The Bhutan National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) is a collaborative initiative between the National Land Commission Secretariat (NLCS) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), aimed at enhancing the acquisition, management, and sharing of geospatial data across Bhutan. Launched in early 2015, the project initially focused on creating 1:25,000 scale digital topographic maps for approximately 9,850 square kilometers in the southern regions, supporting agricultural and infrastructure development. Building upon this foundation, the “Promotion of Utilization of Geospatial Information through the Development of NSDI” project was initiated to establish a robust framework for geospatial data sharing and utilization, aiming to improve accessibility, reliability, and affordability of geospatial information, thereby reducing costs and minimizing duplication of efforts among different agencies.

The NSDI serves as a centralized platform, enabling government agencies, academia, consultants, and the public to access reliable geospatial data, facilitating informed decision-making and promoting sustainable development nationwide.

Improved Decision-Making

NSDI provides accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive spatial data, which supports better decision-making in various sectors such as urban planning, emergency response, environmental management, infrastructure development, and more.

Data Accessibility and Standardization

NSDI ensures that geospatial data is readily available and easily accessible to various stakeholders. It standardizes data formats, metadata, and sharing protocols, making it simpler for different agencies and organizations to use and exchange information seamlessly.

Cost Savings and Efficiency

NSDI will ensure the concept of single time creation and multiple time use of Geospatial data So the data duplication and redundancy will be avoided which will ultimately lead to cost and Time saving.