Kerala for spatial data infrastructure

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala has announced setting up of a spatial data infrastructure facility with the objective of creating, maintaining and delivering geospatial data and metadata for external clients, in real time. Towards this end, the Kerala State Spatial Data Infrastructure (KSSDI) is being established.

Official said KSSDI would provide a basis for spatial data discovery, evaluation and application for users and providers within all levels of government, the commercial sector, the non-profit sector, academia and by citizens in general. The move is expected to pave the way for increased GIS-based applications.

Accordingly, a geoportal and clearing house are to be established with gateway to access web resources and geospatial data content. Once established, the geoportal will allow users to view and query spatial information and the related maps. KSSDI is expected to act as a web-gateway to access geospatial data content with facility to search, locate and publish geospatial data which the end users can access, download, integrate, share and publish in response to the needs of diverse user groups. The portal will facilitate utilization of geo-spatial data for planners, decision makers and public.

The state government has set up a technical committee for the project and has invited proposals from consulting firms to establish a geoportal and clearing house for KSSDI on a turnkey basis, for which Rs 9.37 crore has been approved.

State IT secretary Ajay Kumar said KSSDI was the next logical step of National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) set up at the national level and that Kerala was one of the early states in the country to take the initiative forward.

The objective of the KSSDI is to create a reliable and supporting environment to access geographically related information using a minimum set of standard practices, protocols and specifications. The geoportal is expected to be operational by August 2010.