Modi to address meet on Space technology and governance

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a national meet of top officials of different ministries and state governments tomorrow on use of space applications in daily governance.
The one-day meeting organised by Department of Space (DOS) will see Central and State ministers, officials from PMO and Cabinet Secretariat, secretaries and senior officials of all the Ministries/Departments, chief secretaries and senior officials of all States/Union Territories, in attendance.
The meet is aimed at wider deliberations on use of space technology and applications in governance and development, an official release said.
The focus would also be on collaborative research, utilisation of space technology tools to enable functional effectiveness and enhancements required in Space and Ground Segment.

More than 1,500 delegates are expected to attend the National Meet, which will be inaugurated by Arvind Panagariya, the Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog with Jitendra Singh, Minister Of State (PMO) and Cabinet Secretary.
Nine 'theme sessions' viz. Agriculture, Energy and Environment, Infrastructure Planning, Water Resources, Technology Diffusion, Developmental Planning, Communication and Navigation, Weather and Disaster Management and Health and Education are planned for the event, it said.

The Prime Minister had during his address at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-SHAR), Sriharikota on June 30, 2014, urged the DOS to pro-actively engage with all stakeholders to maximise the use of space science in governance and development.

Subsequently, Cabinet Secretary has asked all Secretaries of Central Ministries/ Departments to assess the current utilisation of space technology-based tools in their Ministry/ Department and explore new potential application areas.
Further, in order to hold proactive interactions with the Central Ministries, 18 expert teams were constituted within ISRO. These teams conducted one-to-one interactions with the Ministries/ Departments and joint action plan on 'Effective Use of Space Technology' was prepared with 60 Central Ministries/Departments.
About 170 projects across various Ministries/Departments have emerged in the areas of Natural Resources Management, Energy and Infrastructure, Disaster and Early Warning, Communication and Navigation, e-Governance and Geo-spatial Governance, Societal Services, and Support to Flagship programmes.

Secretaries of Central Ministries/Departments will present joint action plans on effective utilisation of space technology to enhance functional effectiveness, facilitate planning and decision making.
Chief Secretary of a select state will make theme-specific presentation in each theme session in the meet followed by an open discussion, it added.