National Geospatial Policy 2022

National Geospatial Policy 2022

• The National Geospatial Policy 2022 was unveiled by the Ministry of Science and Technology in order to establish India as a world leader in the geospatial industry.
• With a growth rate of 12.8%, India's geospatial economy is predicted to reach Rs 63,000 crore by 2025 and employ more than 10 lakh people.

Geospatial technology: What is it?

• The term "geospatial technology" is used to describe a wide range of modern tools that aid in mapping and analyzing the Earth's geography and human societies. These technologies have been evolving since the first maps were drawn in the prehistoric age.
• For geographic mapping and analysis, geospatial technology uses tools like GIS (Geographic Information System), GPS (Global Positioning System), and remote sensing.
• These technologies record spatial data on things, things that happen, (indexed to their geographical location on earth, geotag). Both static and dynamic location data are possible.

Historical background:

• Early cameras were launched into the air on balloons and pigeons in the 19th century, and then on airplanes in the 20th century, adding aerial photography to the historically significant schools of cartography and mapmaking.
• The science and art of photographic interpretation and map-making advanced during World War II, and during the Cold War, satellite technology and computer development offered them new dimensions.
• Satellites made it possible to take pictures of the Earth's surface and human activities there, albeit with significant limitations.
• Computers have made it feasible to create digital software, maps, and data sets on socioeconomic and environmental phenomena, as well as to store and transport imagery. These things are together known as geographic information systems (GIS).

What is the National Geospatial Policy 2022?

• It aims to strengthen the geospatial sector to assist national growth, economic success, and a vibrant information economy. It is a citizen-centric policy based on geospatial technology.
• By 2030, the policy intends to have high-resolution topographical mapping and surveying in place, along with an accurate Digital Elevation Model (DEM).

Goals and Vision:

• It aspires to establish India as a global geospatial leader with a top-tier innovation ecosystem.
• To build a strong national framework that the nation can use to advance its transition to a digital economy and enhance its delivery of public services.
• The creation of geospatial infrastructures, expertise, standards, and enterprises.
• Institutional framework: The primary body for developing and carrying out strategies relating to the promotion of the geospatial sector shall be the Geospatial Data Promotion and Development Committee (GDPDC) at the national level.
• The National Spatial Data Committee (NSDC), established in 2006, and the GDPDC, established in 2021, would be replaced and merged into the GDPDC.

The vision of the Policy:

Year 2025:

• Establish a supportive policy and legal environment that encourages the deregulation of the geospatial sector and the decentralization of data for improved commercialization with value-added services.
• High-resolution topographical survey and mapping in 2030 (5-10 cm for urban & rural areas and 50 cm-100 cm for forests & wastelands).

Year 2035:

• High precision/resolution to support the blue economy, bathymetric geospatial data of interior waters and sea surface topography of shallow/deep seas are needed.
• Major cities and towns nationwide are digital twins. At the heart of the new digital revolution is the Digital Twin, a virtual counterpart of a real asset, process, or service.

Geospatial technology is used in almost every sector of the economy:

• Industries and agriculture
• Administration of land,
• development of urban or rural infrastructure,
• banking and finance,
• resources, minerals, and mining,
• water disaster management,
• health planning, and service delivery

Relevance of National Geospatial Policy:

• The National Geospatial Policy's main objective is to transform geospatial technology and data into agents of change for attaining sustainable development goals, increasing efficiency across all economic sectors, and fostering accountability and transparency at all levels of governance.
• In order to improve resource planning and management and better meet the unique demands of the Indian population,.
• Atmanirbhar Bharat: The Policy acknowledges the significance of locally accessible and locally pertinent Maps and Geospatial Data.
• The National Geospatial Policy aims to strengthen national-level spatial information management arrangements across our nation by drawing on international best practices, such as work by the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) Committee of Experts and the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (IGIF).
• The Policy aims to enhance the ease of doing business for a thriving geospatial sector economy.
• In order to bridge the geospatial digital gap, encourage innovation, creation, and incubation of ideas and start-up activities in the geospatial sector, as well as to capitalise on the opportunities presented by constantly developing technology.
• The National Geospatial Policy will support platforms, open data, and open-source software.
• Except for the classified geospatial data gathered by security/law enforcement agencies, all geospatial data created with public funding must be easily accessible to all Indian Entities and free from any limitations on use for development, economic, and scientific reasons.
• This is a dynamic endeavor to support startups and lessen their reliance on foreign territory.

What are the Associated Issues?

When it comes to preserving this kind of data, there are still significant challenges that need to be properly recognized and overcome.

• The development of secure and particularly interoperable GIS applications in the areas of defense has received little attention, despite the fact that there are many models and methods for restricting access to and sharing geospatial data. These issues include access control, security, and privacy policies.
• Furthermore, "it might also disclose private information, such as building owners.
• Significant obstacles and hurdles remain to be properly understood and resolved when it comes to protecting this kind of data.
• Data Misuse and Privacy Violations: There is a high risk of potential data misuse and privacy violations if the complete corpus of geospatial data were made available by merely combining the data from the various repositories.
• Additionally, "there is a serious concern in the context of the applications in Defence that sensitive information such as building ownerships would be disclosed or information on important infrastructure could become publicly available.

Way Forward

• Security measures must be implemented to give users and applications access to data only when they are absolutely necessary given the sheer number of persons and organizations involved in a disaster planning scenario.
• In the National Geospatial Policy 2022, a clear road map and SOP should be created for the national securities issues for the country where the three services, paramilitary, or critical infrastructure sectors are concerned.