National Geospatial Policy 2022
26-08-2023
12:05 PM
1 min read
What’s in today’s article?
- Why in News?
- What is Geospatial Technology?
- About the National Geospatial Policy, 2022
Why in News?
- The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, has notified a National Geospatial Policy 2022, with the goal of making India a world leader in the global geospatial sector.
What is Geospatial Technology?
- Geospatial Technology is an emerging field of study that includes Geographic Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS), and Global Positioning System (GPS).
- It has applications in almost every domain of the economy ranging from -
- Agriculture to industries,
- Development of urban or rural infrastructure,
- Administration of land,
- Economic activities of banking and finance, resources, mining, water, disaster management, social planning, delivery services, etc.
- It enables government systems, services, and initiatives to be integrated using ‘location’ as a common and underpinning reference frame.
- Geospatial data is now widely accepted as a critical national infrastructure and information resource with proven societal, economic and environmental value.
The National Geospatial Policy, 2022
Image Caption: National Geospatial Policy 2022
- Background of National Geospatial Policy 2022
- In 2021, the DST issued “Guidelines for acquiring and producing Geospatial Data and Geospatial Data Services including Maps”.
- The Guidelines deregulated the Geospatial sector by liberalising Geospatial data acquisition/ production/ access, with an aim to promote private sector participation through continued enhancements of Ease of Doing Business in the sector.
- The 2022 Policy takes it further by laying down an overarching framework for holistic development of the Geospatial ecosystem.
- It comes at a time when India's geospatial economy is expected to cross Rs 63,000 crore by 2025 at a growth rate of 12.8%
- About: It is a citizen-centric policy that seeks to strengthen the Geospatial sector to support national development, economic prosperity and a thriving information economy.
- Vision and goals:
- To make India a World Leader in Global Geospatial space with the best in the class ecosystem for innovation.
- To develop a coherent national framework in the country and leverage it to move towards a digital economy and improve services to citizens.
- To develop Geospatial infrastructures, Geospatial skill and knowledge, standards, Geospatial businesses.
- To promote innovation and strengthen the national and sub-national arrangements for generation and management of Geospatial information.
- Following are the milestones (2025, 2030 and 2035) in the journey towards realisation of the aforesaid vision:
- Year 2025: Put in place an enabling policy and legal framework that supports liberalisation of the Geospatial sector and democratisation of data for enhanced commercialization with Value Added Services.
- National Digital Twins of India's major cities and towns by 2035: The digital twin is a virtual replica of a physical asset, process or service that lies at the core of the new digital revolution.
- This facilitates policymakers to understand how infrastructure will function in different situations such as increase of population or during natural disasters.
- Institutional framework:
- A Geospatial Data Promotion and Development Committee (GDPDC, will be a 17-member body) at the national level shall be the apex body for formulating and implementing strategies related to promotion of the Geospatial sector.
- GDPDC would replace and subsume the functions and powers of the National Spatial Data Committee (NSDC) constituted in 2006 and GDPDC constituted in 2021.
- Significance of the policy:
- To make geospatial technology and data as agents of transformation for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Bringing efficiency in all sectors of economy and instilling accountability and transparency at all levels of governance.
Q1) What is Digital Twin technology?
Digital twin technology enables organizations, services, and customers to have seamless virtual interactions. For example, companies may utilize digital twin technology to generate a virtual replica of their product that can be used to analyze and enhance it.
Q2) Who launches the Geospatial Energy Map of India?
NITI Aayog in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed a comprehensive Geographic Information System (GIS) Energy Map of India with the support of Energy Ministries of Government of India.
Source: Geospatial policy notified, hi-resolution Indian map by 2030 | DST