Conference Proceedings: National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)

The nation today needs a NSDI much more than at any time. There are 2 major imperatives that drive the country towards establishing the NSDI:

Enable the establishment of a national repository of a digital “ware-house” of the national map data holdings
Facilitate Sharing and access to the digital spatial information

Use of spatial information for resource management and decision-making is limited only by the imagination on how to combine the different data sets. Many a times new ideas create the need for even more data so as to achieve the end goals. This has been matched by a significant increase in the information retrieval capabilities of the GIS. It is because of this fact that GIS's are now becoming widely popular and are being used for a wide range of applications - natural resources management, wasteland development, watershed development, urban management, coastal management, utilities management, infrastructure development, business development etc.

Current and accurate spatial data must be readily available to contribute to local, state and national development and contribute to economic growth, environmental quality and stability, and social progress. This would be best achieved by making accurate and timely spatial data readily available to support sound decisions over a geographic area and to do so with minimum duplication of effort and at a reasonable cost. Establishment of a NSDI to support efficient production, easy access to and shared use of accurate, high quality spatial data to meet national needs is an urgent national requirement. NSDI will ultimately emerge as a major driver for impetus to development activities and also enable the emergence of an information business sector that will promote economics and commerce activities.

As a national infrastructure, NSDI will have the potential to serve as a “one-stop” source of spatial information and the “mining” of these GIS layers from the NSDI would be the major source for all GIS activities in support of sustainable development and economic growth.

A NSDI would enable the following:

Towards a Spatial Society - 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 information inter-dependence. The nationalization 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, and fiscal, exploitation and regeneration of natural resources and other policies.
Emergence of community based governance. Greater people’s involvement in developmental planning ant 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 commonly used tools for developmental alternatives and societal choices for decision-making.
Benefits to 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.

What would be the “utilisation” drivers for the NSDI? Some of the major uses of the NSDI would be:

Support to planning and development activities – specially the management of natural resources, disaster management, watershed management/development, district planning, state planning, resources monitoring, rural development, Land capability Analysis; Optimal landuse Planning; Water Resources Development; Agricultural Development; Irrigation planning; Watershed Development; Wasteland Development settlement hierarchy, facilities planning etc. Government would find use of NSDI to prepare spatial plans for the whole country - annual plans, five-year plans, perspective plans; inventory of natural resources and changes; for quick assessment of damages during natural calamities and disasters and monitoring and evaluating the various governmental policies and programs.
Information bases for infrastructure development in the country – specially the road, telecom, water distribution, sewerage management and so on. The NSDI would provide the base information for addressing issues related to landuse, environment, land acquisition, visibility and line of sight, costs of projects etc.
Business GIS which will be towards supporting the use of GIS databases to further business opportunities and enable spatial data commerce.
Universities involved in GIS Research, Education and Training will utilize the NSDI for undertaking specific research of global and national issues; impart GIS education with case studies and practical hands-on training.
Info-Savvy Communities who would have spatial information access and bring in transparency in governance and insurance against discrimination and exploitation.

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