To,
Dr. Swarna Subba Rao
Surveyor General of India
Office of Surveyor General of India
Hathibarkala Estate, Dehra Dun
Uttarakhand 248001
Subject​: Congratulations for Launch of Nakshe Portal and Request for Adoption
of the NDSAP 2012
Dear Dr. Rao,
As members of open data communities, policy and academic research institutes,
technical and development sector organisations, and as citizens in general, we
want to express our great appreciation for the recently launched Nakshe portal.
This initiative by the Survey of India to make the Open Series Map publicly
available for use is long awaited and welcomed. We are certain that these maps
would be of great use for researchers, programmers, and practitioners alike.
We are invested in making this initiative a great success and would like to make
suggestions for how to make the portal more accessible and useful for the large
and growing geospatial consuming community in India. We would like to ask the
Survey of India to adhere closer to the National Data Sharing and Accessibility
Policy (NDSAP) 2012 and its Implementation Guidelines.
Assuming that the geospatial data contained in Open Series Map files is already
identified by the Survey of India as shareable and non-sensitive, the NDSAP
instructs that the data files should be published

DataMeet Trust, ​--​ ℅ CIS, No. 194, 2nd Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru ​– ​560 071.
DataMeet.org

 1)​ on the Open Government Data Platform India,
2)​ using open standards for file formats, and
3)​ under the Government Open Data License - India.
Considering the Nakshe portal is the primary website for publishing the Open
Series Map files, the first recommendation should be followed because double
publication will only help discoverability of these files, and hence their wider use.
Following the second instruction would require publishing the data in an open
geospatial data standards, such as KML or GML, as specified in the
Implementation Guidelines for NDSAP, v.2.2.
The recently launched ​Government Open Data License - India​, notified under the
NDSAP 2012, has introduced a common official license for publishing open data
by government agencies. Using this license for sharing Open Series Maps data
will ensure that users do not have to suffer from uncertainties regarding permitted
uses of the data, and will also meet the instruction given under NDSAP 2012.
Once again, we would like to congratulate Survey of India for realising this
fantastic initiative to make the Open Series Maps available for public access and
use. We sincerely hope that you would also consider the suggest further steps to
make these maps effectively accessible and usable.
It will be our distinct privilege to respond to any questions regarding our request
that you and your colleagues may have.
Sincerely,
DataMeet

DataMeet Trust, ​--​ ℅ CIS, No. 194, 2nd Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru ​– ​560 071.
DataMeet.org