CivicDataLab, in partnership with the Gates Foundation and BHASHINI, invites organizations and individuals with Indian language datasets to contribute through the DOST (Dataset Onboarding Support Team) initiative. Open to government bodies, academic institutions, civil society organizations, and anyone working with Indian language content. Apply by March 31, 2026.
About CivicDataLab
CivicDataLab is a research lab working at the intersection of data, technology, design, and social science to strengthen civic engagement in India. The organization works to harness the potential of open knowledge movements, enabling citizens to engage with public reform. It focuses on growing data and tech capacity across governments, nonprofits, think-tanks, media houses, and universities to enable data-driven decision-making at scale.
Background
India’s linguistic diversity remains significantly underrepresented in digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence. While citizens increasingly rely on digital platforms for public services and information, language barriers continue to exclude large sections of the population – particularly speakers of low-resource, tribal, and regional languages. Much of India’s language data currently exists fragmented across government bodies, academic institutions, civil society organizations, cultural archives, and individuals. To address this, the DOST initiative was launched at the BHASHINI Samudaye IndiaAI Pre-Summit, led by CivicDataLab in collaboration with BHASHINI and supported by the Gates Foundation.
About this EOI
Through the DOST initiative, stakeholders are invited to contribute language datasets that will support scalable, interoperable, and publicly governed language technologies as part of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure.
Why Contribute
National Recognition: Attribution on BHASHINI and AIKosh platforms, with credit to contributing organizations and potential opportunities for ecosystem support for dataset preparation, digitisation, and expansion.
Public Value Creation: Contribution to national digital public goods supporting governments, researchers, startups, and communities.
Technical Support: Guidance on dataset standards, formats, quality benchmarks, and onboarding aligned with BHASHINI and AIKosh guidelines.
BHASHINI
BHASHINI is implemented by the Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD), an independent division under the Digital India Corporation, established by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).