AUGUST 2008 VOL 12 ISSUE 8 RNI 68561/18/6/98/ISSN 0971 ......AUGUST 2008 VOL 12 ISSUE 8 AFRICA I AMERICAS I ASIA I AUSTRALIA I EUROPE The Global Geospatial Magazine About the cover:

AUGUST 2008 VOL 12 ISSUE 8

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Price: INR 150 / US$ 15 Subscriber’s copy. Not for Sale

10-13 February, 2009 Hyderabad International Convention Centre,

Hyderabad, India

Map World Forum

5

Chairman M P Narayanan Editor in Chief Ravi Gupta Honorary Managing Editor Prof. Arup DasguptaDirector Maneesh Prasad Publisher Sanjay Kumar

Editorial Team: Sr. Associate Editor (Honorary) Dr. Hrishikesh Samant Associate Editor Bhanu Rekha Sr. Assistant Editor Saurabh Mishra Sr. Assistant Editor Anamika Das Practice Manager Harsha Vardhan

Sales and Marketing: Regional Managers Middle East Prashant Joshi North America Annu Negi Europe NirajRegional Sales Managers South Asia Nikhil Malhotra Sales Managers Middle East and North Africa Sharmishtha Seth,Gaurav Sharma Asia Pacific Kavitha Seras Sales Manager South Asia Abhishek Kotangle Sr. Manager Marketing andCommunication Megha Datta

Design Team: Sr. Creative Designer Deepak Kumar Graphic Designer Manoj Kumar Singh

Circulation: Vijay Kumar Singh

Software Development Group: Head Information Technology Kumar Vikram Member Atul Raj

Portal Team: Product Manager Shivani Lal Dy. Manager Anshu Garg Team Member Anjali Srivastava

Advisory BoardDato’ Dr. Abdul Kadir bin Taib

Deputy Director General of Survey and Mapping, Malaysia

Aki A. Yamaura Sr. Vice President, Asuka DBJ Partners, Japan

Amitabha Pande Secretary, Inter-State Council, Government of India

Bhupinder Singh Sr. Vice President, Bentley Systems Inc., USA

Bob Morris President, Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging,USA

BVR Mohan ReddyChairman and Managing Director, Infotech Enterprises Ltd., India

David Maguire Director, Products, Solutions and International, ESRI, USA

Frank Warmerdam President, OSGeo, USA

Prof. Ian Dowman President, ISPRS, UK

Prof. Josef Strobl Director, Centre for Geoinformatics, University of Salzburg, Austria

Kamal K SinghChairman and CEO, Rolta Group of Companies, India

Prof. Karl Harmsen Director, UNU-INRA

Marc Tremblay Vice President, Commercial Business Unit, DigitialGlobe, USA

Mark Reichardt President and Chief Operating Officer, OGC, USA

Prof. Martien Molenaar Rector, ITC, The Netherlands

Matthew O’Connell CEO, GeoEye, USA

Prof. Michael Blakemore Emeritus Professor of Geography, University of Durham, UK

Dr. Milan Konecny President, International Cartographic Association,Czech Republic

Er. Mohammed Abdulla Al-Zaffin Director, GIS Centre, Dubai Municipality, UAE

Dr. Prithvish Nag Director, NATMO, India

Rajesh C. Mathur President, ESRI India

Robert M Samborski Excutive Director, Gita, USA

Prof. Stig EnemarkPresident, FIG, Denmark

Prof. V. S RamamurthyChairman, IIT, Delhi, India

G I S D E V E L O P M E N T | A U G U S T 2 0 0 8 Vo l . 1 2 I s s u e 8

In this issue...

OFFICESINDIA: GIS Development Pvt. Ltd.A - 145, Sector - 63, Noida, IndiaTel + 91 - 120 - 4260800 to 808 Fax + 91 - 120 - 4260823 - 24

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COLUMNS

Editorial 07

News 08

Events 66

COVER STORY

30 Village Resource Centre A step closer to thegrassrootscan information and communication tech-nologies (ICTs) support development andsocial infrastructure projects?

Bhanu Rekha

ARTICLES

38 C-GARD: IncorporatingRural WisdomIndia's second independence of the early1990s has brought in host of technologiesthat fuelled the development of the nationon several counts...

Bhanu Rekha

44 Parcel Data: Key toHealthy CommunityIn the United States, community-basedgroups play a critical role in urban communi-ty development...

Sarah Treuhaft

48 GIS - The Change Agentof SocietyProviding access to basic life sustainingsupport systems like health, education,social security, social empowerment to the

remotest locations seemed to be a utopia...

Yogita Shukla

52 Advantage, Local GovtsLocal authorities in the United Kingdomhave a massive job in providing services...

Rob Finch

60 Tech Solution to Measure PerformanceSupport for performance measurement andaccountability to make government work...

Christopher Thomas

CONFERENCE REPORT

64 ISPRS 2008

INTERVIEW

GIS Development is intended for those interested and involved in GIS related activities. It is hoped that it will serve to foster a growing network by keeping the community up-to-date onmany activities in this wide and varied field. Your involvement inproviding relevant information is essential to the success of thisendeavour.

GIS Development does not necessarily subscribe to the viewsexpressed in the publication. All views expressed in this issue are those of the contributors. It is not responsible for any loss toanyone due to the information provided.

GIS Development Pvt. Ltd. Printed and Published by Sanjay Kumar.Press M. P. Printers B-220, Phase-II, Noida, GautambudhNagar (UP) INDIA Publication Address P-82, Sector-11, Gautambudh Nagar, Noida, India Editor Ravi Gupta

30

G Madhavan NairChairman, ISRO

IInformation is the most important enabler of devel-opment. It empowers individuals and communitiestto become more productive, manage their assets

better and improve their quality of life. Tyrants havee usedinformation as a weapon by withholding it or distorting it.Open and free access to information is thus one of the essen-tial elements of a free and democratic society. Social infra-structure and good governance require informationexchange between public services and communities.

One of the key information types is spatial in nature. How-ever, maps have always been treated as 'official' documentsand therefore not readily accessible except in cases like prop-erty demarcation or when town-planning schemes are to beapproved by the community. The use of maps for managinggovernment assets, particularly in the urban context, is wellestablished. It is now seen that communities can also usethis information to direct functionaries to areas requiringattention thereby enhancing the efficiency of the govern-ment. While urban areas are reasonably well addressed, it isthe rural areas that require attention. Information systemsthat assist rural communities to manage their resources,seek help and contribute their knowledge to others are theneed of the hour.

Urban experience shows that information cannot be neat-

ly binned into spatial and non-spatial. Information needs arecomplex. For example, a farmer faced with drought situationneeds an advisory that covers weather, water availability,soil condition of his plot, alternate crops, their cost andexpected market returns. Remote communities not onlyneed information but also easy access to services like educa-tion and health. Such systems require a return channel.Indeed classical one-way systems like radio and TV are usingthe telephone as a return channel to provide interactivity. Insome cases, like in Bangladesh, the mobile phone becomesan instrument of community interaction. What happenswhen the return channel demands higher bandwidth? Allquestions cannot be a simple message transmitted as a spo-ken sentence or a typed line of text. The need may be totransmit an image of a sick person or a stricken crop. It is tomeet these needs that we need robust communicationsinfrastructure.

In this issue, we have covered some of these aspects withexamples taken from around the world. We have focussedon an effort by the Indian Space Research Organisation incollaboration with non-governmental development agen-cies to establish Village Resource Centres that make use ofspace communications to provide education, health andinformation services and remote sensing and geographicalinformation systems for natural resources management atthe grassroots level. Though this is not the first such effort, ithighlights how advanced technologies can be used toempower remote communities.

7G I S D E V E L O P M E N T | A U G U S T 2 0 0 8 Vo l . 1 2 I s s u e 8

“”

Prof. Arup DasguptaHonorary Managing Editor [email protected]

From Editor’s Desk

"As we look ahead into the next century, leaders

will be those who empower others. "

- Bill Gates

Information,a great enabler

Memphis nabs honourfor GIS useEgypt: The City of Memphiswill receive top honours forits innovative use of GISfrom ESRI, the mayor'soffice reported. The citywas selected from 100,000organisations worldwidethat use GIS software. ESRIwill present the SpecialAchievement in GIS Awardat its annual InternationalUser Conference in SanDiego Aug. 6. An exampleof innovative use of GIS is acity Web site that offershigh-resolution colour aeri-al photography for propertysearches, owner informa-tion, distance to police sta-tions and fire stations andmore. The public can alsolocate City Council districtsor municipal jurisdictionsas well as locate addresses.The technology providesvisual products for printingand exporting graphics forpresentation purposes.

"Previously, very few cityemployees, only those withGIS technical skills withaccess to desktop software,were able to take advan-

tage of the benefits of GISanalysis," said Della Adams,GIS programme managerfor the city, in a statement."Now, any city staffer withaccess to the Internet is ableto leverage the informa-tion."

Geologicalcouncil providesexpertise formapping projectMadagascar: The Councilfor Geoscience (CGS) isinvolved in a large map-ping project, which formspart of a mapping projectfunded by World Bank,reported CGS project man-ager and scientific leaderfor the Madagascar projectPaul Macey.

The World Bank is set tobuild a modern digital geo-logical, geochemical, andgeophysical base map anddatabase dataset for Mada-gascar, principally to pro-mote mineral resourceexploration. The BritishGeological Survey (BGS),the US Geological Survey(USGS), as well as geologicalsurvey groups from Ger-many and France, are simi-larly involved in the Mada-gascar mapping projectfunded by the World Bank.

The project also serves toprovide support to sustain-able social developmentprojects, including thoseconcerning the environ-ment, urban development,agriculture and hydrogeol-ogy, explains Macey.

Software mapsRwandan healthRwanda: GIS is being usedto improve healthcareacross Rwanda. The digitalmaps are designed to com-pile information fromnumerous databases anduse it to both track and pre-dict outbreaks of disease.Information collected in thecountry shows not only thelocations of health services,but water and electricitysupplies as well. It alsorecords how many cases ofillnesses such as malariahave occurred in differentparts of the country.

NZ geospatialindustry to joinAust associationAustralia: The New Zealandgeospatial industry has vot-ed to join ASIBA, the Aus-tralian Spatial IndustryBusiness Association. Thedecision was made duringthe Inaugural GeospatialInformation Systems Sum-mit in Wellington and wassupported by the NewZealand Geospatial Officeand Trade and Enterprise.

ASIBA represents thegeospatial industry acrossAustralia and was formedin 2001 to establish com-mon standards at industry,State and Federal levels. Ithas since assumed a signifi-cant role in public policymaking, enhanced the profile of the industry,helped identify new oppor-tunities and provides finan-cial benefits to members.

During Wellington conference, six top NewZealand geospatial businesses voted to "for-mally express the NewZealand industry's requestfor ASIBA to extend its terri-tory to include NewZealand."

It is now up to ASIBA,which is meeting inAugust, to change its con-stitution to allow NewZealand companies to jointhe association.

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

News: Regional

Ruhuha Health Centre, Bugesera, Rwanda

G I S D E V E L O P M E N T8

Presenting a unique opportunity for Geospatial Scientists to meet at a forum to discuss research areas inGI Science like Data Acquisition, Data Processing, Data modeling, Data Analysis and Human Interaction.The conference designed with the aim of providing an opportunity for researchers, especially in the AsiaPacific region, to present and discuss research topics in the field of GI-Science.

The conference is being organised by GIS Development concurrently with the Map World Forum 2009.Geospatial Science Forum 2009 invites research papers to be submitted on the above mentioned topics –other related topic of original research would also be entertained. Papers can be submitted online in EasyChair system visiting this link http://bit.ly/ivqaP and the deadline for paper submission is 26 Sep’08.

Fore more details refer write to us at [email protected]

Geospatial Science Forum: 12-13 February 2009, Hyderabad India

Mangalore: Satellitetechnology to aidfishermenIndia: Will the fishermen ofthe coastal Karnataka makeamends in their methods offishing operations in thenext fishing season which

begin around September?Sounds unlikely, looking atthe irrational fishing habitsof our fisher folks. But thehelp is on the way thanks tothe Indian Remote SensingApplications Centre (IRSAC)at Hyderabad, the fisher-

men in Mangalore, Udupiand Karwar are able to seethe type of fish, size of theshoal or the depth of wateravailable.

The IRSAC has put intoplace this system for thecoming season. The center

has been giving readings ofthe remote sensing satelliteto all the fishing harboursto help the fishermen totrack the fish shoals. Thesystem works on the basisof the GPS technology andsatellite mapping of the

I-STAG to studyclimate changeIndia: Some answers on issues likeclimate change, melting polar ice capsand rising sea levels, greenhouse gas-es, etc. might be brought back by I-STAG, a satellite to be launched by theIndian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) in 2012, in a unique collabora-tive initiative with science institutes.

"I-STAG, (Indian Satellite for Aerosoland Gases) is a small satellite, weigh-ing no more than 150 kg and will mostlikely go as a co-passenger with one ofthe major launches scheduled for2012," R. Sridharan, Programme Direc-tor, Space Science Office, ISRO, toldThe Hindu. It will be placed in a lowEarth orbit at 600 km. In its two-yearlife span, I-STAG will collect data onthe quantity and distribution of car-bon monoxide, carbon dioxide,aerosols (suspended particulate mat-ter), ozone, water vapour and theoxides of nitrogen and sulphur so thatan estimate can be made on theirimpact on climate.

