Distributed Geographic Information Network in the Hindu Kush-Himalyan (HKH) Region

Keywords: Geographic Information; Mountain environment; Regional Spatial Data Infrastructure; Decision support system; Mountain GIS Portal; Mountain Geography Network

Abstract

Poverty alleviation and sustainable development of the mountain people in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region have been the main agenda of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Realizing the potential of geographic information (GI) for sustainable mountain development, ICIMOD through its Mountain Environment and Natural Resources Information Systems (MENRIS) programme, has been working on promoting the use of GIS and related technologies in the HKH region. To this end, MENRIS is operationlising its strategy with four programmatic components, namely - capacity building and networking, integrated GIS data management, applications and spatial decision support systems, and metadata clearing house, which are essential elements of Regional Spatial Data Infrastructure (RSDI).

Partnerships among the national and regional institutions and their capacity building have been the major strategies of MENRIS for the development of distributed geographic network. The partnership initiative was designed to extend the full functional capabilities of national institutions by developing mutually supportive relationships with a focus on training and dissemination of geo-information technology and its applications. This paper describes the continuing efforts of ICIMOD to develop a sound distributed geographic network to attain the common goals of an accurate geo-information base, which can then be used to support varieties of mountain specific applications. The paper also describes the current initiative in developing a network based architecture called Mountain GIS Portal. The Portal is aimed at leveraging the vast geographic resources that MENRIS developed over the years, such as metadata, spatial data, application methodologies, publications, educational and training materials and other GI related resources. The portal provides a platform for both "user" and "provider" of information in a distributed network environment. ICIMOD is working with its national partners to develop national GIS portals in a similar framework, which will be a part of the larger network at the regional level. In this way, ICIMOD envisages to create a distributed mountain geographic network in a building block approach, which will ultimately contribute to attain the goal regional geographic information infrastructure in the region.


Biography

Basanta Shrestha
Mountain Environment and Natural Resources Information Systems (MENRIS)
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)
Kathmandu, Nepal
Email: bshrestha@icimod.org.np

Mr. Basanta Shrestha has a M.Eng. in Computer Science from the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand and a B.Eng. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Madras University, India. He has extensive experience in the field of Geo-Information Technology and its applications. He has played a very important role in establishing a state-of-the-art Geo-information technology infrastructure and contributed towards improving information access to information in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan (HKH) region and beyond. He has planned, developed, and implemented numerous GIS, RS and GPS related training and research development projects towards capacity building and institutional strengthening in ICIMOD's member countries. He was involved with MENRIS programme since inception in 1990 and at present, he is responsible for the overall management of MENRIS programme at ICIMOD. He has published numerous training manuals, case studies and papers on subjects related to GIS and its applications.

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