The Obama administration has turned a new leaf in re-energising trade, economic and technology ties with the newly-inducted Narendra Modi government in India. Breaking the frostiness in geospatial cooperation, the ‘natural partners connected by core values’ have warmed up to extend cooperation on earth observation, space exploration and satellite navigation.
This is a good news considering that India’s efforts in developing a regional navigation system (IRNSS) indigenously is moving at a snail’s pace and this cooperation could potentially accelerate this pace and boost the fledgling GNSS industry in India. The joint realisation of a dual-frequency microwave satellite for earth observation will expand and strengthen ISRO’s capacities and would prove to be a blessing for disaster management activities in the sub-continent.
The secretary-level discussions have also agreed on cooperation in new focus areas including monsoon studies, joint oceanic surveys and climate change, all necessitating geospatial information and technology. These will bring momentum to geospatial activities between the countries. But the outcome of this cooperation will only translate into economic benefits for India if only the government acts bold and fast to unveil a national vision guiding the use of geospatial information and technology.
Today, every sector that is contributing to the economy of the country and that can bring ‘achche din’ for the citizens of India – energy, health, agriculture, water, public safety/security, insurance, retail, utilities – is in absolute need of the mission-critical geospatial information to yield positive results.
An extensive infrastructure and meticulous policy framework guiding the creation, availability and access of map, remote sensing and aerial data exists in the country. However, to further unleash the potential of spatial information in support of the forward-looking vision of the government, it is critical to take a holistic view of the individual parts and evolve a ‘National Geospatial Strategy’. India is at that compelling moment of history where its development trajectory will take-off smoothly only if the country takes bold steps and evolves on an urgent basis a national vision and strategy for geospatial information and technology use.
