NRDMS Meeting

The Natural Resources Data Management System Programme (NRDMS) of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, launched during 1982-83, has under gone several phases of development over the years. This includes pilot studies in GIS database development at district level, software development and R&D applications in the areas of land & water management, landslide hazard mitigation, bio-geo data base and ecological modeling. Presently, the emphasis is to carry out R&D activities especially geo- informatics for finding solutions to locale specific problems related to natural resources and provide the necessary information to the planners to make objective decisions,

Taking note of the above requirements and the developments in the areas of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and geospatial data management and analysis techniques like remote sensing and GIS, certain initiatives had been taken at the national level to create awareness on the usefulness of these technologies amongst planners and decision-makers. The Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) programme of Department of Science and Technology was one such pioneering efforts, the others being,

I. National (Natural) Resources Information System (NRIS) of the Department of Space,

II. Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development (IMSD) programme of Department of Space,

III. Geographical Information System (GISNIC) and District Information System (DISNIC) of the National Informatics Center.

The focus under NRDMS has always been on technological and institutional capacity building in a multi-level framework, so that people can plan their own development, utilizing the local resources. In this respect, NRDMS develops and provides tools and techniques for assessing local level natural resources endowment, their utilization potential and generating alternative scenarios for development. NRDMS operates through District database centers as its hubs.

In spite of the national efforts, spanning two decades large segment of end-users are yet to explore the full potential of the system and use it in most of their planning activities due to lack of technical, organisational and institutional capacity. To reduce the impediments in the widespread use of the technologies and make it an effective tool in the process of local level integrated planning, NRDMS is focusing its research on simplifying the methods and techniques of data capture, organisation and analysis, devise suitable strategy to transfer the techniques for adoption by the end user in their planning activities.

Considering the recent trends in the development of spatial data technologies, the emerging changes in the system of governance planning, policies, institutionalization of National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), meet the aspirations of the users and in support of the overall transformation in the concept of information sharing, the need was felt for refocusing the R&D thrusts of the programme. Focus areas include:

• Spatial Data Technologies
• Remote Sensing Technologies
• Application of Global Positioning System
• Use of Ground Penetration Radar
• Technology development
• Technology Transfer and Capacity Building
• Training

The NRDMS Meeting during Geospatial World Forum 2017 will bring together the Principal Investigators of NRDMS programmes and other stakeholders to discuss the progress of its various activities.