A brainstorming session was held at TIFAC-CORE in Environmental Geomatics, JNTU, Hyderabad, to take stock of the efforts made by NRDMS Division of the Department of Science and Technology in the area of capacity building in the field of geospatial technologies and applications in decision making process under the chairmanship of Dr Prithvish Nag, Director, NATMO. The session saw an encouraging participation from academia, government, industry, research and student community.
Welcomign the guests, Prof M Anji Reddy apprised on the background of the programme and invited participants to make their critical comments about the utility of this technology for the society in a holistic manner.
Dr R Siva Kumar, Head, NRDMS Division, in his thought provoking address, emphasised that capacity building should not be construed merely as imparting training to specific groups but is to be taken as an activity to change the mindset of all the stakeholders in a manner that the cult of geospatial technologies is imbibed in their psyche.
Being one of the leading organisers of GST courses conducted, Dr N Manoharan of Sathyabama University, Chennai and Dr M Anji Reddy of JNTU, Hyderabad, apprised the participants on how the participants benefitted from the courses conducted by them on pilot basis. In his presentation, Dr Anji Reddy referred to the lack of availability of trained academic staff and called upon DST to finance positioning of staff in his institute. He emphasised the need to start B.Tech in Geospatial Technologies with an intake of 30 students to meet the growing demand of the industry.
Dr Manoharan, in his presentation, stated that programmes conducted by them in the past have resulted in increased productivity of the participants from various government departments who have used the skills attained by them in the short duration of the course. He also suggested that selected host institutes should workout the programme well in advance so that they are able to include in their annual calendar. He also suggested staggering of the course by conducting classes during weekends to ensure participation of working people who cannot be relieved by their parent organisations. He also suggested conduct of such courses through video conferencing.
During these discussions, it was unanimously decided to prepare standard course material with special reference to user needs. It was suggested that the task be given to the universities.
The participants examined the issues brought before them by the speakers and appreciated the conduct of such a programme as it will go a long way in promoting the cult of geospatial tools in decision making process among various constituents of the society. It was unanimously observed that there is an urgent need to spread this activity throughout the country not only to create awareness about the potential of this tool but also to facilitate the generation of manpower requirement which is bound to come up in the near future. It was recommended that large number of such programmes be conducted throughout India.
After detailed deliberations, the delegates desired that a small committee be formed to give its detailed recommendations to conduct this programme effectively in a transparent manner. They have suggested a few recommendations on impending issues. These include standardisation of curricula for different target groups; exploring the possibilities of providing financial support to persons desirous of undergoing long term courses in national/ international institutes; encouraging institutions having GT infrastructure to run the courses by exclusively providing financial support for resource persons/faculty on long term basis; explore possibilities of initiation of full fledged of B.Tech. course in this subject.
In order to provide guidelines and provide framework for capacity building at different levels, a committee with Dr Nag as chairman has been proposed. The committee will give recommendations in three months. Meanwhile, proposals received by interested institutes may be taken up by NRDMS division and supported on the basis of merit. |