I-STAG will be developed jointly bythe Indian Institute of Science, theSpace Physics Laboratory in Thiru-vananthapuram, the PhysicalResearch Laboratory in Ahmedabad,and the National Atmospheric

Research Laboratory in Tirupati. "ISROwill put in the seed money of aboutRs. 10 crore, and scientists will,through simulations, demonstratethe concepts and also work out themethods for analysing the data," Prof.Sridharan said.

Youth satellite to be launchedIndia: The Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO) is planning tolaunch a dedicated satellite for scien-tific experiments pursued by theundergraduate and post-graduatestudents from various universities inIndia. Annoucing this project in Ban-galore, ISRO chairman G MadhavanNair said that the launch of this satel-lite is expected sometimes next yearon-board a polar satellite launch vehi-cle (PSLV) sometimes next year.

The launch vehicle will carry theauxiliary satellite with scientificexperiments developed by the under-graduate and post-graduate studentsfrom various universities in India,Russia and other countries. Apartfrom the payload (auxiliary satellite),the launch vehicle will also carry amini remote sensing satellite.

According to ISRO, this project is thebrain-child of A P J Abdul Kalam, whoat the same event in Bangalore

termed this project as an 'youth satel-lite.'

India, France to launchtropical weather satellite in2009India: India and France will jointlylaunch a satellite next year to under-stand climate change and the tropicalweather phenomena including mon-soons. The joint working group of theIndian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) and the French Space AgencyCentre National d'Etudes Spatiales(CNES) met in Goa to review theprogress made on this. At the meet-ing, an agreement was signedbetween both the space agencies onthe policy for distribution of datareceived from Megha Tropiques.

India sets up spacecellIndia: An integrated 'space cell' in theDefence Ministry has been set up toprotect Indian satellites and toenhance their military and civiliancapability. The Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO) will head the cell.Officials are refusing to spell out theexact functioning of the cell, but say"it will protect rapid militarisation ofspace".

INDIAN SPACE SCENARIO

G I S D E V E L O P M E N T 9A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

seas. The fisheries depart-ment in the state has beenasked to make use of thisfacility for the coming sea-son. To avail the readings ofthe system the governmentwill have to set up an earthstation not bigger than acomputer room with mod-ern gadgets. The depart-ment of fisheries hasmoved papers to avail thissystem and the first one islikely to come up in Manga-lore.

Punjab may taketo GIS monitoringof cropsIndia: Agricultural sustain-ability has gained highestpriority in Punjab, thebread basket of the countrywhich is struggling with an

abysmal agri growth rate ofa little over 2 per cent. TheDepartment of Science andTechnology, Government ofIndia, is mulling ways tobring science to the aid ofagriculture. Department'sJoint Secretary Sudhir Nairhas held talks with Punjab'sDepartment of Agriculture

for using Geographic Infor-mation System (GIS) forcrop monitoring.

Andhra Pradesh hasalready shown how GIS canbe a powerful tool for moni-toring crops and naturalresources, such as rivers,right up to the village level.Since the technology allowsintegration of informationderived from other map-ping techniques, such asremote sensing, it is gain-ing importance for sustain-ing agriculture.

Earlier, an action plan forthe management of naturalresources in Punjab'sMansa district was done bythe Department of Scienceand Technology in associa-tion with Punjab RemoteSensing Centre, PAU, Ludhi-ana. Over 59 block-wisemaps were generated andseveral tables and recom-mendations for develop-mental planning weremade.

Interestingly, not onlythe government, but alsoNGOs and corporates, suchas Tatas and ITC, are usingGIS technology for agricul-ture.

Natural datacensus on cardsIndia: Orissa Remote Sens-ing Application Centre(ORSAC) has decided toundertake a naturalresources census of thestate.The organisationhopes that the censuswould provide a clearer pic-

ture of the state's status interms of natural resourcesby providing a systematicinventory and creating astandardised GIS database.

The Union government'sdepartment of spaceassigned ORSAC to conductthe survey as a part of thefirst natural resource cen-sus for the country this fis-cal. With 2007-08 as thebase year, the census wouldbe conducted every fiveyears.

The Census will help gen-erate maps and statistics ofblocks with accurate andupdated information onresources and physicalaspects of terrain in termsof land use and cover, croparea and type, water bodies,drainage, soils, coastalareas, weather and climate,ground water sources,forests, urban growth andmineral resources.

GIS enabledtouchscreen kiosks attourist spots soon inJaipurIndia: This season, thetourists coming to the citymight be saved from hag-gling and harassment atthe hands of tour guidesand escorts, thanks to vari-ous infrastructure upgrada-tion plans. The governmentis planning to set up touch-screen information kiosks,among other things, tomake the city tourist-friendly.

The proposal is to have

these kiosks furnished withcomprehensive details withinbuilt GIS location mapsthat can also be pulled outat the touch of a button.The kiosks would providedetailed information on allthe tourist destinations inthe state, which includemonuments, forts, palacesand museums.

The kiosks would alsoprovide online informationon hotels, important routesin the cities and abouttourist vehicles along withtheir normal tariffs. Detailsof road, railway and airservices would also bemade available on thekiosks.

City green mapmovement sees arevival in JakartaIndonesia: After three yearsin the wilderness, a move-ment to map out green

spaces in Jakarta is back invogue, riding the globaltrend toward an environ-mentally consciouslifestyle."The campaigningstage is over, people areaware of the 'green'lifestyle now. Let's focus ongreen maps' effectiveness,power to change, availabili-ty and design," MarcoKusumawijaya, a founder

News: Regional

G I S D E V E L O P M E N T 10 A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

Crop record in India (MODIS Image on NASA’s Terra sat)

News: Regional

of the "green map" move-ment said. The green mapproject involves communi-ties, big and small, map-ping out their neighbor-hoods. The mapmakingprocess involves peoplefrom all walks of life. Evenchildren, guided by adults,can make their own greenmaps of their locales.

The main aim of thegreen map movement is to

promote healthy and sus-tainable cities by pointingout features not necessarilymarked out on other maps,such as green areas, openspaces, heritage buildings,rare trees, bird-viewingsites and other places ofinterest. Sixteen citiesacross the country arebeing green-mapped,including Bukittinggi inWest Sumatra, Buton in

Southeast Sulawesi,Yogyakarta, Sanur in Bali,Bandung in West Java andBanda Aceh in NanggroeAceh Darussalam. The proj-ect is a non-profit endeavor,and all green map activistswork as volunteers.]

UN-HABITAT andLebanese Army in GIScooperationLebanon: UN-HABITAT and

the Lebanese Army haveconcluded a cooperationframework to promote andfurther develop nationwideGIS using satellite photo-graphs from space. 'In lightof the common areas ofinterest of making avail-able accurate and up-to-date geographic data andturning them into soundhuman settlements plans,UN-HABITAT and the Direc-

India: GE Energy announced thatone of its major customers, NorthDelhi Power Limited (NDPL) ofIndia's Tata Group, has been award-ed the prestigious InternationalEdison Award by the Edison ElectricInstitute (EEI). The award recognisesNDPL's significant improvements inoperations and asset managementusing GE Energy's Smallworld GISplatform as the primary source ofdata for the enterprise.

According to the institute, NDPL"innovatively utilised and integrat-ed" the GE solution with otherapplications for the company'soperational, commercial and asset

management activities. EEI notedthat the GIS initiatives haveimproved NDPL's overall systemreliability and produced significantreductions in non-technical losses.

NDPL is the first electricity distri-bution utility company in India tointegrate a number of enterprisesystems into a geographic informa-tion system. Their solution hasseamlessly integrated GIS with 12different applications includinginter-enterprise applications (SAP),

billing andthe cus-tomer rela-tionshipmanage-ment sys-tem. All the

applications are web-enabled toallow valuable GIS information topenetrate the enterprise at all lev-els.

"We selected GE Energy's Small-world solution based on its abilityto model and geographically dis-play large complex transmissionand distribution networks," saidArunabha Basu, Head - NetworkManagement, NDPL. "GE Energy'ssmart grid technology solution has

enabled us to experience substan-tial system improvement gains inthe first system improvementscheme at approximately 10 per-cent of scheme value and more thana quarter million dollars in directsavings in the first year of the pro-ject's completion." "GIS has been ofimmense help in our distributionsystem for the benefit of all ourstakeholders," said Sunil Wadhwa,CEO, NDPL.

In addition, NDPL has immediate-ly realised a recovery of nearly ahalf million dollars in arrears pay-ments using the location mapextracted out of the GE platform.Technical feasibility time has alsobeen reduced. "We share the excite-ment and the pride with our cus-tomer in being presented this mostprestigious award," said Bob Gilli-gan, general manager of GE Ener-gy's transmission and distributionbusiness.

"We applaud NDPL as the pioneercompany in India that has taken great strides toward success-fully meeting the challenge of man-aging distributed assets, with the ultimate goal of a smarter power grid."


NDPL winsEdison Awardfor SignificantSystem andBusinessImprovements

torate of Geographic Affairs(DGA) - Lebanese Army con-cluded a cooperationframework to promote andfurther develop the nation-wide GIS and mappingtools available within theDGA,' a joint statementsaid.

According to the state-ment, the DGA is providingthe necessary support toUN-HABITAT recovery proj-ect in Southern Lebanonwith the aim of establish-ing three Local UrbanObservatories in towns ofTyre, Bint Jbeil and JabalAmel.

Under this cooperationframework, UN-HABITATco-sponsored the DGAFourth Arab Conference forGeographic Names held inBeirut on June 22 - 27, 2008.UN-HABITAT took part inthe parallel exhibitionevent where publicationsand documents were dis-played and distributed tomore than 100 attendants.

Mapping out newdeal for Shanghaistreet tradersChina: The Shanghai PublicSanitation Bureau is goingto make a clean sweep ofillegal street vendors with anew digital map service.The map, which will bepublished on the Internet,will name the streets whereroad-side vendors areallowed and show theindoor sites where they canset up their businesses.

Trading hours will also beshown. "It's a reasonablesolution to meet thedemands for road-side ven-dors without upsetting nor-mal urban management,"the bureau said.

For years road-side stallshave been illegal and a con-cern as unsupervised streettraders sometimes disturbthe populace and caninvolve criminal activities.

EC to acquiremodernequipmentPakistan: The Election Com-mission of Pakistan (ECP) isacquiring GIS to refurbishthe country's electoralmanagement system, ECPSecretary Kanwar Muham-med Dilshad has said."Man-agement Information Sys-tems (MIS) and Geographi-cal Information Systems(GIS) are being acquiredand installed at the ECP andthe provincial headquartersfrom the InternationalFoundation for ElectoralSystems (IFES). These will

help us in having a fool-proof electoral system,"informed Dilshad. Funds forthe project are being pro-vided by USAID and otherdonor agencies and the ECPhad also formed a commit-tee to review electoral lawsin Pakistan, Dilshad said,adding that the possibilityof allowing electronic vot-ing was also under consid-eration.

CvSU receives GISsoftwarePhilippines: The Bureau ofAgricultural Research (BAR)of the Department of Agri-culture recently donated aGIS software composed ofdigital maps to the CaviteState University (CvSU), itwas announced by its presi-dent, Dr. Ruperto S. San-galang. The GIS maps,developed and generatedby the BAR, were created toserve as a basic tool forplanning, policy determi-nation, monitoring,research and development,and all other activitiesaimed to enhance govern-ment function and serviceto the public. Through thedigital maps, data could bederived by region, byprovince and by municipal-ity, says BAR DirectorNicomedes P. Eleazar.

Indian satellitedata can behelpful for UAE:ISROUAE : Data received from

Indian satellites can proveto be very useful to theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)in its infrastructure devel-opment work, according toK. Kasturirangan, formerchairman of Indian SpaceResearch Organization(ISRO) K. Kasturirangan.

"The data received fromour constellation of satel-lites have a lot of relevancefor the UAE and also for thisregion as a whole," Kasturi-rangan, who was here toattend a conference on e-governance in the emirateof Ras Al Khaimah (RAK),told IANS in an interview.

'ISRO also has a groundstation here in Dubai andthe data received here canbe very useful in their (UAE)infrastructure developmentwork,' said Kasturirangan,director of India's NationalInstitute of Advanced Stud-ies during a conference, inwhich an official RAK gov-ernment e-services portalwas launched. He also gavea presentation on 'Technol-ogy Trends in GIS and IT'and made three key sugges-tions on creating a data-base on the lines of India'sNational Spatial Data Infra-structure (NSDI) by inte-grating the servers of theseven emirates; creating agood educational systemthat could yield suitablemanpower to handle the e-governance system; andestablishing a quality insti-tute for education, researchand training.

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14 G I S D E V E L O P M E N T

News: Regional

Space hardwarefirm to developmicro-satellitesCanada: Space hardwaremanufacturer COM DEVhas announced a USD 7mil-lion programme to developits own micro-satellite plat-form, a move away fromthe company's traditionalniche as a supplier of sen-sors and subsystems forother satellite makers.The Cambridge-based com-pany said the new class ofmicro-satellites will be used"to satisfy a range of emerg-ing national and interna-

tional requirements in ahighly cost-effective man-ner." COM DEV presidentJohn Keating said the satel-lites would allow a broadrange of applications,including surveillance,security, environmental

monitoring, scientificanalysis and communica-tions. The proposed and later blocked sale of Mac-Donald, Dettwiler andAssociates Ltd.'s spacerobotics and satellite opera-tions to an Americanweapons maker shined thespotlight on the state ofCanada's space industryearlier this spring, raisingquestions about what direc-tion Canada should beheaded.

