Kipal Sibal Moves India Toward an Aggressive Geospatial Data Sharing Policy

Kipal Sibal, Minister of Science and Technology for India, aggressively urged his counterparts within the Indian government toward a more open data sharing policy. An early, outspoken force for the value of geospatial data within his country, The Hindu reported that Sibal "voiced concern over the lack of enthusiasm shown by many government departments, except those related to security, on sharing of geospatial data for dissemination." Sibal believes in the investment of geospatial data and the value it can bring in helping India develop its infrastructure and in the overall growth to the country’s economy. "We need to convince all central government departments, state governments and the line departments of the states that technology is not an end in itself; it is a vehicle for providing information to the people,” he said, again, according to The Hindu.

See also my 2007 interview with Mr. Sibal in which he discusses his views about the democratization of data within India.