Explained| All About the National Geospatial Policy 2022

About National Geospatial Policy

• The new Geospatial Policy will replace the National Map Policy, 2005. 
• Aim: It aims to strengthen the location-centric industry to support the information economy. 
• Foundation: 

1. It uses the Department of Science and Technology (DST) guidelines issued in February 2021, as its foundation, for acquiring and producing geospatial data and related services including maps. 
2. The DST guidelines deregulated the geospatial sector and liberalised the acquisition, production, and access of data in the field. 

• Significance: The 2022 policy lays down a framework for the development of a geospatial ecosystem, including goals and strategies to achieve it.

About Geospatial Data

• Geospatial data are descriptions of events or occurrences with a location on or near the surface of the earth. 
• This location can be static relating to earthquakes, vegetation, etc., or dynamic, a person walking on the road, a package being tracked, etc.
• The location data obtained is usually combined with other characteristic attributes or recorded parameters to provide meaningful insights in the form of geospatial data.

Roadmap

The National Geospatial Policy lists the following targets to be achieved before 2035:

Image Source: The Hindu

Government’s aims behind the National Geospatial Policy

• The government through the National Geospatial Policy aims to employ geospatial technology and data towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 
• The policy emphasizes the importance of locally available and locally relevant maps and geospatial data.
• It also aims to support innovation and creation in the field, “bridging the geospatial data divide”. 
• It seeks to create long-term, sustainable geospatial information management through capacity development and education programmes.
• The government hopes that the policy will encourage open standards, open data and platforms. 
• The SoI plays the lead role in maintaining high resolution/high spatial accuracy orthoimagery (geometrically corrected image to remove geographical and optical distortion), actual collection and collation of data.
• Liberalisation in the field has the potential to support the government’s ease of doing business policy. 
• The private sector is expected to predominantly cater to geospatial/location data-related needs and requirements of citizens. 
• It will also play a key role in the creation and maintenance of geospatial and mapping infrastructures.

Also Read: The Need for Space Sustainability

Nature and Scope of Human Geography

Key Benefits of the National Geospatial Policy

• Landmark reform: The policy is a landmark reform allowing the geospatial industry to grow.
• The policy recognises the importance of the geospatial industry, an exercise which Mr. Malik believes has a big role to play in the sustainability of our cities.
• The National Geospatial Policy is a good step in the right direction but is very abstract and generic in nature.
• The e-commerce and delivery industry will be one of the main beneficiaries of deregulation in the field of geospatial data in India. 
• The applications of and insights you can get from geospatial data are a lot more, which is why it is impossible to control by a single agency.
• A “step in the right direction”: Geospatial data was so far tightly controlled by the government. While the rest of the world has evolved in the field of geospatial data, thus this step is a crucial step in this field.

News Source: The Hindu

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/explained-all-about-the-national-geospatial-policy-2022/article66346317.ece

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