IDinsight announces Data on Demand global expansion and new leadership team

IDinsight announces today new leaders of the Data on Demand (DoD) initiative, developed to produce timely, high-quality data-driven insights for public sector decision-makers. The DoD leadership team has expanded across Africa and Asia and includes the following members: Vikas Dimble, IDinsight Associate Director based in Delhi, leading on DoD work in India. Krishna Ramesh, Associate Director to be based in Nairobi, leading the expansion of DoD in Africa. Aya Silva, Associate Director based in Manila, leading the expansion of DoD in the Philippines. Krishanu Chakraborty, Associate Director based in Delhi will focus on Research and Development, including methodological and analytical innovations. Eric Dodge, Director, Engineering & Monitoring Systems, will lead software development work on DoD in his capacity as DoD’s Chief Technology Officer. Akash Pattanayak, Senior Manager, will serve as an advisor on the DoD expansion. The team is overseen by Sarah Lucas, DoD’s Global Lead, to be based in Nairobi. 

The expanded Data on Demand team will work together to build and deepen partnerships in India and extend service offerings in Africa and Southeast Asia to support policymakers with rapid turnaround and representative survey data.

More about the DoD country and regional leads:

Vikas Dimble, Associate Director, and DoD India lead has worked on a portfolio of projects to build a robust data ecosystem in India. During his time at IDinsight, Vikas supported the Central Government to strengthen its data and evidence systems. Prior to joining IDinsight, Vikas was Deputy Director for Ashoka Centre for Economic Policy (ACEP) at Ashoka University. With ACEP Director Arvind Subramanian, Vikas conceptualized, set up, and ran the center, which tackled empirical macro-development questions relevant to developing countries. Prior to that, Vikas was Assistant Director of Research and Strategy for the Tata Centre for Development at the University of Chicago. He has also worked as an India Country Economist for the IGC at the London School of Economics, as a consultant to the World Bank, and as a Research Associate at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). 

Krishna Ramesh, Associate Director, and DoD Africa lead has overseen and supported IDinsight’s work with government, foundation, and non-profit partners in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, and Ghana focusing on a variety of sectors including social protection, governance, and data systems. Krishna was previously the Africa Chief of Staff at IDinsight and was responsible for developing new relationships with partners and clients across the continent, implementing IDinsight’s regional strategy, and overseeing staffing across IDinsight’s Africa offices. 

Aya Silva, Associate Director, and DoD the Philippines lead oversees projects and client engagements in the Southeast Asia office and also supports its growth by seeking and cultivating new partnerships in the region. Since joining IDinsight in 2018, she has led a range of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) projects across sectors, ranging from advisory services to process evaluations of implemented programs. Most recently, she led a partnership with the Philippine Department of Health to bolster demand for the COVID-19 vaccine. She has also managed research projects in Indonesia related to agriculture and supply chain digitization. Previously, she managed an evaluation of a UNDP pilot to deliver cash aid through digital financial services. She also led a set of case studies in Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam, on private sector initiatives that aim to improve workplace gender equality.

“The availability of quality data on vital issues remains an important policy constraint in India,” said Vikas Dimble. “Over the years, the DoD India team has used a range of technical and operational innovations to make high-quality, representative, and high-frequency survey data a reality in India. I am excited to join and work with the DoD India team to use these innovations to fill important gaps in India’s data ecosystem.”

“There is clear potential for Data on Demand to make a significant impact on the amount and quality of data that is available to policymakers,” said Krishna Ramesh. “I am incredibly excited to build off the stellar work that the Data on Demand team has done in India and to scale this unique contribution to the data ecosystem to selected countries on the continent as well.”

“The ability to collect rapid, accurate and high-quality data provides policymakers with a powerful tool to respond to their constituents’ needs,” said Aya Silva. “Especially in times of crises, having data on demand is critical. Scaling the innovations we’ve developed in India to other countries will be an exciting challenge.”

“I am delighted to welcome this stellar leadership team to DoD at a critical time of expansion,” said Sarah Lucas. “Collectively this team brings 50+ years of experience working with public sector partners across 11 countries to make use of data to improve decisions and outcomes for people. Their experience will support ambitious DoD expansion and impact.”