Chennai: In a move aimed at strengthening India’s epidemic intelligence and accelerating outbreak response, the ICMR National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE) has launched Advanced Data Analytics for Public Health Action and Research Venture (ADARV). The platform combines epidemiological expertise with modern data infrastructure and analytics capabilities, enabling rapid analysis of outbreak data and supporting real-time public health decision-making.

A first-of-its-kind data analytics platform developed in partnership with the Centre of Data for Public Good (CDPG) and the Isaac Centre for Public Health (ICPH) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

According to ICMR, the platform enables users to “analyse outbreak data rapidly and act on findings without dependence on external software or specialised statisticians.”

The platform also serves as a public health data warehouse for India, allowing researchers and institutions to upload datasets and share them openly with the broader research community.

ICMR-NIE said the “open, structured repository aims to shift the culture around health data—from silos to sharing—and build a growing commons of outbreak intelligence that the entire research ecosystem can learn from.”

Dr Manoj V. Murhekar, Scientist G and Director, ICMR-NIE, said, “For years, outbreak investigation meant collecting data with pen and paper in the field, transferring it to spreadsheets, and waiting days or sometimes weeks before findings could inform a response. ADARV changed that during a hepatitis outbreak in Haryana, where field data collected in the morning was fully analysed within an hour.”

Source: ET Healthworld 17,2026