2 day conference in Kashmir University

Two day conference on Geomatics for G-Governance begins at KU

Minister

for Science and Information Technology, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, Tuesday stressed need for building the technical ingenuity of state to harness the benefits of Geo-IT for overall development of the state through good governance. This was stated by the minister while speaking at a 2-dayNational Conference on “Geomatics for G-Governance” organized by University of Kashmir, in collaboration with the Indian Society of Geomatics here today.Describing that geo-information technology and communication technology can play a significant role in development and planning, Aga Ruhullah said that use of geomatics for G. governance is only possible when the back end data is easily available. He said that geomatics is vital part of governance, adding that if the technology is made accessible the Panchayat Raj can be made more effective.

The Minister said that political will is already there for early implementation of Geomatics for G-Governance in J&K , the bureaucracy and the society at large need to gear up and embrace the technology. He called for coordinated and pragmatic approach for the collection, maintenance, updating and accessibility of the datasets at the state level to make use of geomatics possible. He said that Kashmir University initiative needs to be supplementedat all levels.About 100 professional delegates from various premier institutes across the country are attending the conference besides the officials from the state Government

.

Vice-Chancellor, Kashmir University, Prof. Talat Ahmad said that University of Kashmir has endeavoured itself to work together with the academicians, scientists and other technocrats from other Universities and national research institutes of the country for developing an overarching strategy for the use and promotion of Geo-information technology for good governance in the state. Prof Talat said that Geo-information Technology is a priority area of research at the University of Kashmir. I firmly believe that through our combined efforts, we can transfer the scientific knowledge and multi-disciplinary expertise in the field of Geomatics to the planners and decision makers to develop decision support systems for improved instruments of administration at the gross root level, VC added.Organizing Secretary of the Conference and Head, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, University of Kashmir,Dr. Shakil A Romshoo said that “Various themes related to the use of cutting edge space and information technology for day-to-day governance for rural and urban development, resource planning, disaster management, public health, municipal administration, revenue records, land and water resources management are being deliberated upon during the Conference”. He said that more about 100 technical papers, including a dozen key note speeches on various themes related to the use of Geomatics for G-governance are being presented during the Conference.He said that the University of Kashmir has taken a number of initiatives aimed at generating geospatial information for use in various

sectors to support the development planning in the state and build technical ingenuity of the government for using technology for improving governance in the state. The organization of the Regional Conference on “Geomatics for Good Governance” at the University of Kashmir is an important step towards popularizing the use and application of Geomatics in day to day governance in the state. However, these initiatives can yield the desired results only, if the government agencies are receptive to the efforts of the scientific community in improving governance structure and service delivery in various sectors in the state., he added.

In his presidential address, Dr S K Pathan, Vice president India society of Geomatics said that today we need to focus of technologicaltrends and see how they can help in good governance. Dr Pathan said that accountability, responsiveness and rule of law are most important things in G – Governance. Dr Pattan assured all the help and support to Kashmir University in their endeavour to take benefits of Geomartics to the common man. Registrar Kashmir University, Prof Syed Fayaz, senior faculties of Kashmir University besides prominent members of the civil society attended the conference.