Karnataka unveils Tathyakosh, putting 1.5 million datasets on one searchable platform

Karnataka has introduced Tathyakosh, a platform designed to simplify the search for public datasets by compiling over 1.5 million datasets from 458 repositories into a single searchable interface. The platform, launched by the Government of Karnataka’s Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence and the ACSEL Technology Forum, aims to facilitate the discovery and use of data for researchers, policymakers, startups, developers, and data scientists.

Tathyakosh currently covers 16 sectors, including health, agriculture, education, infrastructure, environment, economy, and governance, with data from both Indian and international sources. Users can refine their search using criteria such as location, subject area, time period, file format, and access type. Over 92% of the indexed datasets are open access, and 95% are machine-readable, making them easier to utilize by computational tools.

Each dataset is evaluated based on seven criteria, such as accessibility, freshness, completeness, granularity, and machine-readability, to help users gauge its quality and utility.

The platform, intended as an open, non-commercial Digital Public Good, does not own the datasets but directs users to their original sources. With more than 50,000 datasets related to Karnataka already indexed, including those from the Karnataka Open Government Data Portal and the Indian Institute of Science, Tathyakosh is expected to grow as more datasets become available.

This initiative supports India's AI ambitions by enabling easier access to existing data, ultimately saving time and resources for users across various sectors.