Isri-India, President Agendra Kumar stressed the need to fully realize the true potential of the Geographic Information System (GIS), to solve problems and take critical decisions that will shape Sri Lanka in the years to come.
GIS is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage and present spatial or geographic data. GIS technology enables the real time management of geographical data and empowers institutions to take accurate and timely decisions.
He expressed these views speaking at the second edition of Sri Lanka, Arc GIS Conference 2018, held in Colombo yesterday under the theme,’ GIS Enabling the Digital Transformation of the Nation’. The event was organized by the GIS solutions Limited, Sri Lanka.
“GIS is connecting individuals, organizations, governments and communities, by creating a better engagement among each other. It is important to use GIS technology as a process across at all levels in an organization, to create a meaningful and deeper engagement with everyone and to achieve the full value of GIS as well as IT technology. GIS technology is still a part of IT, that’s why it is becoming more important for good governance today.”
Furthermore, GIS plays a vital role in providing necessary financial tools particularly, for the grass root level unbanked people, where banking facilities are lower, thereby bringing out transparency and curtailing malpractices and corruptions in the respective segment. Kumar also emphasized the need to implement GIS driven models to address multiple issues in various areas such as survey and mapping, environment and forestry, disaster management, urban development, land use planning, transportation planning and management, solid waste management , environmental monitoring and assessments , good governance, smart cities initiatives , telecommunication etc.
New patterns are emerging in citizen engagements and GIS would be an ideal platform for information sharing, discovery, access and use. The Sri Lankan government is investing millions of money for infrastructure development and also to support an exploding economy.
In Sri Lanka, the public sector continues to be the largest user of GIS both as a mapping tool. To draw maps and make decisions , GIS is a wonderful multi-faceted technology to help visualize current information and data meaningfully on a map to make better sense. Sri Lanka is home to an estimated over 15,000 GIS professional and users.
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