized the role of youth and emerging tech leaders in delivering scalable, secure, and intelligent solutions that could eventually be adopted into national data workflows.
“The Statathon is not just a competition—it is a gateway for young minds to become co-creators of India’s data future,” said Dr. Garg.
Toward a Viksit Bharat Through Open Innovation
With India aiming to build a data-driven governance model, the Statathon exemplifies how open innovation and public-private collaboration can unlock the power of official statistics for policy formulation, academic research, and citizen engagement.
By leveraging cutting-edge tools and offering mentorship, funding, and recognition, this initiative represents a bold step toward modern, secure, and inclusive data ecosystems.
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