Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today inaugurated the Meghalaya GIS & UAV Centre at the Secretariat here.
The centre, which will use the latest technologies in satellite imaging and drone technology, is aimed at providing better governance and services to the public.
Sangma said that this will assist the government to conduct aerial mapping of locations, transport medical supplies, aerial spraying of fertilisers, etc.
“Through real-time data collection by UAVs or drones, departments can remotely monitor the implementation of schemes, survey traffic, map water bodies, agriculture activities, etc and can improve governance and efficiency of all departments,” he said.
He also informed they have communicated to the SP offices that the centre can start supporting the police to give them live feed and images regarding traffic. He added that they are hopeful that police will be able to use these services immediately.
Sangma further explained that drone view will help to manage things in a better manner, it will also help in critical situations too like flood or law and order situations. The drone technology will be very helpful for the administration and government as a whole to make critical decisions, stated the CM.
Another area which this centre will fulfil is in building skilled human resources that are future ready.
“Currently, there is high demand for skilled GIS and UAV resources. This Centre, which is housed under MBDA has already begun an apprenticeship program to train GIS personnel and UAV experts and pilots to make them job ready,” a statement from the Meghalaya Basin Management Agency (MBMA) said.
Officials said the program provides intensive on the job learning in the real world and has already proven to be quite successful, with 23 apprentices trained to date. These have now moved on to fill various requirements both within MBDA and outside.
The state is also in the process of setting up two Remote Pilot Training Organizations, which will be the first in the state to enable the training and certification of drone pilots to obtain license, the statement added.
