Data Science in Rural Development

The benefits of data are not only transforming the enterprises in the metropolitan cities but
also, they can be equally developed in the rural parts of the country. The penetration of
mobile phones and other connected devices forge a huge amount of structured and
unstructured data every day. According to Data Analytics for Rural Development, the
productivity in rural areas of India is extremely low due to unscientific farming practices,
lack of knowledge in agro-climatic focus for crops selection and lack of access to the right
farming advice at the right time.

The main focus is improvisations in farm production, reducing the food-supply chain losses is
one of the problems that are overlooked by many and remains unaddressed. The rise in the
middle class has also raised the expectations of the citizens, demanding greater transparency
and access to government policies, which in turn raised high standards of service from
various businesses.  

How Government started using Scientific and Digital approaches

The overall development in the economy of the Government of India is because of the
initiatives, like UniqueIdentity (UID) Project, rural employment and poverty upliftment
schemes and financial inclusion initiatives, etc

One of the well-known initiatives Digital India, through which broadband highways will
drive spending on analytics, Geographical Information System (GIS), web content
management, risk management software, portal enhancements, portfolio management, and
customer engagement solutions. The advancements made in the telecommunication sector
provide a platform for the applications of data analytics in rural development in India.

According to Data Analytics for Rural Development, the main focus of the Government to
build digital India via broadband highways has connected every household, for Government
to generate a massive amount of data which could be analysed to provide a solution to the
endless problems of people residing in rural areas, and create smarter villages. The national e-
Government plan proposed setting up 250,000 telecentres in rural areas providing public
access to computers and online service delivery. 

Many organisations took in the opportunity and have been working in the development of the
rural areas like UNICEF’s‘Digital Drum’ allows populations in rural areas to find answers on
issues varying from agriculture, health, and education to business advice and entertainment,
providing them with a platform based on the interests and concerns of information seekers
whose location, age and gender are generally recorded. The government is dependent on
technology to develop public and private financial networks in rural areas. 

How Data Science is transforming the Rural Areas.

Some industries just recently began to digitize their content. So, the first step is to integrate
processes and data across diverse sector infrastructure The data growth rates in the past five
years have been almost limitless since in most cases it started from zero. 
Big Data, a revolutionary technology has already made waves in other Indian industries from
IT to healthcare, and now the investors from various firms are planning to leverage the
potential of Big Data for the welfare of agriculture sector in India. Agriculture is the
backbone of the Indian economy. India has over a billion people in the population, out of
which, over 70% lives in rural areas.
Apart from major companies, it is the mindset of the youth of the country that has made Big
Data a unique approach for farming. SatSure, founded by 33-year-old Abhishek Raju works
with Big Data and other technologies associated with Big Data like data science and IoT for
the betterment of the farmers. 
Satsure assures that the insurance companies, banks, traders, pesticide and seed
manufacturing companies, and farmers can make informed farming decisions by leveraging
the combined potentials of technologies like Cloud Computing, Big data, Machine Learning,
The Internet of Things, Web-based Software as a Service platforms

Technologies used in smart farming and the following make up the network:

 Global positioning systems(GPS) and differential global positioning systems(DGPS) 

 Geographical information systems (GIS)
 Remote sensing technologies like data sensors, RADARS, data transmitters, drones,
and other connected devices
 Cloud architecture
 The Internet of Things (IoT), where devices are competent in communicating with
each other and delivering real-time updates and reports to farmers on crop statuses,
water levels, moisture content, crop yield, and more.

Technologies like Machine Learning, Data Analytics, and Big Data contribute a huge part in
transforming the agriculture sector.

Leveraging big data can lower the time lag and human errors in data collection, production
and transmission.