Bikas Udhyami, a social innovation hub, has launched “Nepal in Data”—a portal that offers official statistics of the government on different sectors.

At the launch event here on Friday, experts said poor database system has led to ineffective policy formulation and implementation, besides resulting in low returns on investment.

Inaugurating the portal, National Planning Commission member Swarnim Wagle highlighted the need for a database system that could simplify complex information and present statistics in a more visually-appealing way. 

“Fake information and misinterpretation of data has been a challenge for devising data-driven policy,” he said. 

The portal—www.nepalindata.com—offers more than 400 datasets spread over 12 sections. Users can access development data of Nepal since 1950. Areas covered include agriculture and land, social and human development, state and Politics, infrastructure communication and technology, civil society and foreign aid, economy, market and finance, state and politics, and sustainable development goals.

Most of the government agencies, as well as private sector organisations, have failed to maintain updated databases. In addition, many data presented on government websites are outdated and complicated for the people to understand.

Speaking at the event, Suman Raj Aryal, director general of Central Bureau of Statistics, highlight the need for adopting new technology. “We have to enhance our database systems in such a way that they are able to generate composite index,” Aryal said. 

Nepal Rastra Bank Deputy Governor Chintamani Siwakoti said improper data management has resulted in lower-than-expected returns on the investment. 

He said inconsistency in data released by various government authorities has raised question on quality, reliability and relevancy of the data. 

Bikas Udhyami Chairperson Anurag Bhattarai said users could choose from more than 400 indicators and compare different indicators with each other. 

He said the portal allows users to interact and visualise their data selection in tabular, chart and map formats, download the data, and print them. 

“We have targeted to provide the latest data of various government bodies in simplified form,” he said.

Other participants urged maintaining and using authentic data for credibility, pointing out the lack of data related to private sector businesses.