IIRS Academia Meet – 2019
Capacity Building in Geospatial: Requirements, Challenges and Opportunities
14th March 2019
IIRS Academia Meet – 2019, “Capacity Building in Geospatial: Requirements, Challenges and Opportunities” was held at Bhaskara Auditorium, IIRS Dehradun on 14th March 2019.
Mr. Pravendra Yadav, Asst. Professor (Civil Engg. Department) & Coordinator IIRS Outreach Programme from Dronacharya Group Of Institutions, Greater Noida attended the meet.
Dr. Kalachand Sain Director,Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology was the Chief Guest. The other speakers at the meet included Shri Shantanu Bhatawdekar, Associate Director, EDPO, ISRO HQ, Dr. Rajendra Dobhal, Director General, Uttrakhand Council for Science and Technology & Prof. K. K. Raina, Vice Chancellor, DIT University.
The inaugural session started with the speech of Dr. Prakash Chauhan, Director, IIRS Dehradun. He discussed the role of information and datasets in research & education and modern techniques to teach students. He also discussed about the industries which are using Remote Sensing & GIS Data and different Government of India Schemes.
Dr. Kalachand Sain inaugurated the Air Quality Monitoring & Forecast Portal released by Geoinformatics Department (GID) IIRS, Dehradun and addressed the session.
During the first technical session, Shri Shantanu Bhatawdekar, Associate Director, EDPO, ISRO HQ, explained various Earth Observation Programme of ISRO. He explained resources mapping and monitoring systems with the help of different Satellites and also shared the details of the launch of new satellite, NOVASAR.
Dr. M. A. Paul, CBPO, ISRO HQ, talked about the challenges and Opportunities to generate Human Resources through Research and Academia Interface. He talked about different Programme for the development of students like: Young Scientist Programme (Yuvika), Space National Academia Partner (SA-NAP), (RAC-S) etc. and MOUs signed with different agencies.
Dr. Harishankar Srivasrtav, IIRS, ISRO, Dr. Rajashree Bothale, NRSC, ISRO & Dr. V. Sathiyamoorthy, SAC, ISRO talked about ISRO’s Capacity Building & Outreach Programmes. Speakers also talked about different Courses and Training Programme running at different ISRO centers (IIRS, NRSC & SAC) for Students, Researchers, Faculty/Industry Professionals.
Dr. Pawan Kumar, TCPO, MoH&UA, talked about capacity building requirements and challenges in urban planning sector and different techniques used for planning and mapping. Different components under different Observatory i.e Global, Regional, National and Local.
Shri N. N. Rai, Director, CWC, Ministry of Water Resources talked about capacity Building in geospatial requirements and challenges in water resources sector.
Dr. A. K. Lohani, NIH, Ministry of Water Resources talked on Capacity building and training needs under National Hydrology Project. Dr. Lohani also talked about the Hydrology Projects running under Ministry of Water Resources and number of states involved in different projects and trainings provided and assessments by the NIH.
Dr. M. M. Kimothi, MNCFC, MoA&FW talked on Capacity building requirements and challenges in Agricultural Sector. Dr. Kimothi also talked about use of Geospatial Technology in Agriculture Sector for the assessments and available technologies; Remote Sensing (Satellite Data, Aerial Data & U.A.V Data), GIS Tools.
Dr. Jayakumar, KSRSAC & Dr. A. S. Jarotia, University of Jammu talked on role of Academia in partnership with Government and Industry towards promoting Geospatial Applications. Dr. Kumar also discussed initiatives taken by the Karnataka government and challenges faced. Dr, Kumar also talked about the applications launched by the Govt./Industry.
The second session started with the introductory remark by Shri Kapil Rawat, Lifepage Private Limited, india on How to start a Startup and Challenges faced.
Shri Agendra Kumar, Esri India Technologies Ltd., Dr. Hamam Singh, Hexagon India, Dr. Sudhakar Manda, Skymet Weather Services & Shri Amitesh Ahir, Weather Risk Management Services Pvt. Ltd. talked on capacity building requirements and opportunities in Geospatial Industry.
The last session was dedicated to presentation of a few case studies by Hexagon India, & Weather Risk Management Services Pvt. Ltd.
The IIRS Academia Meet 2019 was a good step towards increasing the Industry – Academia Interface through discussion on salient points needed for this interface.