Geospatial Data Policy – A Perspective and Issues before India

Geospatial Data Policy – A Perspective and Issues before India

Nirmalendu Kumar
Survey Of India, Chandigarh
O.C. No 55 Party (NWC), Survey of India, Sector 32-A, Chandigarh
Tel: 0172-2600031, Fax : 0172-2604671
Email: n_kumar65@yahoo.com

Introduction
The use of GIS and geographical information can play a pivotal role in all human activities. The role ranges from individual business through the governance and economic development of large areas or countries to international development programs. In the early phase of GIS revolution, the primary concern of the users were hardware and software, which functioned speedily and reliably, but recently the primary concern has shifted to the information required to use the GIS. Since good quality geo-spatial data is difficult and / or difficult to collect, this concern has translated into how to get the data from other parties – where to find them; how to obtain their costs, currency and reliability : and the terms under which they can be used and the liabilities incurred. Moreover increased network accessibility, development of standard data exchange and interoperability has also fuelled these trends.

The gathering of geo-spatial information (GI) has hither to been localized. Rarely have attempts been made to collect consistent data over multiple countries. Even within individual countries, however such GI has typically been collected on a basis defined largely by individual government departments either for their own purpose or for use by a limited number of the organs of the state. Generally government bodies have collected data on a periodic basis in a manner akin to that in which they have previously collected it ,and they have used the topographic template as the basis on which to do so. In short, diversity in the manifestation of phenomena to be described, in the classification of features, in spatial resolution and accuracy, in periodicity of measurement, in the manner in which data are stored and in the policies and practices of data dissemination have been the norm at, national and international levels.

Efforts to foster greater coherence have begun in a number of countries, generally manifested by spatial infrastructures. Most of them reflect national priorities: thus Mooney and Grant’s description of the Australian Nation Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) differs considerably from Tosta’s characterization of U.S.A NSDI.

Changing context of Geo-spatial data policy
The creation of geo-spatial data policies is driven by a number of factors, some of which are in the process of rapid change. These factors are primarily: -

The impact of new technologies on data collecting and providing organization, changing what they do, how they do it. One example is concern to safeguard by legal means, the intellectual property right for information distributed in digital form.
Rapid changes in the expectations of users and increased power of the customer or users.
Changes in society values, such as greater concern for privacy, a diminution of trust in government and the shift of responsibilities to lower level from higher-level governments.
The advent of significant commercial sector geo-spatial information providers.
The effects of regionalization and globalization of business and even government. In Europe, directive made centrally within the European union force changes in national laws on intellectual property right and trading practices. Similarly on the global scale, world trade organization may impact on information trading.

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