STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh on Saturday chaired a significant meeting at Prithvi Bhavan, proposing the establishment of a “National Geospatial Data Repository” and advocating for a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
This joint meeting, involving all Science Ministries and Departments of the Government of India, aimed to discuss advancements in science and technology and their application in various sectors.
Dr. Singh directed the Department of Space, Department of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Earth Sciences to develop a unified Geospatial interface. This interface will be designed to benefit the industry and startup ecosystem, facilitating the creation of innovative and indigenous products that support farmers, rural artisans, and other stakeholders.
He emphasized the need for seamless Geo-ICT infrastructure integration and a sustainable ecosystem built on pooling knowledge and resources through PPP collaborations.
A key focus of the meeting was the review of the upcoming National Space Day celebrations, including the main event scheduled for August 23 at Bharat Mandapam.
Dr. Singh also assessed the progress of the “Vigyan Shakti” portal and discussed improvements for the unified web repository for Indian science and technology, which is currently being developed.
He stressed the importance of creating a single, integrated portal for all scientific departments to enhance research efficiency.
Dr. Singh highlighted the Prime Minister’s vision of “India @2047” and the crucial role of science and technology in realizing this vision.
He assured that all departments under his ministry would work in coordination to achieve shared goals.
The meeting was attended by Dr. A.K. Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India; Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary of DST; Dr. Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary of Biotechnology; Shri Ravi Chandran, Secretary of Earth Sciences; and Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, DG of CSIR. Dr. S. Somanath, Chairman of ISRO, joined the meeting online.