Recognizing geospatial information as an essential resource that supports the economic, social and environmental interests, the Survey Department of Sri Lanka has recently received a Cabinet approval to build the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). The goal is to provide and integrate geographically-referenced data and make it easily accessible in a user-friendly online portal.
An initial step is first to draft the policies, procedures and data standards necessary to foster the efficient use, management and production of geospatial information. “Once the policies are in place, we are looking at launching a geoportal so that citizens can easily access authoritative, consistent and updated maps online", told P.M.P Udayakantha, Senior Assistant Secretary and Senior Deputy Surveyor General at the Department of Survey the website FutureGov. “Furthermore, we are inspired by the journey undertaken by countries like Singapore, Malaysia and others. Everyone has the same challenges, so by learning from their experience we are able make our lives easier and leapfrog.”
