Nineteenth United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand,

29 October – 1 November 2012

“Challenges and Potentials of Place Based Information Management

in Nepal"

Krishna Raj B.C.Joint Secretary

Ministry of Land Reform and Management, Nepalkrishnabc@hotmail.com

Presentation Outline

The Country ContextGeospatial Information Management: Changing rolesPlace based information.. Why it matters? Survey Department and its rolePrevailing Geospatial Information Management PolicyChallengesOpportunitiesConclusion

Nepal

Nepal, the Federal Democratic Republic Country nestledbetween India & China rests at the foot of the mightyHimalayas.

Nepal… Home of Mount Everest

Nepal is home to some of the world’s highest mountainpeaks, including Mt. Everest (8848 meters).

Nepal… Home of Buddha

Lumbini- Birthplace of Buddha

Lumbini

Kathmandu is the home to living goddess “Kumari”, cityof the temples, city of the festivals, city of the traditionalarchitecture and famous for the world’s heritage sitesincluding Swambhunath and Bhaktapur Durbar Square .

Kathmandu, the Capital... is the city of Temples

Nepal......Heavenly country side

Nepal….Economic Growth rate

Source: Central bureau of statistics

Nepal.. Poverty Index

Nepal.. Investment scenario (2009-2013)

0

10000000

20000000

30000000

40000000

50000000

60000000

70000000

80000000

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Source: Ministry of Finance

Rs.inTHOUSAND

Geospatial information Management..Changing rolesChanging roles:National Mapping and Cadastral Agency

National Geospatial Authority

National SDI

….

•Rapid advancement inGeospatial technology•Business model is changing:

•The value of geospatialinformation is morewidely recognizing•Customers aredemanding morediversified products•Customers aredemanding greateraccess to the geospatialdata.

CreatingChallenges for NMAsGrowing capabilities of private

sectors in geospatial informationdevelopment and location basedservicesOpportunity for Geospatial business

Collaboration and sharingFor effective use and management of geospatial information and place

based information to solve geographic problems in a smart way.

Place based information.. Why it matters?

Spatial box with definitions: (Source: Lawrence, 2011)

Place-based data

Framework/Fundamental Data

Such place basedinformation are moreuseful to understandwhere problems areand how to provide aquick response?

Survey Department .. National Mapping Agency

National Mapping Agency◦ Regulating, Monitoring and Coordinating Mapping and

Geospatial information activities in the country

About 2,480 permanent staff nationwideTopographical Surveying ActivitiesGeodetic Surveying ActivitiesCadastral Surveying Activities◦ First Registration / Cadastral Resurveying

International Boundary Surveys andMaintenance

Survey Department.. available datasets

N um be r of s hee ts 5 63Ma p Sc ale 1:25 00 0

N um be r of s hee ts 1 19Ma p Sc ale 1:50 00 0

LEGEND

Both scales1 : 10 000 orthophoto mapping area1 : 5 000 orthophoto mapping area

Orthophoto Map Index

National Geographic InformationInfrastructure Programme, NGIIP

NEPAL

NATIONALTOPOGRAPHICAL DATABASE /MAPS◦ Terai and

Middle hills (scale 1:25000)◦ High hills and

Himalayas (scale 1:50000)

ORTHO-PHOTO MAPS/AERIAL PHOGRAPHS

Survey Department.. available datasets

NATIONWIDE COVERAGE OF CADASTRAL MAP

Survey Department.. available datasets

SETTLEMENT DATABASE

ROAD NETWORK DATABASE

Survey Department.. available datasets

DIGITAL ELEVATION MODEL

SOCIO ECONOKIC ATLAS

•NATIONWIDE COVERAGE OF GEODETIC CONTROL NETWORKS

• HORIZONTAL,• VERTICAL,• AIRBORNE GRAVITY

•LAND RESOURCE MAPS•ADMINISTRATIVE MAPS•GEOLOGICAL MAPS•SOIL MAPS•PHYSOLOGICAL MAPS•GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

Survey Department.. Nodal Agency for NSDI

National Geographic Information Infrastructure (NGII) hasbeen established under NMO in 2000 and making its continuedeffort is establishing functional NSDI.Working in the direction of establishing data sharing

mechanism.

NGII portal.. access to Geospatial information

Log in & Register

Search By

locationBy themes

Select By

GeographyIndicator

selection

Downloads

Survey Department.. as a regulatory body

The Department is gradually changing its roleof providing surveying and mapping servicesin the country to assuming a lead role inregulating the national surveying andmapping , and geospatial activities.

Any geospatial information produced with public fundshould be based on the standard and specifications setby the Survey DepartmentAny geospatial information produced by any public orprivate organization should be approved by NationalMapping Committee/ technical sub committeeconstituted under the National Mapping Committee.

Prevailing Geospatial Information Management Policy..

No integrated Policy for geospatial informationmanagement,Pricing policy◦ Every data is charged but the price is determined case by

case and agency by agency◦ Free of charge only with the government’s cabinet decision

even for a public organizationNo data restriction except that of international boundary .Human Resource Development policy◦ Land Management Training Center (a public organization)

◦ Kathmandu University for undergraduate (BE Geomatics ) course

◦ Tribhuwan University has recently started undergraduate (BE Geomatics )

Emerging Trend—third sector production of placed-information

Citizens’ excitement in the production and use of place basedinformation

OpenStreetMap is more detailed than any other source available inNepalAlso creates issues such as privacy, data quality, standardizationClosely observing this new trend and this new trend has policy

implication.

ChallengesUpdating of Framework and geospatialdatasets to fulfill the customers need.Creating Policy/ Political awareness to thechange process and the deeper utilization ofGeo-ICTs policy in decision making.Capacity and capability development

Institutional (physical and technologicalinfrastructure )Human capacity and professionaldevelopment

OpportunitiesNepal is in political transition, use of place-based informationfor restructuring and demarcation of federal states in termsof economic and geographic sustainability.Agriculture sector plays a critical role in the economy as thissector contributes about one third to GDP, and two-third ofits population depend on it for their employment andlivelihood, the place-based information will greatly help.Nepal is rich in cultural heritage, natural beauty, thus effectiveuse of place based information will greatly help to promotetourism.Huge potentiality of hydropower and thus place basedinformation will be useful to national development economicgrowth of the country.Land slides and Flooding is very common, thus place basedinformation will greatly help in disaster management.

ConclusionNepal is still at an early stage of place based informationmanagement.Changing role of the Government and advancement in ICTand spatial technologies is leading towards public-privatepartnership for better geospatial information management.Government’s emphasis on e-government development,Growing awareness to use of geospatial information inplanning and decision making process and will greatly helpin the promotion of tourism, hydro power etc for thefuture economic and sustainable development of the nation.Technology transfer with Capacity and professionaldevelopment in terms of individual and institutional are thekey phenomena for optimizing the place based informationmanagement.

Thank You For Your Attention