By Maitphang Syiem
“There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew.” – Marshall McLuhan. It’s indeed something to ponder upon! And why so? Logically, Physically and Philosophically we are all connected to this wonderful spaceship called Earth and narrowing it to the vital Bio-geographic Zone of the Indian Sub-continent which is the NE-Region, all the NE states have a collective responsibility to sustain its biological diversity, peaceful coexistence, cultural diversity etc. It’s completely a unique region which has never failed to enthral and has left everyone mesmerised, Undoubtedly the NE region’s spatial attributes are indeed special.
Perhaps one should try to comprehend why NE-Spatial is really Special and to get that, one should look from a Spatial context. Meghalaya has always been a happening place for many reasons and the pioneers perhaps have had the farsightedness to set up a station here in order to answer all those questions as to why NE Region is uniquely special. Hence the North East Space Application Centre was jointly set up by the DoS and NEC on September 5, 2000 but prior to this, initial work had started in the late 90’s and had a humble beginning at MeSEB (erstwhile MeECL) Guest House as amusingly narrated by one of the prominent ISRO scientist, Dr. R.R Navalgund who was instrumental in bringing this centre.
In retrospect, the founding pioneers of INCOSPAR (Erstwhile ISRO) have meticulously laid the foundations which have created a ripple effect all over in this domain and that effect is also seen with the materialising of NESAC for the NE Region. In a way we are fortunate to have such a centre uniquely stationed at Nongsder, Ri Bhoi District, Meghalaya which ever since its inception and nearing its 25 years of existence has become a spatial power hub fueling Space based applications for the benefit of the NE Region. The kind of activities undertaken also substantiate the philosophical context of what Dr Vikram Sarabhai said, “But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society. and NESAC has exclusively exhibited its competencies in nation building by bringing solutions to the problems of man and society specifically to the NE Region.
Just like what (L) Dr. Vikram Sarabhai said “In implementing change, we need to apply ourselves to people before we apply ourselves to problems.” This uniquely resonates with what is seen in the recently concluded two-day NESAC User Interaction Meet held on the September 5-6, 2024, where issues concerning NE Region, scientific method, research and programmes implemented by various NE state agencies were deliberated upon. As rightly stated by distinguished ISRO Scientists, space-based solutions should be tailored according to the unique conditions of the NE Region, therefore this meet has opened up channels for the users to address specific requirements through NESAC. However, for any space-based solution to be a success it is imperative that common public should be able to relate to it and reap the benefits. Implementing spatial solutions specific to NE region is not a cake-walk like in the mainland because of the diverse geographical, setup, it is obvious that technological challenges are upfront, however as someone said, opportunities come with challenges and the centre transformed those challenges into opportunities, through capacity building, local human resource mobilisation, collaboration and networking.
An amusing narrative, which says if you can manoeuvre vehicles on the hills, with half clutch and controls, driving vehicles on the plains will be a cakewalk and to substantiate this narrative the statement made by Dr RR Navalgund that if such space based applications are successfully tested here they will definitely work anywhere in the Indian Subcontinent. He also rightly stated that the NE Region is the best place to test such space-based solutions which also justifies the narrative.
On the other hand, paradigm shifts are seen in the Indian Space Ecosystem. Reforms such as Indian Space Policy 2023 and National Geo-spatial Policy 2022 initiated by the Government of India have opened the entire ecosystem and unveiled opportunities for individuals and budding space tech startups to participate and contribute to nation building and also to the GDP of the country. A joint report by EY and the Indian Space Association (ISpA) an apex body of space-based company associations in the country have projected that the Indian Space Economy will reach $13 billion by 2025. It’s a positive sign that the Government of India has set up IN-SPACe an autonomous agency under the ambit of Department of Space and initiated such policies paving a way for private players to contribute, innovate, generate and also create employment opportunities for many young ignited minds.
The NeUIM 2024 meet also witnessed the participation of non-government entities such as SATSURE, Xovian, Thazal Geospatial Analytics,SUHORA,SkyServe,IGIS,Capella Space, Vassar Labs GalaxyEye Space, Trimble Systems, NeoGeoInfo, ESRI etc., showcasing space technological avenues specific to the NE Region. If one would study the bio-geographical zones, of the Indian Sub-continent, North-East India is regarded as one of the biological diversity hotspots and has many essential life support areas. At the same time due to the geographical setup the entire NE Region has challenges when it comes to natural and anthropogenic disasters coupled with the burgeoning Climate Change issues and it’s about time that if not deliberated the NE Region will have a localised climatic fever which will disrupt the natural cycles, forests, public health, food chains, economy and livelihoods. One has to have insights on the challenges and the effective way to understand the impending problems is through space based applications. NESAC has demonstrated capabilities in many areas and has helped NE States department and agencies to build scientific capabilities to understand those challenges lying ahead.
It is interesting and thought provoking to ponder upon a question cum suggestion by a prominent scientist who beguilingly asked at the meet that post-mortem (Post-Disaster activity) is undoubtedly important but the need of the hour is Predictive Analytics, therefore the takeaway is that solutions should be tailored specific to the NE Region with forecasting or now-casting capabilities in near real time or perhaps on real time basis. On a general note perhaps because of the lack of awareness we find that many activities have gaps of effective and efficient decision implementation because of inadequate data insights and decisions based on simple generalisation and in a fast growing and globalised era generalisation is unsuitable. Hence in this context NESAC has a big role to play in supporting the NE States in terms of real time data and predictive analytics and for that matter the ongoing activities on this aspect are commendable. Another major part is with Education, in particular with STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics). It is delightful to see that an Outreach Facility has been established at NESAC premises and the young ignited youths of the NE region should capitalise on this for the benefit of the Region and for nation building.
To conclude let us once again be reminded of the words of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai “The development of the nation is intimately linked with understanding and application of science and technology by its people.” This should also resonate for the NE Region. Opportunities to apply space-based applications by the people of this region through various mediums provided by the Department of Space and NESAC is a way forward.
(The writer is a space aficionado and Geo-spatial expert)