| The 7th GSDI brought to focus India's achievements in the field of imaging, mapping, and GIS applications, specifically, the competence in designing and building sophisticated satellites and launch vehicles for end-to-end services in communications, broadcasting, meteorology, resources management, and disaster management. In the limelight was the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellite system that has become the workhorse to provide effective spatial information support to decision making at local levels, natural resources management, environmental monitoring, and disaster management.
The GSDI-7 Conference brought together about 400 delegates from 36 countries including the ones from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Hungary, Kenya, Mexico, Namibia, Nepal, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, The Netherlands, UK, USA. Delegates from various Government Departments, academia, NGOs, and private enterprises in India also attended the conference. Both ISRO and DST are championing the establishment of India's National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). A Strategy and Action Plan for India's NSDI have already been prepared and steps are underway to establish NSDI as a multi-agency programme. Because of its technological and programmatic capabilities, India is likely to play a leading role in the global scenario of Spatial Data Infrastructure. A round table was held on February 7, 2004 between the Open GIS Consortium (OGC) and ANTRIX of the Department of Space, in which about 20 representatives from the Indian industries participated to discuss the interoperability and common standards for SDI. Another important outcome of the conference was that the GSDI Association has accepted India's offer to host the International Secretariat of GSDI Association at Bangalore. An international exposition to Spatial World, organised as part of the conference, showcased the latest products and applications of GIS, GPS and Remote Sensing. Industries, business sector, government agencies, and academia from all over the world participated in the event. The Expo, which was also open to students, gave an opportunity to closely see the major scientific and technological achievements in SDI.
|
