The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), Government of India has approved city level action plans for improving basic urban infrastructure in 474 cities under Atal Mission for Urban Rejuvenation and Transformation (AMRUT) and shortlisted 98 cities for the Smart Cities Mission. Geo-spatial technologies provide timely and accurate spatial data and capabilities to analyze spatial datasets for preparing action plans.

To enhance the awareness on Geo-spatial technologies, a distance learning programme on “Geo-spatial Technologies for Urban Planning” was organised from February 11, 2016 to March 15, 2016 by Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), a unit of ISRO. The programme was delivered using Internet technology and "A-View" platform developed by Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) and Amrita University. About 5183 participants from 175 Universities / Institutions and government departments across India, registered for the programme. The audience included professionals, researchers and students from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) / Town and Country Planning Departments (TCPDs), Central / State / Private Universities (including IITs and NITs), Central and State Government Organisations / Departments, Research Institutes, Geo-spatial Industries and NGOs.

The present programme was conducted based on the recommendations of the National Meet on “Effective Utilization of Space Technology in Governance and Development” held on September 7, 2015 at New Delhi, which emphasized mass awareness of space applications in the country. It was a maiden effort at IIRS to conduct theme based online course on Geo-spatial technology and its applications. The IIRS outreach network is now extended to 370 Universities / Institutions where 67 new institutions have joined first time this programme.

The major topics covered during the programme were Geo-spatial fundamentals (Remote Sensing, Geographical Information System, Global Position System, etc.) and their applications in urban context i.e., Smart City and AMRUT Programme of Govt. of India. These contents were delivered by IIRS faculty and eminent speakers namely, Dr. Sudhir Krishna, former Secretary, MoUD, GoI and experts from TCPO, MoUD. The participants showed keen interest in the programme and a good number of queries were raised at the end of each session.

An interactive feedback session was conducted at the end of the programme with the University Coordinators and Course Participants. The programme was highly appreciated by the participants and communicated their keen interest to attend similar programmes in future. IIRS responded by informing that new programmes would be taken up on Geo-spatial application in other disciplines of natural resources management in near future. One of the important highlights of the programme was that ~150 professionals working in ULBs and TCPDs actively participated in the programme.