Venkaiah inaugurates Geospatial World Forum

Hyderabad, Jan 23 (INN): Union Minister of Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the Geospatial World Forum at International Convention Centre in Hyderabad today. The theme of the Three day Geospatial World Forum is "Geospatial + Deep Learning: Shaping Smarter World".

While delivering the inaugural address the Union Minister said that Geospatial is an enabling technology which can be used for the betterment of the human civilization. 'We are living in a new age, with new aspirations, new innovations and new inventions. All moving towards a smart future. Indian geospatial industry is expected to become a $20 billion market by 2025, growing at a cumulative annual rate of 12-15%. The estimated annual budget of government agencies for GIS services today stands at $3 billion," he said.

Venkaiah Naidu further said that the Indian Government has also launched several flagship programs that make use of geospatial technologies. These include the much-coveted Smart Cities program, skill development, Digital India, Start-Up India and Make in India. The Union Minister stressed that during the present NDA Government the political discourse has totally changed. Development and speedy governance are in top priority of the NDA government. The Union government has implementing the schemes MISIDICI - Make in India, Skill India, Digital India and Clean India. And for achieving Digital India, geospatial is the basic enabling technology. Speaking on the Direct benefit transfer, Venkaih Naidu said that the government of India initiative JAM (short for Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity is become the bedrock of many initiatives to link Jan Dhan accounts, Mobile numbers and Aadhar cards of Indians to plug the leakages of government subsidies.

Speaking on the urbanization in the country, the Union Minister said that massive urbanization is going on in the country. And it is a very natural process. The government has taken several initiatives to focus on making cities more livable and urban life more comfortable. Nearly 606 million people are poised to live in urban centers by 2030 in India. India's present urban population is 11% of the world's urban population, which will be grown to 13% by 2020. He asserted that the need for effective urban planning has increased more than ever. In present generation cities are built along highways, but next generation cities will be built around optical fiber highways and places with good digital infrastructure.

Venkaiah Naidu also said that the ministry of Urban Development programs like Smart Cities, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) are poised to transform India. The common thread running through these projects is information and communication technology (ICT). Speaking on the usage of the geospatial technologies in implementing government projects,

The Union MInister said that the ministry of Urban Development recently-launched Google Toilet Locator app that helps users find the quickest way to a clean toilet. He suggested the municipalities to undertake geo-tagging of their employees. The geospatial sector has a bright future; there is an opportunity for up to $500 billion in investments and thousands of jobs. He said that foreign investors focus on India. India is the bright spot for investments. According to the World Economic Forum and the Asian Development Bank reports The India has the highest Forex and the lowest inflation.

Venkaiah Naidu also said that the Prime Minister has given a three-fold mantra: Reform, perform, and transform. He added 'inform' to the mix, considering he is the Information Broadcasting minister. He urged the people to join in the MODI movement: Making of Developed India. Speaking on the demonetization, He said that 'Just like Survey of India gives an address to the people living in a nation, this demonetization drive is like a 'survey of notes'. The biggest achievement of demonetization is that every currency note today has an address - like geo-tagging - and the initiative has helped notes find their way back to the banks.'

Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said that the Survey of India contribution was immense to the society's living, development and advancement. He opined that the land records are not maintained properly in Telangana State and there is a need to integrate the land record system with Geospatial Technology. The mantra of NDA Government from first day has been Minimum Government and Maximum Governance through a combined mix of people's participation by using technology. The idea was to reduce human interface in delivering Services to the People. He further said that India will be among top 3 countries in world in science and technology by 2030. He further said that in present NDA Government the budget for Science and Technology has raised by 17% i.e Rs. 2682 Cr. The scientific publications of India are growing at the rate of 14% as against 4% of the world. The people should be conscious on Disruptive Technologies like Hacking, cyber crimes etc and control them with technical innovations, he said.

This forum is hosted by the Survey of India which is in its Glorious- 250th Year. The Union Ministers released the Global Geospatial Industry Outlook Report. They later inaugurated the Survey of India Exhibition Stand. Nearly 300 Experts from the 100 Nations, 3000 professionals from India and across the world, several high-profile delegates, policymakers, academia, researchers, technology providers, solution providers, and end-user segments from the global geospatial community have participated in this forum.