Conference Proceedings: Map India 1999

Infrastructure for the availability of organised spatial and non-spatial information with multi-level information networking to contribute to local, regional and national needs of decision-making for natural resources management and development of Society

Since the beginning of civilisation, maps have been the most effective means of describing events and information. The term map has its genesis in the Latin word "Mappa" which means a piece of table cloth or a napkin, used as parchment roll by Greeks and Romans, for preparing their maps during warfare. Historically, beginning with the clay tablet inscription of the Babylonian era in 2500 BC, the value of representing information in a spatial domain has been realised and extensively practised by the ancient civilisations in Egypt, India and China. Transition in mapping from the historical artistic portrayal to the complex thematic cartography has been the natural evolution which is as much due to the availability of better information as due to the development of computerised cartography techniques which have made it possible to represent data and information in digital formats for processing in the computer using specialised software packages. With the availability of satellite-based remote sensing data and the organisation of spatial databases around a Geographical Information Systems (GIS), combined with the Global Positioning System (GPS) integrated into the inertial platform and cameras, the process of systematic spatial information has now became a reality. Over the past 10 years, the pre-ponderance and coming together of computer technology, communication technology, database technology, cartography and map-making etc, has seen the emergence of Information Infrastructures.

Globally it is being realised that Information infrastructures have become an essential element of the development of any country. In the global sense, the concept of a Global Information Infrastructure (GII) is being talked of based upon the vision of open connectivity and information access.

The thrust of the GII is an open access, universal service, flexible regulatory environment, competition and private investment. The fundamental principle underlining a National Information Infrastructure (NII), is the "Right to know" and "Right to information" tenet. Right to information of public domain data, consumer data, citizen's rights, universal access, financial data, etc., drives the need for developing a NII. A National Information Infrastructure (NII), in India, is not something new, something separate from an across-the-board integration of the entire nation and the world.

A National Spatial Information Infrastructure (NSII)
Establishment of National Spatial Information Infrastructure (NSII) is a prime activity in many countries, as part of a NII. The core of a NSII consists of Geographical Information System (GIS) based databases – containing both spatial and non-spatial data, linked together through keys and indexes. A hierarchy of such GIS databases forms the core of a NSII with networking – both across hierarchy and within a level in the hierarchy. The value of NSII would be to aid as a decision-making tool and more in the context of assisting planning for developmental activities.

Let us just look at the forces that might shape the future of spatial data activities by the year 2010. I visualise that the following will be the imperatives for a NSII and the forces that will govern its emergence:

Synergy of information, technology and access. In the near term, technology development will continue to have profound effects on spatial information activities, as we are seeing it today – the changing demand of computing technology to understanding processes around us and its representation as maps. In the longer term, information needs will drive further technological developments – creating stringent demands for technology solutions for spatial data capture integration and representation. The emergence of Spatial Business from the highly volatile and dynamic synergy of information, technology and access will see a truly Spatial Society.
Expanding national and global inter-dependence. The nationalisation, and later globalisation, of spatial information will be yet another imperative. Markets will define and drive the need and use of spatial information for individuals, society, nation and the world as a whole.
Increasing emphasis on sustainability. The fundamental aspect of sustainable development lies in the paradigm of scientific innovation and economic determinism within the physical limits imposed by ecological systems on economic activity. The need is for a full integration of environmental and developmental information for decision-making on economic, social, fiscal, exploitation and regeneration of natural resources and other policies.
Emergence of community based governance. Greater people’s involvement in developmental planning at local level and the emergence of participatory planning will demand access to spatial information – basically integrating information from disparate sources. To an increasing degree, the use of spatial information will become common for developmental alternatives and societal choices for decision-making.
The individual. Individuals demand for information – spatial and non-spatial will force the establishment of infrastructures, encompassing his immediate circle of family and society, the land that he tills, the water that he uses, the environment around him and to a larger extent the general awareness of the world.

In the above context, the establishment of National Spatial Information Infrastructure (NSII) would aim to:

promote and establish an infrastructure, at the national and regional level, for the availability of organised spatial and non-spatial data and multi-level information networking to contribute to local, national and global needs of sustained economic growth, environmental quality and stability and social progress
to help systemise, design and establish sectoral and hierarchical spatial information systems at the national level and regional level
to design information transfer mechanisms for a systematic networking of the sectoral and hierarchical information systems evolve information infrastructure for the management and upkeep of the SII nodes in an operational scenario.