Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has developed an ‘Integrated Road Safety Dashboard’ to integrate diverse data streams to drive policymaking.  It is likely to help transform road safety governance and significantly enhance road safety outcomes across India.

This creates the platform for a standardised yet flexible approach to road safety governance. It is envisioned as a scalable, configurable and replicable digital public infrastructure that can be adopted by States and Union Territories across India, aligned with their respective road safety strategies and governance frameworks

By integrating data from multiple departments and presenting it through real-time analytics and actionable insights, the dashboard empowers leadership to identify risk areas, assign responsibility, track interventions and measure impact

Developed by the RBG Labs, this cutting-edge digital platform represents a major advancement in e-governance, demonstrating how technology can enable coordinated, data-driven decision-making in complex public policy domains such as road safety.

The Integrated Road Safety Dashboard has already demonstrated its potential through successful adoption by the Government of Odisha. It is now positioned for wider replication. As part of ‘Road Safety Month 2026’ celebrations underway during January 2026, Odisha recently launched the dashboard. Its modular design allowed Odisha to customise workflows, indicators, and reporting structures while adhering to a common National framework.

Amitabh Thakur, Transport Commissioner-cum-Chairman, State Transport Authority (STA), Government of Odisha, said, “The Dashboard provides the analytical backbone and monitoring we need for a sustained enforcement and interventions. By employing data driven human factors-based approach, we are empowering our officers with access to modern technology to deal with road safety, ultimately helping us save lives and make our roads safer for everyone.”

Road safety has emerged as a National priority with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and State Governments increasingly recognising the urgent need for systematic, data driven interventions. While significant efforts have been made in recent years, road safety remains a multi-departmental challenge involving Transport, Police, Road Owning Agencies, Health, Urban Development and other stakeholders.

In the absence of integrated systems, actions have often been fragmented, with limited coordination and insufficient use of data to guide interventions and monitor outcomes.

Prof. V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “Road safety is a complex public challenge that demands coordinated action, institutional accountability, and intelligent use of data. This Dashboard exemplifies how academic research and technological innovation can directly support governance and public service delivery. By enabling evidence-based decision-making and cross-departmental collaboration, this platform has the potential to significantly strengthen road safety management across States and Union Territories in India.”

The Integrated Road Safety Dashboard addresses a long-standing gap by enabling coordinated action across departments and moving governance from isolated data collection to outcome-oriented implementation. It builds on the foundation laid by the Integrated Road Accidents Database (iRAD), currently referred to as eDAR (electronic detailed accident report) the national accident database of the MoRTH.

Prof. Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Head, RBG Labs, who led the project development, said, “The Dashboard is not just a technology platform, it is a governance reform tool. This is e-governance in its truest sense where technology directly contributes to saving lives.”

This was conceptualised and designed by RBG Labs, IIT Madras, and implemented by NICSI.  Availability of such database significantly strengthens the basis of decision making.  While eDAR enabled robust data capture, State Governments expressed the need for platforms that translate data into clear, actionable insights, support inter-departmental accountability and allow continuous monitoring of interventions. This Dashboard has been designed precisely to meet these requirements.

Senior leadership can use the dashboard to identify accident hotspots, monitor departmental performance, assess the effectiveness of engineering, enforcement, and emergency response measures, and plan targeted interventions with precision.

Key features include an Officials’ Portal offering executive summaries, location intelligence, monitoring tools, and visual analytics, as well as a Citizen Portal that enables public reporting of accidents, hazards, and grievances—thereby strengthening transparency, trust, and participatory governance.

By institutionalising data-driven decision-making, enhancing inter-departmental coordination, and embedding accountability into everyday governance processes, the Integrated Road Safety Dashboard sets a new benchmark for how digital platforms can be leveraged to address complex societal challenges. As it scales nationally, the initiative holds the promise of significantly strengthening India’s collective efforts to reduce road accidents, save lives, and build safer roads for all.