Swathi Kalyani
Executive Summary
The document looks into the contemporary Indian geospatial portal ecosystem. It offers an overview of the major platforms making geospatial information accessible. It analyses several major hurdles that make the portals less functional – ranging from issues in technical infrastructure, low levels of inter-agency coordination, and regulatory constraints.It draws comparisons with global counterparts, highlighting some best practices to consider for data integration and better user experience.
Swathi Kalyani is a Research Analyst with the Geospatial Research Programme. She can be reached at swathi@takshashila.org.in.
It suggests that for these platforms to fully capitalise on their potential, the user interface needs to be enhanced, clear legal frameworks put in place, and practicality given priority over technical complexity.The author would like to express their sincere gratitude to Dr Y Nithiyanandam for his valuable feedback.t concludes with the idea that although India is technically strong, with a good policy environment—in view of the National Geospatial Policy 2022—real achievement can be attained only when the gap between technical capabilities and user needs is bridged.
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1. Introduction
Geospatial portals are digital platforms that provide access to location-based datasets and spatial information. They enable users to visualise, analyse, and download geographic data – ranging from satellite imagery to administrative boundaries and environmental monitoring datasets. These portals serve diverse purposes: some are primarily designed for visualisation and navigation, such as Google Maps, which displays interactive street maps and satellite imagery for everyday movements, while others function as comprehensive data repositories, like ISRO’s Bhoonidhi. Bhoonidhi allows users to download raw, remotely sensed datasets, including for scientific studies and geospatial applications.
Geospatial portals serve as common digital doorways for sharing spatial data that supports decision-making across various sectors. They also simplify complex satellite imagery and geographic information into a user-friendly interface, so that all relevant stakeholders can access location intelligence. The platforms consolidate overwhelming amounts of spatial data, thus aiding scaled evidence-based planning and policy-making. Increasing visibility into the value of geospatial intelligence has made it ubiquitous across applications such as traffic monitoring, urban planning, agriculture, and disaster management.
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