Union minister for Information and Broadcasting M Venkiah Naidu today emphasized that geospatial industry finds its value and utility in almost every socio-economic activity embedding location and precision into various perspectives.
Addressing the Geospatial World Forum at HICC here, Venkaiah Naidu, who also holds the urban development ministry, said it was a great opportunity for the Governments of the day to incorporate all the latest technologies to ensure effective delivery of schemes and programs.
‘Our government has always been cognizant of the way technology can be leveraged in day to day governance’, he said. The union minister said “we are weeding out black money and corruption, by digitizing the financial space through increased financial inclusion and a massive push to digital transactions.”
Geo-spatial technology (GST) makes use of satellite navigation systems and computer databases called the Geographical Information System (GIS)to create, capture, store and retrieve geographic and spatial information of any place. This system has the capability to extract and pull relevant information establishing a clear understanding of patterns, relationships and graphical visualisation of geographical sectors at the click of a button.
In the Urban Development Sector, initiatives like the Smart City Program, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Urban), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), AMRUT & HRIDAY lead the block of reforms, the union minister said adding that a common thread running between all these schemes is the extensive use of ICT techniques and Geospatial information systems, thereby effectively leveraging on the latest technology, providing more efficient output.
Venkaiah further said that GST and remote sensing tools find its use in urban planning as an analytical and modelling tool. It can be applied to a wide array of problems. It is particularly useful in cities and towns that require working around the existing infrastructure.(NSS)