The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has inaugurated a state-of-the-art India Urban Observatory at Nirman Bhawan in New Delhi to help cities across India become more productive, innovative and livable. The initiative, launched in partnership with Cisco, Quantela Inc, ESRI and AWS, will leverage data analytics to optimise city operations, improve governance and enhance economic performance of cities across the country. Inaugurating the observatory at Nirman Bhawan, Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of State (Independent charge), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, said, “The India Urban Observatory is an important component of the recently launched Data Smart Cities strategy that envisions to create a ‘Culture of Data’ in cities, for intelligent use of data in addressing complex urban challenges." He added that the conceptualisation of the India Urban Observatory recognises the value of enhancing engagement among all four stakeholders — government, citizens, academia, and industry, along with improvements in the internal workflow and decision-making processes of city governments. "The India Urban Observatory will become the chief data analysis and management hub of the ministry and would enable evidence-based policy formulation, capacity building of ecosystem partners on data-driven governance and foster innovation,” the minister said. Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA; Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary, MoHUA along with other government dignitaries and industry representatives including Harish Krishnan, Managing Director, Public Affairs and Strategic Engagements, Cisco India and SAARC and Sridhar Gadhi, CEO and MD, Quantela Inc, were also present at the inauguration ceremony. According to Krishnan, cities can be ‘truly smart’ if they can leverage data for intelligent decision-making and the establishment of India Urban Observatory will go a long way in realizing this vision. We are thrilled to be part of this initiative. “The 'Smart Cities' programme has been one of the biggest digitisation initiatives launched by any government across the world. We are delighted to partner with the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs and Cisco in this initiative in realising the dream of a digitally connected India,” said Gadhi, CEO and MD, Quantela Inc.