Srinagar: Advisor to Governor, K Vijay Kumar, Thursday inaugurated newly constructed office complex of J&K State Spatial Data Infrastructure (SSDI) in Bemina here. He also launched the beta version of the Geo-portal ‘ssdi.jk.gov.in’.
The State Spatial Data Infrastructure (J&K State Geo-portal) has been established to create infrastructure for availability of and access to organized spatial data and use of the infrastructure at Community, Local, State, Regional and at National levels. The Department of Ecology, Environment & Remote Sensing is the implementing agency of the project in the State.
Head & CEO NSDI P S Acharya, PCCF J&K Suresh Chugh, PCCF/Director EE&RS B Siddhartha Kumar, Director Soil & Water Conservation P K Singh, Director SFRI Om Prakash, Chief Wildlife Warden Suresh Gupta, Additional PCCF Sarvesh Rai, MD JKSFC Vasu Yadav, CCF Kashmir S. F. A. Gillani, Secretary (Technical) K Ramesh Kumar, other senior officers of Forest and its allied wings and officers, staff of SSDI were present on the occasion.
Humayun Rashid, Scientist/Principal Investigator SSDI gave a detailed overview of the State Spatial Data Infrastructure project and its implementation in the state. The project is being funded by DEST, GoI and State Department of Science and Technology.
Regarding SSDI initiative in the state, it was informed that SSDI-JK visualizes a distributed electronic network of data producers and users, development of standards for data collection, collection, and exchange, formulation of procedures and partnerships to ultimately result in creation of a national digital geospatial data framework and development of new relationships that allow organizations and individuals from all sectors to work together to share geospatial data.
The spatial data is important database for making sound decisions at the local, regional and state level, besides, implementation of action plans for infrastructure development, disaster management and business development.
It was told that presently different organizations are generating digital database in different formats which cannot be shared by different user agencies, besides, it leads to duplication of efforts and resources for generating one and the same thing.
To ensure the optimum use of spatial data, NSDI in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) initiated the SSDI project in the state.
The Advisor, on the occasion, also launched JK Geo-portal after which a demonstration of SSDI Geo-portal data and functionalities was also made by the Scientist/Principal Investigator SSDI.
It was told that with the help of this Geo-portal, the organizations can improve knowledge sharing, reduce duplication of efforts, direct people toward the best available data, and improve the overall quality of geospatial data and information. Also, an android based mobile application “POINTGIS” has been developed for data capturing.
The Advisor complimented the Department of Ecology, Environment & Remote Sensing for successfully implementing SSDI-JK project and assured full support of the government for its sustenance.
He asked to replicate the successful SDI models being adopted by the leading states so that the best practices can be incorporated here. He also asked for holding regular training programs and workshops for all line departments and capacity building programs for the staff of SSDI.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr P S Acharya stressed on the need for coordination among the line Departments in generating and sharing of standardized geospatial data besides, providing of recurring budget and manpower to reap the benefits of geospatial technology.
Later, the Advisor along with other dignitaries also released a Vision Document of SSDI and GIS-based resource Atlas of Srinagar district.