COM DEVawardedCanada's micro-satellite contractCanada: COM DEV Interna-tional Ltd., manufacturer of

space hardware subsys-tems, announced that it hasbeen awarded an $8.6 mil-lion contract to design,build and launch a micro-satellite for the Govern-ment of Canada. The Mar-itime Monitoring and Mes-

saging Micro-satellite(M3MSat) is a technologydemonstration missionjointly funded and man-aged by Defence Researchand Development Canada(DRDC) and the CanadianSpace Agency (CSA).

M3MSat will make use ofthe multi-mission micro-satellite bus concept recent-ly defined by the CSA. COMDEV has announced thecommencement of an inter-nally funded programme todevelop a class of micro-satellites capable of meet-ing the CSA's objective oflaunching a range of mis-sions using a common plat-form.

Canadian govtfunds naturalresourcesProjects thatuse LBSCanada: The Governmentof Canada has announced$674,911 in funding for avariety of projects in BritishColumbia that rely on loca-tion-based, or geospatial,information. The anno-uncement was made by theHonourable Gary Lunn,Minister of NaturalResources (NRCan), duringa luncheon address at thePowell River Chamber ofCommerce.

The nine projects,totalling $2.1 million, aresupported through GeoCon-nections, a national part-nership programme led byNRCan.

Among the different proj-ects, the McGregor ModelForest in Prince George,managed in partnershipwith the University ofBritish Columbia, hasreceived $27,000 toimprove online access toforestry data and otherland-use planning informa-tion.

Spatial Insights offersretail clinic addressdatabase fromMerchant MedicineUSA: Spatial Insights hasannounced the Retail ClinicAddress Database fromMerchant Medicine. Retailclinics are a new model ofhealth care facility openingin neighbourhood pharma-cies and other high-trafficretail outlets nationwide.Merchant Medicine collectsand maintains the locationdata, while Spatial Insightscreates added utility for GISand mapping softwareusers.

The data have been preci-sion geocoded, and byleveraging the newly addedgeographic component ofthe data, clients of bothSpatial Insights and Mer-chant Medicine can easilyvisualise and analyse thedistribution and character-istics of retail clinics in theirmapping and GIS applica-tions. The data attributesalso include ownership,hours of operation, andcontact information foreach retail clinic. Compati-

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

Microsatellites of Space Technology 5 (ST5) Project

ble with all database, desk-top mapping and GIS sys-tems, Merchant Medicine'sDetailed Retail ClinicAddress Database is avail-able on a nationwide basis,with annual, semi-annualor quarterly updates.

GIS-basedReverse 911 inCT, VAUSA: Cities, towns andcounties in Connecticut(CT) and Virginia (VA) willbe able to send recordedmessages to thousands ofpeople in the event of anemergency using Reverse911 technology. Reverse 911uses database and GIS tech-nology to target messagerecipients. The product maybe used to notify residentsin a given area of an emer-gency or to gather emer-gency management emplo-yees. The Reverse 911 soft-ware is installed on hard-ware at the customer's loca-tion. The 911 data and GISmaps reside on the dedicat-ed hardware.

OGC, WfMCpartner toadvanceStandards GoalsUSA: The Open GeospatialConsortium, Inc. (OGC) andthe Workflow ManagementCoalition (WfMC) anno-unced that they havesigned a memorandum ofunderstanding (MOU) tocooperate in advancingstandards-based, interoper-

Edit Google Maps like Wiki; addroads, buildings, etc.

USA: Google is using the successful"anyone can edit" model of Wikipediato improve the quality of informationavailable on Google Maps.They havelaunched Google Map Maker forusers to add new roads, temples, rail-way lines, parks, hospitals, moviehalls, shops and even mountains thatexist in user's area but are missing onthe Google Maps website. The idea isexpected to prevent vandalism to agreat degree since everyone will love

to see their areas marked clean and accurately on Google Maps.The information user adds to Google Maps can be edited or deleted by other users

though there's no way to track edits as one can do in Wikipedia. Google Map Maker maybe some bad news for Wikimapia because going forward, Google may publish contentadded by users on the main Google Maps websites for others to see and use.

USA: Google is attempting to create a com-prehensive map of the world - with photosof individual streets and even houses -through Google Maps. Recently, however,the entire community of North Oaks, Min-nesota - which has 4,500 residents - askedGoogle Maps to remove the images of allof its residents' homes from the website. Previously, through Google's "Street View"application, anyone could see photos ofthe homes in North Oaks, which had beenphotographed by Google photographersfrom the nearest road. "Street View" offersthe same kinds of photos with respect tonumerous American cities. But North Oaksis unusual: It is a "private" city, with roadsowned entirely by residents. (Each home-owner owns part of the land where thestreet is located, and grants each other res-ident an easement of right of way to travelon his or her property.) Thus, althoughNorth Oaks is not a gated community, visi-

tors are greeted by a "No Trespassing" signthat is meant to serve as a gate. Accordingly, North Oaks's City Councilinformed Google in January that Google'scamera crews had trespassed when theyphotographed its residents' homes. TheCouncil asked Google to either remove theimages, or risk being cited for violating thecity's anti-trespassing ordinance. Googleremoved the images, which now cannotbe seen.


Residents oppose images of homes on Google

able workflow and Web-enabled geospatial contentsharing, modeling andvisualisation to address theneeds of their members.Mark Reichardt, Presidentof the OGC, explained, "TheOGC is pleased to have theopportunity to work inpartnership with the WfMCto help make geospatialinformation and processinga more integral part ofworkflow and businessprocess management(BPM)." Anticipated activi-ties include coordinationbetween OGC and WfMC

working groups and com-mittees; involvement ininteroperability testbeds,pilot initiatives and experi-ments; and outreach.

Jason-2 satellite fortracking sea levelslaunchedUSA: The French-US satel-lite Jason 2, was successful-ly launched on 20 Junefrom the Vandenberg AirForce Base :Space launchComplex-2 onboard a Delta2 rocket and climbed intomostly clear skies that letspectators track the flight

for several minutes. Fifty-five minutes after take-off,it reached its orbit some1,335 kilometers (830 miles)above the Earth.

Jason 2 is programmed tomaneuover into the sameorbit as its predecessorJason 1, which waslaunched in 2001, and even-tually replace the oldercraft. The three-year OSTM(Ocean Surface TopographyMission)/Jason 2 missionwill help create the firstmulti-decade global recordof the role of the ocean inclimate change, according

to scientists at NASA's JetPropulsion Laboratory inPasadena, California. It willalso provide more accurateforecasts of seasonalweather patterns, and nearreal-time data on oceanconditions.

FarallonGeogarphics tobuild RIA for"California HealthCare Atlas"USA: Farallon Geographicsand its design partner Sta-men Design have beenselected by the California

News: Regional

ASPRS establishes Abraham Anson MemorialScholarshipUSA: The Abraham Anson Memorial Scholarship Award wasrecently established by the American Society for Pho-togrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) through theASPRS Foundation from funds donated by an Ansonbequest, contributions from the Society and the ASPRSPotomac Region as a tribute to his work in the field of pho-togrammetry, remote sensing, and longdedicated service to the Society. Thefirst time this scholarship will beawarded is at the ASPRS 2009 AnnualConference in Baltimore, Maryland. Thepurpose of the award is to encourageundergraduate students currentlyenrolled or intending to enroll in a U.S.college or university who have an inter-est in pursuing scientific research oreducation in geospatial science or technology.

ASPRS announces certification of the firstremote sensing technologistUSA: Chad Lopez is the first Remote Sensing Technologist tocomplete the requirements for certification under the Amer-ican Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing(ASPRS) certification programme for technologists. Lopez

specialises in processing, analyzing and classifying satelliteand aerial imagery. He has worked with Fugro EarthData,Inc. (formerly EarthData International) since 2005 as aSenior Digital Imaging Analyst and is currently working inshallow-water benthic habitat mapping of the southernTexas coast from 2m multispectral imagery; and land cov-er/land use mapping in South Carolina from 6in multispec-tral imagery.

The ASPRS certification pro-gramme for technologists is specifi-cally geared to drafting technicians,inspectors, photographers, laborato-ry technicians, stereoscopic instru-ment or plotter operators, computa-tions technicians, field survey assis-tants, interpretation technicians,image analysts, data processors,and digitisers. This certification was

instituted to give those working at the technologist level anopportunity to be recogniSed by ASPRS for their respectivecontributions.

The following categories of ASPRS technologist certifica-tion are offered:

• Certified Photogrammetric Technologist

• Certified Remote Sensing Technologist

• Certified GIS/LIS Technologist

G I S D E V E L O P M E N T16 A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

Office of Statewide HealthPlanning and Development(OSHPD) to develop a RichInternet Application (RIA)for the next generation ofits "California Health CareAtlas". The new web-basedatlas will integrate interac-tive mapping, reporting,and charting elements witha dynamic real-time inter-face to tell the healthcarestory in California, allowinga broad spectrum of usersthe ability to investigateand learn about the humanhealth and healthcare land-scape in California. The Far-allon team plans to buildthe server component ofthe application using ESRI'sAcrGIS Server 9.3 for thegeospatial processing andMicrosoft's .NET for thehealthcare data analysisand application logic. Onthe client side, an Adobe'sFlex interface will present arich and dynamic way tounderstand complex spa-tial and temporal perspec-tives.

FEMA releasesflood maps forparishUSA: After two years ofmapping and research, theFederal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA) has released newflood maps for residents of Slidell and the rest of St. Tammany Parish. Thenew maps are importantfor all residents becausethey illustrate the areas

prone to flooding and thosethat have a low risk of flooding. The NationalFlood Insurance Pro-gramme uses these maps toset insurance rates forhomeowners. The newflood maps have beenupgraded from the lastmaps made in 1984 andcontain new flood base ele-vations.

State offersgrants formapping softwareUSA: The Executive Officeof Energy and Environmen-tal Affairs (EEA) is extending an in-kindgrants programme thathelps municipal conserva-tion commissions and landtrusts obtain free computermapping software, trainingand digital maps to guidelocal land use decisions,EEA Secretary Ian Bowlesannounced recently. TheMassachusetts Conserva-tion Mapping AssistancePartnership Program(MACMAPP), a partnershipbetween EEA's MassGISOffice and ESRI, has provid-ed GIS technology andtraining to more than 50conservation commissionsand more than 20 nonprofitland trusts across the state since its inception twoyears ago. Valued at $3,000each, the GIS software,training and support pack-ages awarded throughMACMAPP are a benefitmany small towns and

News: Regional

nonprofit groups could nototherwise afford. Under theprogram, ESRI providessoftware, technical supportand online training courses,while MassGIS providesmap data, a comprehensivetwo-day hands-on trainingcourse, and ongoing support. Grant recipientsare required to share all GIS

data they develop throughthe programme with MassGIS.

NASA grant willfund satellitedata projectUSA: A major grant fromNASA (National Aeronau-tics and Space Administra-tion) will help South Dako-

ta State University scien-tists make satellite dataeasier to use and access viathe Internet.

NASA has awarded USD3.29 million to a five-yearproject led by ProfessorDavid Roy of SDSU's Geographic Information Science Center of Excel-lence.

Maps for oceanareas wherewinds couldproduce windenergyUSA: Scientists have creat-ed maps using nearly adecade of data from NASA'sQuikSCAT satellite, whichreveal ocean areas wherewinds could produce wind energy. The newmaps have many potentialuses including planning thelocation of offshore windfarms to convert wind energy into electric energy.QuikSCAT, launched in 1999, tracks the speed,direction and power of winds near the oceansurface. Data fromQuikSCAT, collected contin-uously by a specialisedmicrowave radar instru-ment named SeaWinds.

NSF Grant forLocation-basedsocial networking USA: The Carbon Projectannounced that the Nation-al Science Foundation has awarded the companya second grant to continuedeveloping the GeosocialNetworking applicationEcho myPlace. EchomyPlace is a people-to-people, Web-based socialapplication that uses the new Microsoft Sil-verlight 2 framework andthe latest 2D mapping and 3D visualisation tech-nology from Microsoft Virtual Earth.

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

USA: The popular Internet service Google Maps can guide you to the Upstairs on theSquare restaurant in Cambridge. Google Maps' Street View feature will even show you apicture of the street outside the restaurant. But Google Maps can't show you the interior.

A new mapping service from EveryScape Inc. of Waltham does just that. With the clickof a mouse, a user glides through the front door of Upstairs on the Square and gets a 360-degree view of the colourful decor.

EveryScape chief executive Jim Schoonmaker thinks thousands of businesses aroundthe world will pay for this kind of exposure, and millions of Internet users will want to

use the service. That's why he sayshis company has a fighting chanceagainst the Internet's most popularsearch service. "I'm quite confidentthat if we have world coverage ofinteriors and exteriors, people willleave Google and come to us,"Schoonmaker said.

A host of venture capital firms,including Dace Ventures, DraperFisher New England, and LaunchPadVenture Group are betting Schoon-maker is right. They've invested USD11 million in EveryScape since 2004,including a $7 million infusion inMarch. To get his pictures, Schoon-maker will count on independentcontractors to drive the world's high-

ways. "Destination ambassadors" will be given "ownership" of geographic areas, and willbe paid by the mile for creating new photo maps, he said. Despite skepticisms expressedin certain quarters about the feasibility of the venture, Schoonmaker believes the worldis large enough to support many online mapping companies, including his own. "Wedon't believe one company, even if it's Google or Microsoft, or even one country, is bigenough to take on this challenge," he said.

