An open data portal for agricultural researchers and policymakers has launched, under the name Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative (ATAI). The ATAI data platform was developed by the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT, and the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) at UC Berkeley and aims to promote evidence-informed decision-making and policy in the agricultural sector. ATAI-data.org comprises datasets from around the world, launching with seventeen sets that will grow in number as researchers complete and submit additional work.
ATAI co-chair and professor of economics at UC San Diego Craig McIntosh explains the scope of uses for the platform, saying, 'By harmonizing core agricultural variables to the extent possible as well as by providing broad access to raw data, the portal will allow the research community to aggregate across studies and geographies in a way not possible in any single study.'