Public access to Indian geographical data

摘要

The Survey of India (SOI), a central government service organization, is the primary agency responsible for generating, storing, and disseminating geographical data in India. The consensus amongst the community of users in the country is that the quality and quantity of the data available with SOI is as good as, if not better than, the international norms. Access to the data, however, has left the community of users in general, including both scientists and practitioners of Geographical Information Systems technology, unhappy. The restrictions on access stem from two considerations: national security and copyright. There is lack of awareness in the user community about the details of either of these. There is also lack of consensus at the highest levels of policy makers on what the restrictions ought to be, Needed are reforms that cover the entire spectrum: from organizational setup of data gathering machinery to meeting the industry's needs for data in digital form. As discussed in the report, some of the reforms could be implemented speedily and easily. But others, particularly those related to policy on restricting data on grounds of national security, would require a major shift from present practices. [References: None]