G I S D E V E L O P M E N T 18

EveryScape Inc. plans to put interiors on the map

Screen shot of EveryScape.com

Salzburg: Autodesk'sfirst pilot city of itsDigital Cities InitiativeAustria: Autodesk, Inc.,announced that it will beworking with the city ofSalzburg, Austria, as thefirst pilot city in Autodesk'snew Digital Cities initia-tive. The announcementwas made with the Mayorof Salzburg at the AGIT2008 conference inSalzburg. The Digital Cityinitiative is Autodesk'stechnology designed to pro-vide a collaborative envi-ronment for visualising,analysing and simulatingthe future impact of urbandesign and development ata city-wide scale. Autodeskhas chosen to work withSalzburg, one of the greatcultural and historic cen-ters of Europe, to help themintegrate their city datainto a highly detailed 3Dmodel of their city.

Czech Republicaccedes to theESA ConventionCzech Republic: The Agree-ment on the Czech Repub-lic's accession to the Euro-pean Space Agency (ESA)Convention was signed thisJuly in Prague, by Jean-Jacques Dordain, DirectorGeneral of ESA, and MirekTopolánek, Prime Ministerof the Czech Republic. Since

the early 1990s, ESA hasnegotiated and concludedframework cooperationagreements with a numberof central and eastern Euro-pean countries. The CzechRepublic signed such aCooperation Agreementwith ESA in 1996, request-ing more specific collabora-tion. The Czech Republic isnow embarking on the rati-fication procedure that willmake it a formal ESA Mem-ber State by the end of theyear. With the accession ofthe Czech Republic, ESA andits Member States aretogether extending theboundaries of space evenfurther to take in new coun-tries and new ambitions.

GeoInformationGroup’s urban 3DBuilding BlocksdatabaseUK: The GeoInformationGroup announced the com-mercial availability of theUK trade's first 3D BuildingBlocks database. This data-base provides detailedbuilding height informa-tion and outlines for 568towns and cities across theUK and is available in stan-dard GIS and CAD formats.3D Building Blocks offersusers the opportunity tomodel urban areas withminimal costs, time andeffort.

This product is claimed toprovide immediate benefitsto cost conscious develop-ers looking to improve the

presentation quality ofurban development propos-als and for like-minded gov-ernment planning profes-sionals requiring a ready-made model of their city. Itis ideal dataset for all proj-ects that require a broader3D urban landscape model.

3D Building Blocks is cap-tured and processed inde-pendently of any nationalmapping agency. Datasources include: IntermapNEXTMap, Cities RevealedLiDAR and Cities RevealedModern aerial imagery,with further height meas-urements quantified byfieldwork and handheldlaser measurements. Unlikethe Cities Revealed BuildingHeights database, whichprovides height informa-tion linked to the buildingoutlines in Ordnance Sur-vey MasterMap data, thebuilding block outlineswithin Cities Revealed 3DBuilding Blocks are separat-ed by their height differ-ences.

Getmappingannounces onlineavailability of urbanLiDAR dataUK: Getmapping anno-unced the availability ofCities Revealed LiDAR (LightDetection and Ranging)data to add to its significantportfolio of height data of England, Wales and Scotland. The new LiDARdata covers the main centres of population,

including Greater London,Birmingham, Greater Manchester, Liverpool,Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh and is avail-able online from Getmap-ping.com.

UK-DMC-2 passesTest ReadinessReviewUK: Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd.'s (SSTL) privately funded UK-DMC -2 (Disaster Monitoring Constellation) has passedits Test Readiness Review(TRR) at its ManufacturingIntegration and Test Facilities in Guildford, UK. Scheduled for build comple-tion in September 2008, the new Earth Observationsatellite will provide higher performance imag-ing capabilities to the Disaster Monitoring Constellation which isoperated by SSTL's subsidiary DMCii.

UK-DMC-2 will carry an enhanced version of the DMC (Disaster Monitoring Constellation)camera which will provide600km wide multi-spectralimages of the Earth at aground resolution of 22-metres.

The TRR (Test ReadinessReview) assesses the statusof the fully integratedspacecraft and the ability of DMC-UK-2 to begin its EVT (Environmental Validation and Test) cam-paign.


4cm resolutionaerial surveyapproved

UK: The GeoInformationGroup, publishers of CitiesRevealed aerial photogra-phy, announced that it hasreceived approval to survey

the whole of London at thehighest resolution ever cap-tured. The level of detail isunparalleled - aerialimagery captured at 4cmand provides a highlydetailed view of the worldwith road markings and

street furniture clearly visi-ble. Since the events of 9/11and 7/7 increased nationalsecurity has meant that ithas been difficult for aerialsurvey suppliers to gainapproval on aerial surveyflights below 4000 metres.

The GeoInformation Grouphas been granted approvalto fly London at an altitudeof 1500 metres; the lowestaltitude an aerial surveyhas been flown over thecapital. The aerial surveywill utilise a twin turbo

News: Regional

G I S D E V E L O P M E N T20 A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

UK: It's official. Britain has put itsname to an international commit-ment to make data produced bygovernment bodies available forfree use in the internet economy.This is the first formal statementthat the government has come onboard the Free Our Data campaign

launched by Guardian Technology(and widely derided as impractical)more than two years ago.

The commitment to make publicsector information free, or charge nomore than the marginal cost ofmaintaining and distributing theextra copy, appears in the Seoul dec-laration for the future of the inter-net economy, signed in the SouthKorean capital last week. The UK

was one of nearly 40 countries toendorse the declaration, drawn upby the OECD (Organisation of Eco-

nomic Cooperation and Develop-ment) club of developed nations.

Alongside commitments toencourage broadband, reduce digi-tal exclusion and protect the criticalinfrastructure of the net, the decla-ration recognises the importance ofpublic sector information in the

new economy. "Publicorganisations are amajor source of infor-mation, an increasingamount of which is digi-tised or produced in dig-ital form and can be re-used in innovativeways for significant economic and socialbenefit."

The declaration callsfor the removal of"unnecessary restric-tions on the ways inwhich it can beaccessed, used, re-used,combined or shared".When public sectorinformation is not pro-vided free, prices shouldbe transparent "and notexceed marginal costs of maintenance and dis-tribution". However,one loophole is avail-

able: "Any higher pricing should bebased on clearly expressed policygrounds."

Britain finally signs up to makinggovernment data free for re-use

prop airplane fitted withthe latest digital cameratechnology, which will flyslow enough to achieveimage overlaps for stereoviewing.

Multimap AppointsiCrossing to deliversearch marketingcampaignUK: iCrossing, a global digi-tal marketing company,has been appointed todeliver an integrated searchmarketing campaign forMultimap, provider ofonline mapping and loca-tion-based services. Thecampaign has been devel-oped to meet Multimap’saggressive growth targets

by enhancing search rank-ings in order to increaseuser numbers. To achievethis, iCrossing has devised anatural search optimisationstrategy that will buildsearch engine visibility on awide range of search termsassociated with Multimap’sservices. A paid search cam-paign will maximise theoverall effectiveness of thecampaign, further boostingsite traffic, enhancing thesite’s appeal to potentialadvertisers. The Multimapcampaign will take aresearch-led approach,combining in-depth marketresearch and linguistic pro-filing to identify languagepatterns and track search

habits. This data will thenbe used to inform and con-tinually evolve the searchstrategy.

Satellite NavigationCompetition (ESNC)with ESA special prizeFrance: For the first timeESA is offering an Innova-tion Prize as part of thisyear’s European SatelliteNavigation Competition.ESA has already been sup-porting this competitionthrough its TechnologyTransfer Programme Officesince the start four yearsago. The aim is to find newideas for the commercialuse of global satellite navi-gation systems, and to kick

off new businesses in thisarea in Europe. The innova-tive ideas for satellite navi-gation applications origi-nating from previousrounds of the competitionare systems that reportflooding in real time, trackyour carbon footprint, etc.All have one thing in com-mon: they use the servicesprovided by global satellitenavigation systems.

The chronology of ESNC isas

• 31st July - Closing of theDatabase

• August - Evaluation of theIdeas

• 18th/19th - SeptemberInternational Expert Meeting

• 21st October - Award Cer-emony at Munich Residence

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News: Business

Definienspartners withLagen Spatial Australia: Definiens, theenterprise image intelli-gence company, ann-ounced that it has teamedup with Sydney-basedLagen Spatial to deliverhighly-integrated imageanalysis solutions and serv-ices, especially to govern-mental customers. LagenSpatial conducts consultingbusiness, software distribu-tion and reselling for spatial or location basedtechnologies. Under the terms of this partneragre ment, Lagen Spatialbe-comes an authorised value added reseller ofDefiniens.

AAMHatchopens new KLofficeMalaysia: AAMHatchannounced the opening ofits new Kuala Lumpuroffice. The office isAAMHatch's South EastAsian regional headquar-ters and will serve expand-ing operations throughoutthe region. The companycontinues its partnershipwith local Malaysian com-pany, RS & GIS ConsultancySdn Bhd (RESGIS) in thenew offices.

1Spatial acquiresComSineUK: 1Spatial, spatial datamanagement firm,announced the acquisition

of ComSine, a privatelyowned SME specialising inIT consultancy and devel-opment for the telecommu-nications, navigation andgeographic informationindustries, including satel-lite Earth observation. Com-Sine's intellectual propertyin the communications sec-tor will enable 1Spatial toventure into the rapidlydeveloping Sensor WebEnablement (SWE) market-place.

Google signs fiveyear mapagreement withTele AtlasThe Netherlands: Tele Atlas,provider of digital mapsand dynamic content for

navigation and location-based solutions, announcedthat Google has signed along term license agree-ment with the companythat gives Google access toTele Atlas maps anddynamic content in morethan 200 countries aroundthe world. The agreementspans Google's current andfuture map-based servicesand navigation offeringsacross mobile, online anddesktop environments.These include the GoogleMaps and Google Earthservices and mobile appli-cations such as GoogleMaps for Mobile. The agree-ment also gives Tele Atlasaccess to edits for its mapsfrom Google's community

of users. Financial terms ofthe agreement were notdisclosed.

Astriumpurchasesmajority share inSpot ImageUK: Astrium, Europe's lead-ing space company, hasannounced the purchase offurther shares in SpotImage from the FrenchSpace Agency (CNES). Thisis a significant deal result-ing in Astrium holding 81%of Spot Image and thereforebecoming the majorityshareholder. As part ofAstrium, Infoterra & SpotImage will work togetherwithin the Earth Observa-tion Division of AstriumServices. This purchasereaffirms Astrium's com-mitment to strengtheningits presence in the entireEarth observation valuechain - satellites, space-borne and airborne data,ground segment, applica-tion solutions and informa-tion management and dis-tribution.

CGSE ties upwith DigitalGlobeUSA: Columbus GeographicSystems (GIS) Ltd.announced that it hasreached an importantunderstanding with Digi-talGlobe according towhich Columbus will haveaccess to DigitalGlobe's dig-ital image bank for use inthe Ranger navigation sys-tem. DigitalGlobe operates

three imaging satellites:Worldview I, Worldview II,and QuickBird.

Infotech wins multi-project awards in theNew England areaUSA: Infotech EnterprisesAmerica, Inc. announcedthe award of multiple basemapping projects in theNew England area. Theawards include major proj-ects in the states of Massa-chusetts and New Hamp-shire. The awards were theresult of nation-wide com-petitive bids to provideservices including the pro-duction of colour andColour Infrared (CIR) pho-tography, the production ofhigh resolution digitalorthophotos, the creation ofDigital Terrain Models(DTM) and Digital ElevationModels (DEM), as well asthe generation of 2-footcontour intervals and thecapture of detailed plani-metric features in the fol-lowing categories: Struc-tures, Hydrography, Trans-portation, Vegetation,Recreation, and Utilities.

Marshall ties upwith Azteca toprovide mobileGIS solutionsUSA: Marshall and Associ-ates, Inc. (Marshall)announced that it hasentered a strategic alliancewith Azteca Systems, Inc.Under the terms of theagreement, Marshall willintegrate its flagship Geo-

Results Mobile GIS andoperations field automa-tion solution with the City-works Enterprise AssetManagement software, toprovide mobile GIS, fielddata collection, asset condi-tion updates and workorder processing for field-based staff.

Intermap and G-VRform CAD allianceUSA: Digital mapping com-pany Intermap Technolo-gies has collaborated withLondon-based 3D digitalmodel provider G-VR todevelop optimised triangu-lated irregular network(TIN) models for computer-aided design (CAD) applica-tions. The Optimised TINModels (OTMs) developedfrom Intermap's digital ter-rain elevation data can beused by engineering firmsfor landscape modeling,engineering and design,architectural visualisation,and computer gaming.They can also be used withother geospatial layers andimagery data to create 3Dvisualizations.

TerraGo’salliance withAdobeUSA: TerraGo Technologieshas signed an AllianceAgreement with Adobe Sys-tems Incorporated. As partof the agreement, Adobewill provide support forTerraGo's GeoPDF in thenew Adobe Acrobat 9 soft-ware. In addition, TerraGo

will fully support consump-tion of geo-enabled PDFfiles from Adobe and othervendors, allowing cus-tomers to easily build anddeliver GeoApps for use byanyone, anywhere, regard-less of data format or appli-cation source.

