Temsunaro Aier addressing participants during a state-level
workshop on "Empowering governance and development by leveraging
geospatial resources" in Kohima on Wednesday.
DIMAPUR — A
state-level workshop on "Empowering governance and development by
leveraging geospatial resources" was held on Wednesday at the de-Oriental
Grand in Kohima.
A DIPR report stated that the event, jointly organised by
the Nagaland GIS and Remote Sensing Centre Planning (NGISRSC) and Transformation
Department, Government of Nagaland, and the North Eastern Space Applications
Centre (NESAC), Department of Space, Government of India, brought together
experts, officials and policymakers for a day of knowledge-sharing on
geospatial advancements.
Speaking at the inaugural programme as the guest of honour,
development commissioner of Planning and Transformation, Temsunaro Aier,
described the event as a significant initiative aimed at increasing awareness,
building technical capacity and fostering collaboration to integrate geospatial
resources into planning, governance and development efforts.
She highlighted the role of NGISRSC, established in 2006, as
a cornerstone institution for geospatial technology in the state and the
successful completion of 15 Plan of Action (PoA) projects (10 supported by the
North Eastern Council (NEC) through NESAC and 5 through state resources). She
praised the centre for its contributions across various sectors and encouraged
all departments to utilise the valuable data and resources.
She pointed out that geospatial technology is no longer
limited to mapping but is now a key enabler for evidence-based policymaking,
infrastructure planning, disaster preparedness, resource management and
sustainable development.
She stated that sectors such as agriculture, rural
development, water resource management and urban governance stand to benefit
significantly from the integration of geospatial intelligence. She, therefore,
encouraged the departments to explore ways to embed space-based solutions into
their projects, schemes and service delivery mechanisms. The call was to move
from conventional planning to geospatially informed, real-time monitored and
scientifically validated models of governance.
Reaffirming the Government of Nagaland’s commitment, she
stated that the state is working towards becoming a digitally empowered and
future-ready region through adoption of geospatial and digital technologies in
partnership with national institutions like ISRO, NRSC, IIRS and NESAC.
In his keynote address, senior project director of NGISRSC,
Mhathung Kithan, said that space technology with all its applications involves
a large scale of data sharing and information, which called for close
coordination between the different line departments and organisations. He
stated that it is vital to ensure that the technology is made accessible to
all.
The technical sessions were divided into two segments. The
first segment featured discussions on the outcomes of Plan of Action (PoA)
projects by NGISNRSC, followed by case studies on advanced e-Governance
applications by NESAC.
Presentations were also made on the North Eastern Spatial
Data Repository (NeSDR) and a live demonstration of the NeSDR geoportal,
showcasing its functionalities in data registration, search, visualisation and
analytics.
In the second segment, the focus shifted to state-level
initiatives, including the Nagaland state geospatial data infrastructure and
geoportal.
NESAC presented insights on ISRO/DOS's portals for satellite
data and its applications.
The event concluded with a feedback and valedictory session,
where Dr. D Chutia, head of GID, NESAC, Department of Space, delivered the
valedictory address.
Report stated that the workshop marked a significant step
toward integrating cutting-edge geospatial technologies for better governance
and development frameworks in Nagaland.
