Challenges in Capacity Building in Remote Sensing

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Challenges in Capacity Building in Remote Sensing
GIS
P. S. Roy (director_at_iirs.gov.in)
Indian Institute of Remote Sensing Indian Space
Research Organisation Dehradun
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Challenges in Capacity Building in Remote Sensing
GIS

• The UNCED (1992) definition for capacity building
  encompasses scientific, technological,
  organizational, and institutional resources and
  capabilities.
• A fundamental goal of capacity building is to
  enhance the abilities of stakeholders to evaluate
  and address crucial questions related to policy
  choices and modes of implementation among
  different options for development.

Capacity building Process
Achieving Excellence
Beginning of Career
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Capacity Building Initiatives

• Capacity building efforts can be designed to
  serve individuals, organizations, geographical or
  interest communities, or the nonprofit sector as
  a whole.
• Direct response programs which provide funds or
  services to nonprofits to address defined
  capacity building needs.
• Capacity building initiatives which target a
  select group of nonprofits and usually address a
  broad range of organizational effectiveness
  issues.
• Sector-strengthening programs which support
  knowledge development, knowledge delivery, or
  knowledge exchange.
• Building a better knowledge base about the impact
  of capacity building requires a methodology that
  allows comparison across different types of
  capacity building engagements and programs.

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Curriculum, Infrastructure Tools Issues

• Obsolete/Rigid Curricula and delivery mechanism
• Absence of uniform academic standard and lack of
  networking
• Difficulty of releasing many officers for
  long-term training even when majority require
  retraining to update their knowledge in the
  emerging new technologies
• Lack of financial resources for international
  exposures
• Lack of provision for continuing education and
  training

• State-of-the-art laboratories, field instruments
  and trained faculty
• Uniform academic standard and proper networking
  would have facilitated sharing of human and other
  training facilities
• Survey organizations have not inducted
  professionalism and there is wide gap in
  adaptation of contemporary technology.
  Introduction of modular curricula will enable
  interested persons to join short module(s) of
  interest and then go back to their jobs.
• Proper planning is needed to over- come this
  issue
• Know-how in modern day technology and hand
  holding with current trend is required for
  excellence in capacity building exercise.

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Earth Observation A Spectrum of Environmental
Applications
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Challenges of Capacity Building in Remote Sensing
and GIS

• Satellite remote sensing exits for three decades
  with variety of data sets and its prudent
  application for well being of human society.
• Geographical Information System in present form
  is two decade old and encompasses its role in all
  sectors of daily life.
• Technological know-how to these areas is very
  much important for wider application in grass
  root level.

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Challenges of Capacity Building in Remote Sensing
and GIS

• Curriculum Development
• It needs to be very dynamic in nature to tune
  with the rapidly changing technology.
• Remote Sensing is multi-disciplinary in nature
  because of its varied applications domain.
  Curriculum needs to allow for specialization in
  specific areas as per the users need.
• The target group should be i) Young fresh
  graduates who wants to make carrier in remote
  sensing ii) people who are at the beginning of
  their professional carrier iii) Middle level
  professionals and finally iv) the decision
  makers. This will allow the flow of knowledge to
  all levels of personnel in a particular domain.
  

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Challenges of Capacity Building in Remote Sensing
and GIS

• Research in Curriculum
• Innovation in technology to improve understanding
  of the relevant processes and their interactions
  and identify the various impacts and changes
• Calibration and validation issues
• End to-end research from data generation to data
  modeling. Other areas to include in the capacity
  building are the operation of ground stations for
  tracking and telemetry and command, satellite
  data applications, acquisition and processing of
  satellite data from various satellites
• Impromptu response when natural calamity struck.
  Capacity building activity is indispensible so
  that data can be processed quickly for immediate
  response to the disaster event.
• Building of capacity for transfer of knowledge,
  skills and technology and promote the exchange of
  experiences.

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Challenges of Capacity Building in Remote Sensing
and GIS

• Continuum Education
• Because of the fast changing technology in remote
  sensing and GIS, the trainees used to out of
  date quickly. There has to be provision of
  bringing them back after every five years and
  appraised them with the newer technology.
• This refreshers course should be of short
  duration with focused theme.
• Lecturers also need to maintain dynamic
  curriculum to cater the present need and address
  with the state-of-the-art technology.

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Challenges of Capacity Building in Remote Sensing
and GIS

• Cutting Edge Technology
• Curriculum should address the newer scientific
  arena e.g. Atmospheric remote sensing, climate
  change issues, Ocean state forecasting, seismic
  geodynamic phenomena etc.
• Emphasis should be on the technology domain too.
  State-of-the-art technology can only provide the
  solution we are looking for.
• It is highly essential to be acquainted with the
  modern day technology current trends and
  incorporate them into the curriculum.

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Integrate What We Know
We Need Better Ways to

• Represent
• Understand
• patterns,
• relations,
• processes
• Manage
• Communicate

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Thank you..
www.iirs.gov.in