Krishachand.KThiruvananthapuram: The state govt has given in-principle approval to the draft Keralam State Data Policy, 2026, which allows departments to share anonymised data with private entities for a fee, and has set up apex-level and state-level committees to oversee its implementation.An order issued by the electronics and information technology (IT) department on Saturday said the policy aims to create a common framework for how govt institutions classify, share, access, store, retain and use the data they handle.Startups, industries and other private players can obtain govt data classified as “internal” on payment, subject to the apex committee’s nod. Departments will exchange data among themselves without charge. The fees are intended to cover govt’s expense in gathering and maintaining data. Personal, confidential and restricted datasets are barred from sale or sharing.The policy is linked to the proposed state data exchange platform, which received administrative sanction in July 2025 to help departments collect and share data. The Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM) prepared the draft after seeking feedback from departments and the public.All departments must nominate chief data officers, share their details with KSITM and set up departmental data management cells. They must also prepare dataset inventory registers and, within six months, draft “negative lists” of data categories to be excluded from sharing. The state-level committee will review these lists before the apex committee gives final approval.The apex committee will also decide on the platform’s financial framework and how long data can be kept online. KSITM has been asked to submit detailed cost estimates for different retention periods, and will coordinate the technical side of implementation.The policy will be finalised after the committees consider the modified draft.The apex-level data governance committee will be chaired by the chief secretary, with the IT department secretary as convener. Its members include senior officials from 10 departments, the KSITM director and the state informatics officer of the National Informatics Centre. An IT industry expert, an academic and a representative of a civil society organisation working on open data will be special invitees.The state-level committee will be chaired by the IT department secretary, with the KSITM director as convener. Its members include finance and planning department representatives and the State Informatics Officer.Any expenditure will be incurred only after the necessary administrative and financial sanctions are obtained, the order said.
