Task force working on GIS for better governance

A recently constituted Task Force by the Karnataka Knowledge Commission (KKC) is working on establishing a Karnataka Geographic Information System (GIS) that would serve as an aid for better governance and planning.

The Task Force, headed by renowned GIS expert Mukund Rao, has been given three months’ time to develop a roadmap for GIS-based governance, citizen participation and business innovation.

GIS applications can serve as a powerful planning and decision making tool as it incorporates geographical features with data in order to map, analyse and assess real problems.

While Karnataka was one of the first states to establish a separate centre for remote sensing and GIS, the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Application Centre (KSRSAC), the concept needs to make inroads and be an integral part of the State governance and planning process, pointed out KKC Executive Director and Member Secretary M K Sridhar.

The roadmap prepared by the task force will institutionalise the GIS activities under a state-wide organisational focus and also take forward the existing GIS initiative in different departments, he said.

National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, Director V S Ramamurthy, K Prabhuraj, KSRSAC Director, V S Prakash, Director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre and M N Vidyashankar, Principal Secretary of the e-governance Department are the members of the panel. 

The panel, at its first meeting, decided to hold extensive consultations to assess the user needs of various stakeholders including the State government, non-governmental organisations, academia, citizens and industries. Based on the needs of the stakeholders, the panel would arrive at a roadmap.