Space Technology for Poverty Alleviation
- Paper number
IAC-07-P.E.7.01
- Author
Prof. U.R. Rao, Physical Research Laboratory, India
- Year
2007
- Abstract
In spite of the spectacular advances in science and technology, 80an average per capita annual income of just a twentieth of that in developed nations, with over 2 billion people barely managing to survive on less than a dollar a day. Economic globalisation in the knowledge age has further increased the digital divide between the developed and developing societies, the haves and the have-nots. Expert members of the panel will discuss how space remote sensing backed up by GIS inputs, can initiate grid based precision farming for achieving higher agricultural productivity on a sustainable basis, when combined with locale-specific bio-technological inputs. Establishment of rural kiosks and Village Resource Centers, connected through VSATs, can provide easy access and timely information on agricultural and veterinary advises, weather inputs, disaster alerts, market trends and assist in setting up value added knowledge based industries. The panel will discuss how space technology can help in achieving poverty alleviation by bridging the digital divide between and within the nations through knowledge based information and training.
- Abstract document