Contex acquires IDEALscanner’s distributiondivisionUSA: IDEAL announced thatits Scanners DistributionDivision has been acquiredby Contex. IDEAL has consistently been Contex'slargest US-based distributorof wide-format scanningand imaging solutions,since 1988. This acquisitionis designed to providestronger and more directsupport to IDEAL's large for-mat scanning businesspartners, distributors anddealers.

New Presidentfor FugroEarthData, Inc.USA: Edward Saade hasbeen appointed Presidentand Managing Director ofFugro-EarthData, Inc. Taking over for Anne HaleMiglarese, who led thecompany's transition fromprivate ownership to its current standing as amember of the internation-al Fugro organisation, Mr. Saade will assumeresponsibility for comp-nay’s traditional mapping,GeoSAR radar mapping,and GIS business lines.



News: PRODUCT

UltraCamL, UltraCamX Prime from VexelAustria: Vexcel Imaging, GmbH, Microsoft's Photogram-metry division, announced the UltraCamL, a smaller,lighter version of the UltraCam large format digital aerialcamera system designed to serve the needs of small map-ping firms. The UltraCamL, is claimed to have a lower pricepoint than existing large format systems and offers a com-petitive solution for mapping companies looking for acost-effective way to transition from film to digital, with-out sacrificing image quality. The camera is is ideal forsmaller aircraft and local projects that require a rapidresponse. The UltraCamL collects RGB and NIR in parallel. Itmaintains forward overlap of 80% at 3 inch (7.62 cm) pixelsand a short frame interval of 2 seconds. An added featureof the UltraCamL is the ability to integrate with a LiDARsensor system in the same aircraft.

UltraCamX PrimeUltraCamX Prime (UltraCamXp) is an enhanced version

of UltraCamX large format digital camera system. TheUltraCamXp offers a larger image format and more storagecapacity, while improving upon the high image quality. Itsenlarged footprint is 196 megapixels, or 17,310 across trackand 11,310 along track panchromatic pixels, making it thelargest format digital aerial sensor ever introduced, claimsa release from the company.

Medium-format Digital AerialCamera from IntergraphUSA: Intergraph introduced the RMK DT, a new medium-format digital aerial camera designed to replace film-based technology for smaller mapping and remote sensingprojects and for high resolution engineering projects. Anew addition to Intergraph's Z/I Imaging product suite, thecamera will be ideal for film camera owners seeking anentry into the digital acquisition arena and for organisa-tions that wish to supplement their existing digital cam-eras with a versatile system for smaller projects.

RMK DT features high geometric resolution, a 14 bit perpixel, high radiometric dynamic range of 70 dB, whichallows users to capture quality images even in lower lightconditions, and wide range digital forward motion com-pensation (FMC), which reduces the blurring of images. Italso includes full 1:1 colour resolution and multi-spectralsensors. The new camera will be available in early 2009.

Digital pen aids GIS functionsUSA: Adapx is rolling out a channel programme for a digi-tal pen that captures a user's handwritten notes, storesthem inside the pen, and then transfers them to the user'sPC once the pen is docked. The company is now pitchingthe product for GIS applications.

The device is actually includes an ARM processor,onboard memory and an infrared sensor. By writing onwatermarked paper printed from Adapx software thatcomes with the pen, or in preprinted books, the pen sens-es and records where it is on the paper and how it moveson the paper. Once docked, the pen transfers that informa-tion to the user's PC. According to company's release, localgovernments and utility authorities have embraced thetechnology as a way for engineers to quickly capture mapannotations while they are in the field. The engineerscome to the site with a map that's been preprinted withthe watermark. They write their annotations right on themap. When they return to their offices they doc the penand the map is updated.

• ESRI's ArcPad 7.1.1 Software

• ERDAS announced the release of an ECW and JPEG 2000 plug-in for AutoCAD 2007 / 2008 / 2009

• Bentley unveiled Bentley Gas V8 XM Edition

• New Version of image fusion & pan-sharpening software from GeoSage

• LV100 GPS Compass Board from Hemisphere GPS

• Latitude Geographics releases Geocortex Essentials 1.3

• Spatially Enabled Version of Pentaho Data Integration

• DigitalGlobe releases CitySphere 2.0

• Geospace Inc. releases FeatureObjeX 1.0

• Maptitude for Great Britain 5.0 is now available

• IDV Solutions' Silverlight Map Viewer

• SurveyMaster from Topcon

Other releases

Releases at ISPRS, Beijing

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

RELEASES

Garmin bringstouch Screen GPSto the trailhead Garmin International Inc.'s,Oregon series of handheldGPS devices are for outdoor,marine and fitness enthusi-

asts, combining a touch-screen interface, rugged,resilient design . The water-proof Oregon features ahigh-sensitivity GPS receiv-er, preloaded mapping, ahigh-resolution, color 3-

inch screen and Garmin'snew HotFixTM feature,which automatically calcu-lates and stores critical satellite informa-tion . The Oregon 400t giveshikers preloaded U.S. topographic maps. TheOregon 400i offers anglersshoreline details, depthcontours and boat rampsfor U.S. inland lakes andnavigable rivers. The Oregon 400c is a saltwaterspecialist, providing chartcoverage for the coastal U.S. and Bahamas. The Oregon 300 features aworldwide basemap withshaded relief. The Oregon200 provides a basemapthat can be easily supple-mented with additionalmapping .

CSC launchesOmniLocation suite ofvisibility serviceofferings CSC announced the launchof its OmniLocation suite of

enterprise visibility solu-tions. The offering will pro-vide public and private sec-tor companies with a newlevel of visibility toimprove the safety, securityand efficiency of theiremployees and operations.OmniLocation integrateslocation-based systemsdata, such as GPS and RFID, with static anddynamic information about people, equipment, vehi-cles, assets and infrastruc-ture. OmniLocation is available in three serviceofferings designed for specific needs: LocationObject Field Tracking(LOFT), Location Intelli-gence Safety Application(LISA), and Chain of Custody Asset Tracking(CoCAT).

Skyhook Wirelessannounces XPS 2.0 -the advanced hybridpositioning systemSkyhook Wireless announ-ced the availability of XPS2.0, a next-generationhybrid positioning systemthat combines signals fromWi-Fi access points, GPSsatellites and cell towers to deliver the quickest, precise and consistent over-all location for mass markethandsets. XPS builds on topof the revolutionary Wi-Fi Positioning System(WPS) that is alreadydeployed on tens of millions of mobile devicesworldwide.

u-blox unveilsGPS moduleu-blox AG has announcedthe launch of a miniature

GPS module designed forhigh volume, mass-marketapplications . The NEO-5Q isa stand-alone GPS modulein a 12 x 16 x 2.4-millimeterpackage. Its ROM-basedarchitecture does notrequire an external FlashEPROM. u-blox 5, the module features an enginewith 50 channels and morethan one million correlatorscapable of simultaneouslytracking GPS and GALILEOsignals.

MAP PROVIDERS

MapmyIndiaexpandsnavigable map to174 cities MapmyIndia has madeannouncement about theaddition of detailed mapsto its GPS navigationdevice, MapmyIndia Navi-gator.The new editioncalled MapmyIndia Naviga-tor 2.0 offers up coverage ofstreet-level maps for 174Indian cities. With thisaddition, GPS navigationhas moved beyond metro-politans and entered Tier IIand III cities. It will cover up

27G I S D E V E L O P M E N T

Loopt brings Location Context to 3G iPhone

Loopt, a location aware mobile social network startup brings Locationcontext to 3G iPhone. Their latest release for the iPhone integratesmicroblogging and reviews from Yelp into its interface.

TomTom announces iPhone GPS app

TomTom is ready with an iPhone version of its software that it plansto sell through the iTunes App Store. TomTom may offer its softwarefor local database of maps that users can access and customize even ifthey don't have an internet connection.

Posimotion's launches iPhone apps

PosiMotion has introduced GPS-enabled Wi-Fi router and GPS app onthe iPhone 2.0. G-Spot is an app which can determine the directionwhere you are heading; it also shows your longitude and latitude. G-Park lets you find your parked car easily. G-Fi, a mobile GPS networkrouter, adding GPS capability to any nearby Wi-Fi enabled devices.

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

Applications on the new iPhone 2.0 with GPS

Location

G I S D E V E L O P M E N T A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

more than 4,50,000 pointsof interest. The service canbe subscribed to at GeneralMotors car dealerships,accessory outlets, and con-sumer electronics retailchains and outlets apartfrom purchasing it directlyfrom MapmyIndiaportal.Subsisting Ma myIn-dia Navigator subscriberscan upgrade to version 2.0free of charge.

AND debuts onlineuser-editable Map AND Automotive Naviga-tion Data has unveiled version 2 of its product theAND Map, this version com-prising an online mapeditable by users. All editsto the AND Map 2.0 areimmediately stored in themap database and visible toeveryone. Users can add,remove and edit roads andpoints of interest.

All improvements will beavailable to end-users viathe online map at the ANDMap 2.0 website .

TomTom MapShare data comesto Tele AtlasmapsTomTom is bringing itsMap Share feedback datafrom its personal naviga-tion device data to Tele Atlas and incorporat-ing it into Tele Atlas digitalmaps. With the company'sacquisition of the digitalmap data supplier complet-ed in June, it said that

Map Share data would be available in Tele Atlasmap releases by the fourthquarter of 2008.

BUSINESS

Nokia completesNavteq acquisition Nokia announced that ithas completed its acquisi-tion of NAVTEQ. As part of Nokia, NAVTEQ will continue to develop itsexpertise in the navigation

industry, service its strongcustomer base and invest inthe further development of its map data and technol-ogy platform. It will continue to build out andexpand coverage of coun-tries already included in its database as well as add new pieces of both static and dynamiccontent.

Intrinsyc closesDestinatorTechnologiesacquisitionIntrinsyc Software Interna-tional Inc., announced thatit has completed the acqui-sition of certain assets andoperations of DestinatorTechnologies Inc. and

certain of its affiliates. Withthe closing of this acquisi-tion, Intrinsyc software rev-enues will make upbetween 32 percent to 37percent of overall revenuesfor fiscal 2008.

CSR and SkyhookWireless partner onWi-Fi PositioningTechnologies CSR and Skyhook Wirelessannounced a partnershipthat will bring advancedlocation capabilities toCSR's Wi-Fi silicon. SkyhookWireless core technology,the Wi-Fi Positioning Sys-tem (WPS), is software thatproduces accurate locationinformation by detectingWi-Fi access points andcomparing them against aknown database of geo-located points.

Google signs five yearmap agreement withTele AtlasTele Atlas announced thatGoogle has signed a longterm license agreementwith the company thatgives Google access to Tele

Atlas maps and dynamiccontent in more than 200countries around the world.The agreement spansGoogle's current and futuremap-based services andnavigation offerings acrossmobile, online and desktopenvironments. The agree-ment also gives Tele Atlasaccess to edits for its mapsfrom Google's communityof users, whose suggestedchanges can help the com-pany further increase thequality and richness of Tele Atlas maps.

Nokia completesPlazes acquisitionNokia has completed its acquisition of the privately owned startupPlazes. The Berlin-basedPlazes enables mobile usersto plan, record, and sharetheir social activities usingvarious navigation aids,including GPS location,MAC address of networksand Wi-Fi access. Thisacquisition helps Nokia toaccelerate its vision ofbringing people and placescloser together.

Report

ABI Research: Outdoor GPS Popularity Driven by User-FriendlyDevices and Converged Solutions

In-Stat: China's GPS Handset Market Growing Rapidly

ABI Research: Location Based Services "On the Move" in Asia andEurope

iSuppli: PND Display Shipments to Nearly Double by 2010

In-Stat: Worldwide unit shipments of PNDs are expected to grow from30.7 million units in 2007 to 68 million units in 2012.

Databeans: 11% CAGR for GPS chipset until 2013

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This is the dilemma funding agenciesand donor organisations/governmentsoften find themselves in. But the choiceneed not be 'either or'. If used intelli-gently and innovatively, ICTs can forman integral component of developmentprojects. This has been amply provedby the Village Resource Centres (VRC) -a unique concept developed by theIndian Space Research Organisation(ISRO).

VRC is a concept built on the mandateof the country's premier space organi-sation to develop space related tech-nologies and apply them to the realproblems of man and society. It is aservice that facilitates information tothe fishermen in the middle of the sea,where to find schools of fish; a servicewhere a doctor sitting in a corporatehospital treats patients in a remote vil-lage in Kerala; a service that sources

out scores of vocational course andchurns out thousands of skilled/semi-skilled workers. In short, this is a serv-ice that can harnesses technology toenhance livelihoods and skills for ruralprosperity. The best part of the VRCs isthat it does not use technology becauseit is there, but uses it for a genuineadvantage. People and their contextsdecide the implementation of develop-ment interventions. The needs of thepeople and the best means to satisfythem determine the entire programme.

NGO LINK UPThe programme, launched in 2004,runs in association with NGOs / Trustsand concerned state/ central agencies.This is to optimise the resources and to

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8G I S D E V E L O P M E N T30

Cover Story

Village Resource Centre A step closer to the grassroots

can information and communication technologies (ICTs)support development and social infrastructure projects? Will the money invested in communication

devices and computers bring in tangible benefits to the targeted group or it is better spent on providing food, shelter,health and education?

increase the reach and the quantum ofcontent. While ISRO has set up VRCs inassociation with state governments inSikkim, Nagaland and Kerala, it tied upwith several genuine NGOs in manystates. It has also forged consortia ofNGOs to facilitate sharing of content.

