New methods for data collection has to evolve for reliable statistical computation, Pravin Srivastava, Chief Statistician and Secretary of Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, said on Thursday.

According to him, data “comes at a cost” and is required for policy making. But that data has to be reliably collected and then collated.

“We need to meet the targets of sustainable development goal for which a new methodology for data collection is needed,” he said during the 53rd Convocation ceremony of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI).

The government, Srivastava said, is looking at incorporating new avenues like artificial intelligence, big data and analytics. More algorithms are also being used. “I would urge you all to carry out research and come up with new innovative models of data collection,” he said.

Lord Meghnad Desai, renowned economist and Member of House of Lords, UK, called for developing models that could “predict the unpredictable” or “unforeseen events that do not have a history of past occurrences”.

“Statistics has always been about prediction depending on past occurrences. But, I believe, it’s time to come up with a model where it will predict the unpredictable or an unforeseen event,” he said.

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