Humanity’s quest for progress and comfort has long relied upon the exploration and utilization of Earth’s resources which are huge but unevenly distributed. Therefore, the challenges of rapid urbanization, resource depletion, and climate change demand sustainable solutions. The United Nations projects the world’s population to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, 9.7 billion by 2050, and 10.4 billion by 2100, emphasizing an urgent need for innovative and sustainable strategies.
Geospatial Sciences and Technologies (GST) have emerged as powerful tools to address these challenges. By integrating multidisciplinary domains such as geography, geodesy, remote sensing, cartography, GNSS, photogrammetry, geology, environmental sciences, computer science, electronics, and data analytics, GST empowers us to:
• Optimize resource management
• Understand Earth systems and processes
• Predict, manage, and mitigate disasters
• Advance planetary exploration beyond Earth
On the global stage, the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) initiative guides policies on geospatial information, with India playing a key role under the leadership of the Department of Science and Technology (DST). The successful hosting of the 2nd United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC) in Hyderabad, 2022 reflects India’s growing leadership in this field. As India aspires to become a developed nation by 2047 and achieve a $5 trillion economy by 2030, geospatial sciences and technologies are recognized as one of the key drivers of national growth. With initiatives like the New Space Policy, Geospatial Policy, and Drone Rules, alongside groundbreaking missions such as Chandrayaan and Aditya-L1, India is cementing its place as a global leader in geospatial innovation.
Aligned with this National Vision, Delhi Technological University (DTU), with its 82-year legacy of excellence, first established a Multidisciplinary Centre for Geoinformatics (MCG) on 5th March, 2019 with the vision to be a world class multidisciplinary Center in the field of Geospatial education, research and consultancy. The Centre actively contributed to the field of GST. It was due to the efforts of MCG, Geomatics has been added to the GATE Exam wef 2022. The Centre was part of the DST team which worked towards organising the 2nd United Nations World Geospatial Congress (UNWGIC) at Hyderabad, India in the year 2022. It was the experiences gained as a Centre that led the University to further expand the Centre by making it a full-fledged Department wef 2025.
Currently, the Department offers, NEP based Ph.D, AICTE approved M.Tech (Geoinformatics) and M.Sc (Geospatial Science) programs. The Department intends to be a leading multidisciplinary nodal centre in Geospatial Sciences and Technologies through academic excellence, innovation, research, enterprise development, and policy leadership.
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