The National Geospatial Policy 2022 recently notified is aimed to set up high resolution topographical survey and mapping, with a high-accuracy Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for the country by 2030. This is a vibrant initiative to promote the Start-Up & reduce the last mile dependencies on the foreign soil.
But there are certain issues which need immediate attention
Geospatial data can be described as complex data objects with complex relationships among them. Securing this type of data poses major challenges and bottlenecks that are yet to be fully understood and addressed. Access control and privacy pose many issues, such as the unit of protection.
According to an expert and sources in defence and security establishments Geospatial data play a vital role in a wide spectrum of frequencies for critical data management applications, such as military operations, disaster and emergency management, environmental monitoring, land and city planning.
“All these require coordination among diverse organizations, their data repositories, and users with different responsibilities need to be clearly identified. Although a variety of models and techniques are available to manage access and share geospatial data, very little attention has been paid to addressing the National security concerns, such as access control, securities and privacy policies, the development of secure and in particular interoperable GIS applications in the areas of Defence (Tri-Services). And, how will the framework work?,” Dr (Prof) Nishakant Ojha, Advisor Cyber & Aerospace Securities, explains to Financial Express Online.
In his view “if the entire body of geospatial data would be made available by simply integrating the data from thedifferent repositories, there is severe chances of potential data misuse and privacy violations. And “also sensitive information such as building ownerships might be revealed or information about critical infrastructure could become publicly accessible and it is a major concern in context to the applications in Defence (Military Assets).”
Given the number of people and organizations involved in a disaster preparation scenario, security measures must be taken to provide users and applications only with data on a need-to-know basis.
Security Concern
“Security issues for geospatial data are different and in many ways more complex than security issues for relational data. These differences concern both the data organization and structures, and in particular the ways the data are manipulated & used,” said a senior officer who wished to remain anonymous.
In a GIS, data is typically organized in different thematic layers; these layers, which can be large in number, represent different aspects of an application domains and areas. Also the same spatial region can be represented by either field-based data, i.e., satellite imagery or map data, or by vector-based data, i.e., a collection of possibly complex geographic features. Because of the organization in layers, the same geo-references feature, e.g., a building or road can be represented in different layers and ways as it is very common practice.
“In terms of data usage and its further applications, many applications generating and using geospatial data are dynamic as the set of subjects and geographic features may dynamically and rapidly change, as in the case of dynamic GIS coalitions for emergency response. Moreover, in such a context, one may need to combine data from several sources that are independently administered and therefore depicted by heterogeneous security policies. Such usage requires different approaches to architecting the data, security solutions,” Dr (Prof) Nishakant Ojha states.
Solution
According to Dr Ojha, a clear roadmap should be drawn and SOP should be developed in National Geospatial Policy 2022 for the National Securities Issues for the country where in it is the three services, Para military or Critical Infrastructure Sectors.
In a nutshell: Military to Civilian organisation
According to the notification the Geospatial Data Promotion and Development Committee (GDPDC) will have representatives from various Departments and Ministries, including a Department of Defence Representative.
The Survey of India (SoI) would become an entirely civilian agency. Defence stream recruitment in SoI would cease, and defence stream officers assigned to SoI would be returned permanently to the Military Survey, Ministry of Defence.
The Indian armed forces have their own cartographers, and the civilian nature of the stream has expanded, so the government has decided to hive it as a civilian organisation.
Origins of Survey of India (SoI)
The origins can be traced back to the time of Lord Clive, who commissioned a major-ranking officer to produce a map of Bengal. There were difficulties between the military staff and the civilian staff after independence. Specialised training is provided to officers recruited from the Army Corps of Engineers for this purpose.
Defence Stream Deputy Superintendent of Survivors is trained in the Indian Institute of Surveying and Mapping (IISM) in Hyderabad. The Indian Army has its cartographers, and because the civilian nature of this stream has grown, the government has opted to restructure it as a civilian organisation.
The Indian armed forces now have their own mapping equipment, including satellites.