A New Start National Geospatial Policy

The Indian government recently notified the much-awaited National Geospatial Policy 2022, which envisions transforming the Indian geospatial industry through a mix of resilience, dynamism, and cuttingedge innovation.

As a part of an ambitious plan, the government aims to develop a standard framework that will enhance the efficiency of implementing the data in everyday lives of people around the country. This comes at the most opportune time when India’s geospatial economy is expected to grow at 12.8% and cross Rs 63,000 crore by 2025.

The focus on India’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (IGIF), and Information & Communications Technology (ICT) can be vividly seen throughout the policy. Noting that geospatial technologies and their applications are used in almost every domain of the economy, the policy delves into the intricacies and complexities while offering a forwardlooking approach.

For geospatial operations across the country, the government of India (GoI) will constitute a Geospatial Data Promotion and

Development Committee (GDPDC) at the national level which will become the apex body for formulating and implementing appropriate guidelines, strategies and programs.

Through the National Geospatial Policy, the government looks to ‘make India a World Leader in Global Geospatial space with the best in the class ecosystem for innovation.’

Looking into the Future

By 2025, the GoI plans to enable policy and legal framework that supports the liberalization of the Geospatial sector while democratizing data. It also looks to improve the availability of and access to better location data across organizations and sectors while developing and strengthening national and sub-national arrangements in Geospatial information management.

It will enable and fund innovation and incubation of ideas, especially in the start-up initiatives that will help leapfrog the industry from outdated policies, practices, and laws. The current digital divide across the geospatial sector in India will be reduced to nothing given the continuous evolution of technologies.

Considering the lack of standardization in the technologies of geospatial, the government will also encourage open standards, open data and platforms for enabling data and technology interoperability to deliver integrated Geospatial information and location-based knowledge creation.

Incentives for the Private Sector

The private sector is looking forward to the benefits that location intelligence and geospatial technology can provide. Geospatial datasets have not been easily accessible in the past. The National

Geospatial Policy 2022 aims to change this by making spatial data more readily available to private companies.

“The Private Sector will play a key role in creation and maintenance of Geospatial and mapping Infrastructures, innovations and process improvements and monetization of Geospatial data,” the policy stated.

Rakesh Verma, CMD & Co-founder MapmyIndia’s said, “The Policy recognizes and promotes strategic and economic value and usefulness of Geospatial maps and technologies for all sections of society and the economy. The policy also gives vision for the types of geospatial capabilities and capacities the country need.”

National Digital Twin of India

Digital Twins demand high-quality data, which is secure to use for better-informed decisions. Secure information also generates confidence in citizens, businesses, and government stakeholders to work on data-driven processes and enhance their services. It also provides awareness in society and businesses to use best practices in terms of environment-friendly steps, waste management, reusable technology etc. for a better future.

Building a national Digital Twin will bring transparency in stakeholder engagement, enabling continuous progress monitoring, and identifying challenges.

The national geospatial Digital Twin strategy will be devised on the following parameters:

 Reliable, accessible, usable, interoperable, continuously

BY 2030

High-resolution topographical survey & mapping (5-10 cm for urban & rural areas and 50 cm-100 cm for forests & wastelands)

High-accuracy Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for the entire country (25 cm for plain, 1-3 metres for hilly and mountainous areas)

Geospatial Knowledge Infrastructure (GKI) underpinned by Integrated Data and Information Framework

Enhance capabilities, skills and awareness to meet the future needs of the country updated datasets for both ‘above the surface’ and ‘subsurface’ environments as per the required attributes.

 Precise positioning data from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) systems, or resilient Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) systems and Internet of Things (IoT) sensors.

“In addition to the multiple focus areas, the policy recommends democratization of data and innovation. It looks forward to collaboration among stakeholders. While identifying various sectors, the policy gives special emphasis on the National Digital Twin strategy,” commented Prof. P K Joshi, Chairperson SCDR and Professor SES, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Educating the NextGeneration

To foster geospatial domain awareness, and to address the lack of a standardized geospatial curriculum, the policy throws light on introducing geospatial education at multiple levels – from schools to universities, and vocational to specialized training institutes.

This will help in creating job opportunities, integrating innovation, and identifying new areas of application and solutions, which will fill the human resource gap. The policy aims to establish new tie-ups with allied industries to increase the student placement spectrum directly through education streams.

“The launch of the National Geospatial Policy 2022 shows that the Indian government sees value in the long-term benefits of geospatial technology. We are committed to working with universities, educational institutions, and the local communities to help realize the true value of geospatial technology,” said Harpreet Singh, Director and Head of Partner Business, India at HERE Technologies.

Sachin Awana

Sub Editor, Geospatial

World

Sachin@geospatialmedia.net