While ISRO primarily provides satel-lite connectivity and bandwidth; tele-medicine and tele-education facilities;and available/ customised spatialinformation on natural resources,along with indigenously developedquery system, the responsibilities ofhousing, managing and operating theVRCs, with all relevant contents restwith the associating agencies.

SERVICESLaboratories, especially national labs,which have resources, have a superfi-cial perception of the needs anddemands of population. On the otherhand, the NGOs who have a grassrootperception of the problems , rarely havethe technological resources to solvethem. To overcome this mismatch,NGOs associated with VRCs carry outextensive household surveys and gaina better understanding of the needs ofthe local population that range fromneed for information to need forfinances. Linkages with banks, govern-ment bodies, universities, market agen-cies, hospitals and insurance compa-nies provide supplementary informa-

tion and services. Programmes, coursesand services are then charted out basedon the inputs from these discussions. Agamut of services are provided by theVRCs ranging from information andadvisories on land use, naturalresources to providing completelystructured courses in computer literacy,carpentry, plumbing etc churning outtrained nursing assistants, lab techni-cians and electrical technicians.

VRCs have created a revolution ofsorts with its programmes. Forinstance, the programme on microenterprise and micro credit helps theself help groups right from the feasibili-ty study through preparing project pro-posal, securing loans to providing

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8 31G I S D E V E L O P M E N T

How do you see space,rocket science and tech-

nology coming to the help ofcommon man?The Indian Space Programme,right from its inception, hasbeen concentrating on how thistechnology can be used to solvethe day-to-day problems of manand the society. This has beenthe vision of Dr Sarabhai, andwe have truly lived up to hisspirit. In the mid 70s, we havecarried out a programme tospread knowledge and educa-tion to the rural people.It has been a unique experiment,and more than 2000 villages inthe different parts of India benefitted. This has not onlydemonstrated the capability ofaudio visual medium, but how itcan be integrated to address theproblems of rural people, andhow the solutions can be com-municated to them in an under-standable manner. The logical extension of this has been theEDUSAT network supplement-ing the regular education inschools, colleges and technical institutions.

In remote sensing applications,we have taken the lead earlywith IRS satellites, conceived tomeet the specific needs of agri-culture, fisheries, forestry andwater resources management -the areas that really touch thelives of the people. We havemade sure, the composition ofthe spectral bands and the reso-lutions are tuned to meet specif-ic applications. Be it CARTOSATwith its stereo viewing capabilityand one metre resolution,RESOURCESAT with multi-spectral imaging capability, orthe recently launched IndianMini-Satellite (IMS), all theseare targeted for meeting specif-ic requirements. The programmeto provide advisories on thepotential fishing zones, opera-tionalised by the Department ofOcean Development, is a suc-cessful one. I don’t think there isone such programme runningelsewhere in the world. Coastalvillages of Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala andother maritime States have beenbenefiting from this information.If you look at our communication

and remote sensing pro-grammes, on the one side wedevelop high technology on ourown, and on the other, we try toachieve as much as possible inapplications, even excellingworld standards in some areas.

So farr, the applicationsare driven by government

departments. We are slowly see-ing more people-oriented effortscoming in. Do you see that hap-pening with VRCs? Do you seerural people driving certainapplications?

Village Resource Centre is aconcept wherein we have inte-grated remote sensing applica-tions with local developmentplans and connectivity that canbe used for tele-education, tele-medicine and so on. It is a self-contained system, which meetsthe basic needs of the villages.Initially we have put up a fewVRCs in selected locations, andhave also provided certain con-tents. Now, people are increas-ingly realising the advantages ofsuch a system, and the demand

for VRCs is very high. Voluntaryorganisations interested in con-tributing to the rural develop-ment are partners in this ventureand the programme is reallygaining momentum. The suc-cess of voluntary organisationsworking with the villagers istremendous. I don’t have figuresat this moment, but I see greatenthusiasm in how the villagersare going for water harvesting,adopting alternate land usepractices in cultivation, how theyare addresssing skill develop-

G Madhavan NairChairman,Indian Space ResearchOrganisation

Q.

Q.

Evolving a viable economic model is the next step

hands-on training and providin marketlinkages. MS Swaminathan Founda-tion's (MSSRF) 'knowledge on wheels' isyet another unique programme. Underthis, MSSRF tied up with ShankarNetralaya to provide eye care facilitiesand create eye care awareness usingthe VRC network. "The programmesenvisages bringing the experts andgrassroots level communities togetherin two-way communication with the

objective thatknowledge shouldreach every home,"quips SenthilKumaran, Director.

Unlike ISRO-MSS-RF VRCs, ISRO-AMRITA VRCs,working in Keralaand Tamil Nadu, arededicated to thecause of education,

health and community capacity build-ing. The SEWA-ABHIYAN VRC networkin Gujarat specialises in skill develop-ment courses, coaching classes for stu-dents and training for SHGs. TheDHAN-Byrraju Foundtion working inAndhra Pradesh has tied up with theagricultural university for advisories onagriculture and Swamy RamnandaTheertha Rural Institute for livelihoodactivities. This apart, DHAN-Byrraju

network doles out a variety of pro-grammes that include embroideryclasses, beautician courses and coach-ing for engineering entrances. To sumup the activities at VRCs in the words ofDr VS Hegde (Project Coordinator, VRC,ISRO) , "Lot of experimentation is hap-pening. I can't say big things are hap-pening, but definitely unique thingsare happening."

The availability of broadband net-work has enhanced the operationalcapacities of partner agencies in termsof both quantity and quality. Interac-tive services are enabled through VRCsto attract more users. For example,MSSRF VRC Thangachhimadam, TamilNadu, which used to have around 125consultations per month has startedgetting more than 500 consultationsafter it graduated to ISRO-MSSRF VRC.This trend is visible in all VRCs. "We arebringing the power of synchronous

32 G I S D E V E L O P M E N T A U G U S T 2 0 0 832 G I S D E V E L O P M E N T

ment problems, basic needs ofagriculture like better tools andbetter information access, alongwith training in areas like car-pentry, electrician, plumbingskills, etc. The digital connectivi-ty has enabled the expert cen-tres in training the rural youth onadvanced techniques, help themperform better, and improvetheir income levels. For example,in Tamil Nadu, a course hasbeen conducted for students at10th standard level, and in oneyear, around one thousand ofthem have been trained to carryout skilled jobs like electrical,plumbing and carpentry. Theyhave used this knowledge forself-employment. Agriculturesector will show results after afew years. With the changes inland use, economic benefits willdirectly accrue to them. Oneexample is the Sujala projectbeing implemented in Karnata-ka. It is a World Bank fundedproject for watershed baseddevelopment. We have beenproviding technical advises as

well as services. Over the lastfew years, the reported figureshave shown up to 40% increasein the income levels. So, thesetools are definitely powerful.

What is your idea aboutinstitutionalising the

whole process?We have already demonstratedthis fact with about 400 VRCs,and I can say that about 80% ofthem are 100% successful. Theremaining will catch up soon. Itall depends on the interest ofthe user community. I expectthat State and Central govern-ments will come forward to takeup further expansion of thesenetworks. We, on our part, havebeen encouraging the voluntaryagencies. The Union RuralDevelopment Ministry has beenappraised about this. They haveshown interest to put someinvestments in this area. Stategovernments have been appre-ciating this concept. The poten-tial for expansion is high. Butwe are not sure of one thing;

that is how far we can convertthis into a revenue model tosustain this activity. The majorobjective of this activity is toserve the people in the villages,especially the poor people. Tomake the services affordable tothese people, government willhave to subsidise such schemes.Government is investing in manyareas of rural development. Andlooking at the benefit, differentministries are expected to comeforward to expand the project.Even if we set up one VRC for acluster of about 10 villages, thepotential is for setting up about60,000-70,000 VRCs in thecountry. Of course, the volumeof activities in establishing VRCsand providing services has itsown commercial aspects. Morethan that, the benefits accruedindirectly and directly will pay-back more than what we haveinvested. It can also supplementsome of the e-governanceaspects. Such a network cancater to remote areas where ter-restrial connectivity is not avail-

able. So, if you say, e-gover-nance service can be charged, itcan perhaps bring some incometo the people who are managingthe system. So it is quite possi-ble to evolve this into a revenuemodel.

Some people talk aboutthe PPCO model. Sam

Pitroda has turned the tele-phone, which has been a privateinstrument, into a publicc facility.And it became viable because ithas provided many other servic-es along with it. Do you thinksomething of that sort can bedone with VRCs?The concept of VRC is similar.We are taking digital connectivi-ty to the remotest parts of ourcountry where there is no con-nectivity at all. The secondaspect is providing multipleservices through the same setup. The system is available on24x7 basis. One may use it forplanning and execution purpos-es for 3-4 hours and theremaining time is available for

Q.

Q.

learning to the public," asserts DrHegde.

ONLINE DECISION SUPPORTWith ISRO making available informa-tion on land and water resourcesthrough comprehensive databases ondetailed scales extracted from high res-olution satellite imageries, VRCs bringaccess to spatial information on vari-ous themes such as land-use/land-cov-er, soil, ground water prospects but alsoenable the farmers to get query baseddecision support. GIS databases com-prising all thematic layers, cadastralboundaries, road network, canal anddrainage network have been created. Asoftware has been developed to access-ing and querying the natural resourceinformation and related advisories,which enables farmers to get onlinedecision support at cadastral levels.

ISSUES ANDCHALLENGESWhile it has alwaysbeen a challenge toevolve high-endtechnological solu-tions (like VRCs) tosolve grassrootproblems, the VRCexperience hastaught many a valu-able lessons thatgave impetus to take the programmefurther. First, it has established that asynergy and convergence with otherinitiatives is vital to bring in tangiblebenefits of technology to the rural peo-ple. For example, the ISRO-MSSRF VRCsin Tamil Nadu is able to provideenhanced services because of its con-vergent activity with Jamsetji TataNational Virtual Academy for RuralProsperity (NVA) and Microsoft Unilim-

ited Potential Programme . Similarly, ISRO is able to service all the

hardware needs of the VRCs across thecountry with the help of a call centreset up in association with Bharat Elec-tronics Limited (BEL) and deals all thesoftware issues with AMRITA andinhouse resources.

At this point, it is important to notethat to widen the activities and reachout to larger population, VRCs should

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8 33G I S D E V E L O P M E N T 33G I S D E V E L O P M E N T

providing services, knowledgetransfer and exchange, intra-netservices and other activities.Further expansion to smaller vil-lages and even to the door-steps can be conceived if yougo in for a combination of com-plementary communication tech-nologies including the wirelesswith VRC networks. We are inthe process of conceiving sucha system. IIT Madras has devel-oped one such system and wehave to see how best we canmarry the VRCs with such sys-tems. With the expansion ofVRCs, the bandwidth require-ment will go up, and we willrequire up-to half a dozen satel-lites to service all the villages inthe country. It then becomes aninvestment aspect with demandsfor orbital slots, newer frequen-cies for meeting operationalneeds, etc. These aspects posemore challenges at the nationallevel. Rural connectivity is thebiggest problem today. Thenearest telephone booth isabout 30-40 Km in more than

30,000 villages. Reaching suchplaces is a tremendous task. Wewill try to evolve a good, viableeconomic model, which can bereplicated. That will be our nextstep.

You talked about mini-satellite. Do you think

something of this sort candirectly fit into a prrogramme likeVRCs?About 20 years ago, our IRSsatellite weighed 850 Kg. It hasbeen providing multi-spectraldata useful for agriculture, disas-ter management, etc. Today, wehave been providing the samecapability with 80-100 Kg satel-lite. At this weight, the cost ofthe satellite comes down, cost ofthe launch comes down, theybecome more affordable, and ifwe want frequent observations,we can have a cluster of them.Today, it is not just sufficient tolook at the surface of the earth.We should look at the atmos-phere in more detail, especiallywhen we have environmental

problems. There are a lot of sci-entists waiting with good ideasto study the coupling of iono-sphere, atmosphere and thesolar system, such experimentsbecome affordable. Also, a lowcost terminal can directly relayinformation in a radius of about100-150 Km. This makes it agood tool for local development.So mini-satellite experiment is aunique step for expanding spacebased activities.

Apart from supplying hard-ware, do you see any area

where the industry can ccon-tribute? Is there a scope for theindustry to look upon this as apotential market that is largeelyunexplored?Again, we have to look at oureconomic condition. In a coun-try like America or in Europe, afarmer can afford to pay. Thereare just about 2% farmers intheir countries and their incomelevels are high. But here in India,70% of our population lives onagriculture. And they don’t have

adequate money to buy food,leave alone being able to pay forsuch services. So, it becomesby and large driven by the gov-ernment sector to start with. Astime goes, perhaps these servic-es can be charged.More than the industry, publicparticipation is important. If vil-lagers can form cooperatives,such agencies can channelisethe data and the type ofimprovement they seek, andthen they can make it commer-cially viable. A private companyinvesting in such venture willlook for the returns tomorrow,and it is just not possible in anarea like this. You ought to havepatience, invest money and waitfor a few years. Only then thiswill start paying.

One of the things catchingup in agriculture sector

today is the concept of direcctmarketing or direct retailing. Doyou see VRCs acting as somesort of marketing agency?Yes, VRCs can definitely supple-

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coordinate with the best of various suc-cessful models like the Common Ser-vice Centres (CSCs) of NIC, enterprisebased models like Dristi, governmentinitiatives like e-Seva and Bhoomi andcorporate sector models like e-Choupal.Being part of the synergy and conver-gence will help to avoid duplication,multiply the services and impart sus-tainability in a long-term perspective.

