NITI Aayog launches ‘India S&T Scoreboard’ to help states draw up better plans
New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) NITI Aayog on Tuesday launched the “India S&T Scoreboard” as an interactive platform that provides an integrated view of the science & technology landscape of states and UTs, bringing together data on the science and technology ecosystem, including higher education institutions, R&D institutions, deep tech startups, and incubators, along with S&T outputs like research publications and patents.
NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri emphasised that India’s further progress in science and technology requires a more active role by the states. He noted that the Scoreboard will help states identify their strengths and gaps, learn from one another, and design better programmes and policies in science and technology. He urged all states and UTs to make full use of the platform.
Going beyond the volume of output, the scoreboard presents indicators of research quality, impact, collaboration and open access across priority research areas and three sectors, namely Academia, Government R&D Labs, and Industry. It also enables side-by-side comparison of states and UTs and provides detailed state profiles, including state policies and best practices.
Developed as a key NITI Aayog initiative, the Scoreboard has been designed to facilitate evidence-based policymaking and benchmarking across states and UTs.
NITI Aayog’s Senior Adviser Prof Vivek Kumar Singh said that the Scoreboard has been built to go beyond the volume of output and capture quality, impact and collaboration, so that states can identify expertise and areas for focused action.
Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Umesh V. Waghmare, noted that the Scoreboard adds a valuable state-level picture to the national evidence base on science and technology, and highlighted the role of state S&T Councils and state universities in widening India’s research base.
Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, T. Srinivasa Kumar underscored that earth sciences are closely linked to every state, and that local capacity in science and technology is essential for states to make effective use of forecasts, early warnings and opportunities in the ocean sector.
NITI Aayog’s Member, S&T, Prof Abhay Karandikar emphasised that sound policy in science and technology must rest on reliable and comparable evidence. He observed that data on research and innovation has so far remained fragmented across multiple sources, making it difficult for states to assess where they stand. The Scoreboard addresses this gap by bringing ecosystem, publication and patent data together on a single interactive dashboard, with trends over years, so that states can track their progress over time.
The launch was followed by a walkthrough of the Scoreboard and a technical session on its methodology and data sources. Representatives of states noted that the platform will support their planning and help build institutional capacity and skilled human resources in science and technology at the state level.
–IANS
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