Also, to take this to the next level ofoperationalisation, it is important tomake these VRCs economically viable.

That seems a utopiaat this point becauseof the poor econom-ic status of the tar-get group but to sus-tain and widen thescope of activity, it isimportant that theprogramme is madeeconomically self-sufficient. Taking a

judicious stance on the VRC function-ing to the next level, Dr Hegde says,"We need to improve serviceability andsustainability. We are trying to bring infinancial and social inclusivity into thesystem so that it becomes a stakehold-ers' programme."

With ISRO acting as a facilitator oftechnology and the NGOs taking a leadrole in creating social infrastructureusing the VRC network, it is importantto sensitise partner agencies. It is alsoimportant to create awareness to

attract more partner agencies to realisethe mission to set up 60,000+ VRCsproposed.

MILES TO GO.. "Ultimately, we want the VRCs to growinto local hubs and become one-stopshops for knowledge and information,"says Dr Hegde optimistically. The chal-lenge to achieve this is to enlist technol-ogy as an ally and not an adversary tobring in economic, social and genderequity.

The creation of the Village ResourceCentres is just the first step. The chal-lenge is to provide a brighter future,connected to the world of opportunitiesand growth for 600,000+ Indian vil-lages, building sustainable social infra-structure in the country. It may seem afarfetched thought at this point, butcould be achieved through vision,determination and systematic tappingof resources already in place.


ment. If you want to pass on theknowledge and informationregarding agriculture and relatedthings like the soils, seeds,manures, etc., VRC is the rightchoice. But we have to make itinto a commercial model. Precision agriculture is an areawhere partnerships betweenindustry, agricultural universitiesand the villagers will work. Vil-lagers can collect samples, dopreliminary analysis and passthem on to the universities forstudy. The university should beable to provide the expertadvice, and that advice shouldbe implemented by the industrythat is coordinating. If such apartnership can evolve, the pro-gramme will be a success.

Are we looking at somesort of satellite sensor

which will be able to help insuch an endeavour?Presently, we don’t have thatresolution capacity fully. We

need to expand our spectralbands. The hyper-spectral imag-ing we have introduced in ourmini-satellite is a good begin-ning in this direction. And sup-pose you find an operationalsystem to go with the mini-satel-lite, it will require half a dozensatellites to cover the entirecountry on a daily basis. We canprovide such a cluster that willfacilitate spatial resolution aswell as multi-spectral imagery.

Do you see the utilisationof VRC network in build-

ing national infrastructure byproviding multiple services? Thenational approach to this pro-gramme is actually to bring inmajor stakeholders toogetherbecause it is not possible forISRO alone to build all the60,000-70,000 VRCs it pro-posed. So, there seems to be alot of scope for public/privatepartnership so that multipleagencies can coome together.

We have taken an initiative inthis direction and made a pro-jection. Rural Development Min-istry has also earmarked certainfunds in the current plan. Someof the State Planning Boardshave taken note of it and aremaking provisions. Kerala is thefirst States to take initiative andother States may follow suit. Iam sure, as activities multiply, wewill be able to devise public-pri-vate partnerships. But more than that, participation of the villagers is important. How thevillage panchayats contribute to this is an important aspect. In fact, some MPs too haveexpressed interest to set upVRCs in their constituencies. There is a need to set up a national mission to realise60,000-70,000 VRCs and this requires lot of funds.There is scope for industry. But it is a massive project andhas to be taken up at variouslayers.

Considering the rural het-erogeneities in India, is

there a plan to custom make theffunctioning of VRCs to meet theneeds of the local people?In our initial experiments, we have precisely addressedthis problem. When we had set up the first set of VRCs, one had been in coastal region,second in plains and the third inthe arid region.

There has been a lot of contrastand based on the assessment ofthe local needs, specific advi-sories had been given. To understand different problems of the farmers in differentregions, we try to tie up withlocal agricultural universities.And to give educational pro-grammes, it is important to capture local dialects. Otherwise, we cannot communicate to them properly.This model is working very well.

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A U G U S T 2 0 0 8 37G I S D E V E L O P M E N T 37G I S D E V E L O P M E N T

When the fishermen of thecoastal regions of Thangachi-madam, Tamil Nadu, await thenew version of Apple iPhone tocome to India to facilitate goodcatch at sea, you understandhow informed and tech-savvythey are. All this and morebecame possible with the VRCnetwork created by ISRO andoperated by the MS Swami-nathan Research Foundation(MSSRF).

With 17 VRCs, 96 VillageKnowledge Centres (VKC)spread in 550 villages acrosssouth India, the ISRO-MSSRFnetwork is working wonderswith the rural populace. With awell-structured 3-tier knowl-edge network in place, MSSRFfirst holds extensive discus-sions with policy makers,research institutions, panchayatleaders, and community basedorganisations to chart outlocale-specific and demanddriven training and awarenessprogrammes using differentparticipatory rural appraisaltechniques that include focusgroup meeting with differentsections of the community,time and trend analysis, socialmapping, wealth ranking andhousehold sample surveys.

While a VRC at the block levelacts as a hub, knowledgeworkers at the VKC level reachout to every villager withinformed knowledge incorpo-rating traditional wisdom andpersonal experience. The majorcontent of the VRCs includeadvisories on agriculture, horti-culture, animal husbandry, fish-eries and women's health.Information about governmentschemes and entitlements,micro-enterprises, civic servic-es, environment and marketskeep the villagers updated.Fisher Friend is another inno-vative programme that empow-

ers fishing community with realtime information on fish avail-ability, access to market dataand timely weather information.While rural yellow pages andemployment news are unique,weekly tabloids like 'News ofour village' in Malayalam, Tamiland Marathi highlight the activi-ties and inform upcoming pro-grammes.

Locally relevant knowledgewith lot of pictures and limitedtext, pamphlets, flashcards,touch screen and self-learningmodules provide information inan impressive way. To supple-ment the content and capacitybuilding, MSSRF forges a con-sortium of content partners atblock level that include govern-ment bodies, banks, insurancecompanies, NGOs and hospi-tals. This consortium plays avital role in providing necessaryinformation and forms a linkbetween the villagers and theworld.

"Gender concerns are centralto the project and we believethat incorporating this concernis essential for project suc-cess," says Senthil Kumaran,Director, Information, Educationand Communication, MSSRF.Due to this deliberate decision,more than half the volunteersoperating the knowledge cen-tres are women. "This has pos-itively increasef the number ofwomen users," he confides.

Apart from the 384 Kbpsuplink/and 1.5 Mbps downlinksatellite connection ISRO provides, MSSRF uses a variety of techniques for thelast mile dissemination of serv-ices and information like the Wi-Fi based audio-video conferences, WLLphones, public address systems, electronic bulletinboards, K-Yan PCs. Advisoriesat the farm level use offlineCDs, intranet website, audiovisual media and hands ontraining.

At the same time, no specialefforts are made to promoteaccess to tools of informationtechnology among the poor."Our goal is to empower them

to improve their stan-dard of living throughbetter access to rele-vant information.Many tele-centreprojects make thecardinal mistake of

putting the technology aheadof the people. For us, the peo-ple, their context, and theirneeds come first. Then comesthe content that can satisfythose needs. Technology is justan enabler to deliver the con-tent in a cost-effective man-ner," opines Senthil.

To make dissemination of infor-mation more effective at thevillage level, the MSSRF identi-fies grassroot academicians

with traditional knowledge andwisdom and awards fellow-ships. This apart, every VRCemploys an anthropologist toassess the case-studies andunderstand the needs of thevillages. At MSSRF, there is afree flow of information bothtop down and bottom up facili-tated by an MIS to monitor allthe programmes. The statisticstoo are extremely gratifying.With 45 thematic programmes,78,000 training programmesand more than 3 lakh usersspread across 550 villages, theISRO-MSSRF is bringing arevolution of sorts at the grass-roots level.

With success and commitmentas foundations, MSSRF is rear-

ing to share its experience withother NGOs. "We want todevelop courses for VRC man-agers using the IGNOU net-work," says Senthil. MSSRFhas already developed learningmodules, pictorial based toolk-its to set up VRCs and comingup with Web-based, Wiki basedstandardised content. To reachthe unreached, MSSRF intendsto start internet radio to air theaudio content on a regularbasis.

ISRO - MSSRF VRCReaching the unreached

Bhanu RekhaAssociate [email protected]

India's second independence of

the early 1990s has brought in

host of technologies that fuelled

the development of the nation on several

counts. But the one sector that mostly

found itself alienated in this scheme of

things is what Gandhiji called the back-

bone of the country - the village.

The technological and economicadvances only widened the urban-ruraldivide leaving the majority of the pop-ulation of the country languishe in pre-independence conditions. Over theyears, several government agenciesand a large number of voluntary organ-isations were involved in developingtechnologies that cater to the develop-

ment of rural India. Unfortunately,these technologies hardly touched thelives of rural population. The one tech-nology that has the potential to enrichrural lives and promises to bring in rev-olutionary changes is - geospatial tech-nology. Understanding this capability,the National Institute of Rural Develop-ment (NIRD), with its mandate to chan-nelise and develop policies and pro-grammes for creating social infrastruc-ture for rural development, set up theCentre for Geo-informatics Applicationin Rural Development (C-GARD) at itsHyderabad centre.

Set up in 2002, C-GARD aims to designand develop geomatics applications forrural development and is engaged indeveloping the skill and knowledgelevels in geomatics technology and

tools among the development func-tionaries from the government, non-government, state institutes of ruraldevelopment (SIRDs), national andinternational agencies.

"While GIS as a technology factoredmany things, C-GARD, with its pro-grammes and initiatives, is trying toincorporate the social, ethical and tradi-tional factors into the GIS that are theessential ingredients for creating a fab-ric of social infrastructure in ruralIndia," says Dr V Madhava Rao Head, C-GARD. C-GARD works in associationwith the Union and State governmentsand NGOs to facilitate lab-to-landintervention. Here is a peek into the ini-tiatives/ services provided by C-GARDfor dissemination of technology inrural areas:

C-GARD: Incorporating rural wisdom


Social Infrastructure

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

Generation of action plans/detailedproject report for watershed developmentBy extracting contours and drainagelayers from topo sheets and integratingthem with satellite imageries, variousaspects like TIN, DEM, aspect, flowaccumulation and sink are generated.Appropriate suggestions are made onthis basis regarding the right kind oftreatment structures for watersheddevelopment. Hydro-geomorphology,soil, land use/land cover etc are alsogenerated from satellite imagerieswhich provide significant inputs forscientific and cost effective watersheddevelopment plans. A GIS-based cus-tomised software for watershed hasbeen designed with local languageinterface. This software is in theprocess of being implemented ineleven states in India.

Comprehensive district development plansFor a given district, the centre has the

capability to devise an action orientedimplementation plan with the basicinput and converging with govern-mental programmes, economic growthtrends, opportunities and gaps. Thecentre has prepared a GIS-based modeldistrict plan for Ranchi by integratingall aspects of resource base and fieldlevel database with demographic andinfrastructure information.

GIS-based disaster managementC-GARD has developed a GIS-basedpilot flood modelling for better commu-nity preparedness for the cyclone andflood prone coastal areas of AndhraPradesh. This model enables the identi-fication of safe areas, routes, corridors,prone areas and also appropriatestrategies for better disaster coping andpreparedness.

• Digital database development

• Land use and land cover mapping

• Automatic mapping/facility management

• Disaster hazard, vulnerability andrisk analysis

• Analysis of multi-layer information

• Change detection

• GIS based action plans

• Decision support system

• Land information system

• Regional/district/micro level planning

• Training and teaching modules

• GIS based customisation

• Monitoring/surveillance studies

• GIS based resource analyses

• GIS based development atlases

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

C-Gard's most suc-cessful project tilldate has been theAPIB project which envisageslarge scale mappingat 1:10,000 scale oftwo districts - Champawat andDehradun - ofUttaranchal. Theproject, the first of itskind in South EastAsia, envisages thepreparation of agri-culture and naturalresources invento-ries of the selectedtwo districts.

With 18 layers of well-documented data, APIB claims to cater to all the informa-tion needs of the two districts for about 100 years.

Agro-climatic Planning and Information Bank (APIB)

G I S D E V E L O P M E N T

Services at C-GARD

A Google view of NIRD campus at Hyderabad

39

Preparation of digital databasesOn the lines of National Spatial Data-base Infrastructure (NSDI), C-GARD ispreparing digital databases up to blocklevel and efforts are being made to goup to village level selectively. These dig-ital layers are being updated constantlyand used in various decision makingand planning processes.

Comprehensive development plan of tribal areaThe centre has prepared a GIS baseddevelopment plan for the tribal area ofBonai Block in Sundargarh district, Oris-

sa. Critical features like resources base,topography and infrastructure as wellas socioeconomic aspect and demo-graphic profile is analysed and GISbased plans for appropriate develop-ment thrust are prepared for all rounddevelopment.

Tribal atlasThe tribal atlas based on the demo-graphic profile of Scheduled - V areasaim at spatial spread and also to under-stand various aspects of tribal popula-tion. This atlas developed by C-GARD iswidely used by the organisations work-ing for tribal development. The centrealso prepared a development atlas for adistrict to identify the hotspots fordevelopment and to understand thedevelopment stage and spectrum with-in the district.

Training & capacity buildingThe centre conducts several regionaltraining programmes for development

functionaries across the country fordeveloping knowledge base, skill level,scientific temper and use of spacebased scientific information for effec-tive planning, implementation, moni-toring and impact assessment of ruraldevelopment programmes. Locale spe-cific applications are developed andhand holding is arranged for such train-ing programmes.

C-GARD also provides software andcustomised solution packages to fieldlevel people for ready use. Tutors andmanuals guide trained officers to devel-op and use geo-informatics based infor-mation system in day-to-day decisionmaking and implementation of pro-grammes.

REACHING THEUNREACHEDTo promote the use of spatial technolo-gies in rural development sector, NIRDhas set up four GIS facility centres inAssam, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and

A U G U S T 2 0 0 840 G I S D E V E L O P M E N T

Change detection

The change detection studies in Attapady Block of Keralatrack the temporal changes in vegetation density, vegetationarea and other aspects and help in impact assessment ofdevelopment projects.

This study helped in understanding the causative factors forlandscape change and iland degradation in the given area anddeveloped replicable models for participative ec-restortion sothat further degradation can be avoided. This system can buildon metadata for future studies, planning and decision supportactivities.

Village GIS

Village GIS developed by NIRD is a customised gram panchayat GIS package of Villivalam village in Kanchipuramdistrict. This package has all analytical features and can handle audio, video, photographs etc with data uploading onthe screen. The information base has all point features andcadastre with ownership and household details. This standalone application can be used as a guide to micro planning.This framework can give the entire socio-political picture ofthe village and can be applied to village, block, district, stateand even for national level decision support system.


Orissa. For extensive use of scientificinputs in planning, monitoring, imple-mentation and impact assessment ofrural development programmes in thecountry, the Union Ministry of RuralDevelopment is also contemplating anational GIS centre for integrating allinformation on watershed and landresources development programmesand other rural development pro-grammes like NREGS.

To make NGOs as proactive partnersin rural development, NIRD is settingup a GIS centre at Ralegaon Siddhi inAhmadnagar area, supporting thevision of Anna Hazare. "GIS is helpingC-GARD to bring out the naked issuesand provide solutions," comments DrRajender R Hermon, Sr Assistant Pro-fessor at the Centre.

"Though we don't have a flag to fly,we are happy that we have been work-ing on the most seen but not under-stood, the unseen and the unprobedissues so far," he adds.

Acting as the 'think tank' of the Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Agriculture, NIRD and C-GARD, through their extensivetraining schedules, research pro-grammes, consultancy services, knowledge sharing with link institutesand a holistic and humane approach to the issues, are committed to theintegrated rural development of thecountry.

Bhanu RekhaAssociate Editor, GIS [email protected]

Geospatial technolo-gies are redefining

planning and management invarious sectors. What are yourviiews on its use and contribu-tion to the development ofrural sector?

India has taken great stridesin IT and space science ush-ering numerous applicationsin rural sector. These includeapplications in waste landdevelopment, change detec-tion, natural resources man-agement, watershed delin-eation, disaster management

and applications in agriculturefor crop acreage estimation,crop condition assessmentand change detection. Theseapplications proved beyonddoubt the potential of geoin-formatics in rural sector.

The technology is poised tocontribute to the decen-tralised governance under thePanchayat Raj system, microlevel planning and decisionmaking for development alter-natives at local level. LIS isevolving to be the most impor-tant technology to bring inland reforms and there bycontributing to rural develop-ment.

How has been geospa-tiaal technology support-

ing and contributing for theoverall vision and mission ofNational Institute of RuralDevelopment?

The National Institute of RuralDevelopment (NIRD) hasbeen spearheading the task

of imparting knowledge and enhancing the skills ofdevelopment functionaries. Ithas played an instrumentalrole in the effective and efficient implementation ofrural development programmes and policies, inimproving the quality of rurallife, in addressing the basicneeds, income and employ-ment generation and liveli-hood support for peoplebelow the poverty line.Geospatial technologies havebeen playing a key role indecision support. It is aneffective visualisation tool for

planning, implementation,monitoring and evaluation ofrural development pro-grammes and capturing thevisible development at grass-roots level, which helps inidentifying priority areas andhotspots. Geospatial technolo-gy has been playing a key rolein the vision and mission ofNIRD.

What is your visionfor geospatial technolo-

gy usage in the context offrural development in thecountry?

Geospatial technology isexpected to get synonymouswith rural development plan-ning and implementation forimproving the governance anddelivery.

This technology will be widelyused in land information sys-tem, village level planning,infrastructure planning, disas-ter management, sectoralplanning in agriculture, water

and land resources areas.Watershed and NREGA pro-grammes will widely use thistechnology in the future.

To what extent you feelthat this technology

intervention ccould bring achange in the quality of life ofa common man and the socie-ty in rural India?

Rural development pro-grammes aim at improving thequality of life by providinggainful employment andincome opportunities therebyreducing poverty. Geospatialtechnology helps in the opti-mum utilisation of resources,alternative decision making,productive use of land andwater resources - all theareas which are closely linked with the lives of thecommon man, which couldboost economic development,improve employment avenues and generate more resources in the ruralareas. High resolution imageryfrom the satellites which have the capability to captureevery inch of the earth will bea vital information base for vil-lage level planning, bringingdevelopment to the grass-roots.

What potential do youfind regarding the scal-

ability of using geospatialtechnologies keeping in mindthe diversity and uniquenessof each state and district inIndia and also the issues ofinteroperabiliity among variousdatasets?

Rural development is an inter-disciplinary field wherescalability is an important factor. The uniqueness ofgeospatial technology neu-tralises the impact of diversityand facilitates integration ofnumerous databases from avariety of sources.

The potential of geospatialtechnologies seems to beimmense in rural development- be it at the national, regionalor at the micro level.

GIS is a unique tool for RD

Spatial technology is expected to get synonymous with ruraldevelopment planningand implementation for improving the governance and delivery

B. K. SinhaDirector GeneralNIRD

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Despite their vital contributions, suchgroups are generally resource-poor.While financial resources are often aprimary challenge for them, informa-tion and technology resources are ofteninaccessible. Geographic data, forexample, is absolutely critical forunderstanding how the neighbour-hood is changing and developingstrategies to intervene. Yet communitygroups and non-profits have faced an"organisational divide"-a lack of accessto important and new information andcommunications technology tools thatthe private and public/governmentsectors quickly adopted, such as GISmapping software.

Data on individual properties-such asland value, ownership, zoning, tax liensand vacancy status-are particularlyvaluable for community developmentgroups. Parcels are the most funda-mental units of urban land markets.While community development practi-tioners have always sought parcel data,these data were typically contained inpaper records that were stored in sepa-rate local government offices. Just thebasic fact-finding on properties target-ed for acquisition or improvement

meant visiting city hall or other officesto examine individual records-a timeconsuming process that precludedusing property data more strategicallyfor planning, decision making andevaluation.

THE EVOLUTION OF PARCELDATA SYSTEMSA new era of data democracy hasarrived in the United States. In recentyears, technologies such as GIS haverevolutionised public recordkeeping.Local governments are now creatingintegrated land information systemsthat recurrently gather data on parcelsfrom multiple agencies and store theinformation in a single location. Thereal value of integrated parcel data sys-tems comes when community organi-sations and residents are able to access,review and use the information. Byvirtue of their everyday presence,neighbourhood-based users often pos-sess the most up-to-date informationabout the ownership, value and condi-tion of properties. When brought intodeliberative processes, they can usetheir local knowledge to verify data,confirm findings and develop more

specific research questions. The bring-ing together of people and technologyhelps to build systems that are betterequipped to create healthier, moreequitable communities.

PARCEL DATA IN ACTIONPioneering organisations and partner-ships are turning robust, integratedparcel data systems into powerful toolsfor guiding community change. Areview conducted by PolicyLink andThe Urban Institute in 2007 revealed avariety of promising community appli-cations of parcel data systems, such as:

Providing decision support for majorinitiatives. In Cleveland, Ohio, an olderindustrial city that has struggled toovercome population decline and theloss of manufacturing jobs, parcel dataformed the backbone of a bold,longterm effort to turnaround thehousing markets in six targeted neigh-bourhoods. Launched in 2004, theStrategic Investment Initiative (SII)focusses community developmentresources intensively in a few areasthat have the best chance of recoveringfrom neighbourhood decline andbecoming "regional neighbourhoods ofchoice." In each of the neighbourhoods,staff members from a communitydevelopment corporation work withstaff from two university institutes,and a community development inter-mediary (Neighborhood Progress, Inc.),to develop and implement strategies to


g-governance

In the United States, community-based groups play a crit-ical role in urban community development. They revi-talise distressed neighbourhoods, organise and provide

services to low-income residents and engage in a variety ofactivities to build healthy, livable communities.

Parcel data: Key tohealthy community

stabilise and gain control of propertiesthat are in the vicinity of large develop-ment projects that they hope will catal-yse neighbourhood market resurgence.A parcel data system maintained bythe Center on Urban Poverty and Com-munity Development, Northeast OhioCommunity and Neighborhood Datafor Organizing (NEO CANDO), providesthe neighbourhood teams with theinformation they need to make deci-sions about the actions they want totake on individual properties withinthe target area and enables them tomonitor and evaluate their efforts.

Informing foreclosure preventionstrategies. When a wave of home mort-gage foreclosures swept through Amer-ican cities in 2006 and 2007, communi-ty groups, funders and governmentagencies struggled to understand theunderlying causes and offered strate-gies and tools that could enable home-owners to stay in their homes. Housinggroups and researchers in Clevelandand Minneapolis-St. Paul have usedparcel data to develop "early warning"systems to identify properties at risk offoreclosure and design effective inter-ventions. In Minneapolis-St. Paul, rep-resentatives from each city, along withseven non-profit housing development,policy and funding organisationsformed the Foreclosure Prevention Fun-ders Council in early 2007. The first stepfor the Council was to create an infor-mation infrastructure on foreclosures.HousingLink, a regional fair housingdata intermediary, partnered with theCenter for Urban and Regional Affairs(CURA) at the University of Minnesotato collect data on foreclosures. Assem-bling and mapping the data revealedthat the foreclosure challenge wasfound throughout the region but high-ly concentrated in North Minneapolis.The Council met biweekly to discuss

the findings anddeveloped a policystrategy and expand-ed to a statewidefocus, and the City ofMinneapolis is nowworking with CURAto develop an earlywarning data systemto identify at-riskproperties in the cityusing public data onhousing condition,estimated marketvalue and last saledate/price to developand test a predictivemodel for foreclosure.

Targeting outreachto low-income home-owners. Community organisations inChicago and Philadelphia used parceldata to target services and resources tohelp low-income owners maintain andimprove their homes. PhiladelphiaVIP/Law Works, which provides legalservices to low-income residents andcommunity groups, worked with theCartographic Modeling Laboratory(CML) at the University of Pennsylvaniato understand the "tangled title" prob-lem in the city-cases where the title to ahome has not been properly trans-ferred into the name of the person whohas an interest in the home. Withoutclear title, homeowners cannot sell ortransfer their property, obtain grants orloans for home repairs or even arrangepayment plans for delinquent loans.The CML linked death records withproperty ownership records to detectproperties that might not have beenproperly transferred following thedeath of a homeowner and identified14,000 possible cases throughout thecity. Mapping these cases by zip codehelped identify where the tangled titles

were concentrated in the city. Monitoring and preserving affordable

housing. The major housing challengein Washington D.C. is not the weaknessof neighbourhood housing markets, asin Cleveland, but their strength: rentsand home prices have risen sharply,creating a housing affordability crisisfor the city's lower- and middle-incomeresidents. Preserving the city's afford-able housing stock was recognised ascritical to ensuring that residents bene-fit from the resurgence in the housingmarket. A collaborative effort includingthe city, nonprofit housing groups, TheUrban Institute and the Local Initia-tives Support Corporation developed in2005 to create a systematic, data-driv-en approach to managing the afford-able housing inventory in the district. Acomprehensive housing database wasdeveloped, which was maintained inthe NeighborhoodInfo DC data ware-house. Stakeholders began meetingquarterly to monitor privately-owned,federally subsidised affordable rentalunits whose contracts would expire in

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8 45G I S D E V E L O P M E N T

the coming months or years, makingthem at risk of conversion to market-rate. When the group identifies at-riskproperties, they pool their know-howand resources to offer technical assis-tance to the tenants or to the landlordsto ensure continued affordability.

SUPPORTS FOR COMMUNITY APPLICA-TIONS OF PARCEL DATAA mix of institutions and technologicaltools are needed to move parcel datainto community development.

Integrated regional parcel data systemsLand information systems that inte-grate property data maintained by sep-arate administrative agencies andmake the information available tousers outside of government providethe basic infrastructure for advancedcommunity development applications.Technological advances have enabledthe rapid expansion of these systems atvery low cost and that trend is expectedto continue.

Community dataintermediariesOrganisations thatgather data rele-vant for neighbour-hood-level analysisand make the infor-mation available tocommunity groupsand local institu-tions play an essen-tial role in bringingdata and maps intothe realm of com-munity building.Robust communitydevelopment appli-cations of parceldata are almost

always guided by community dataintermediaries, such as the Center onUrban Poverty and Community Devel-opment (Cleveland), the CartographicModeling Laboratory (Philadelphia), theCenter for Urban and Regional Affairs(Minneapolis-St. Paul), the ChicagoMetropolitan Agency for Planning, andNeighborhoodInfo DC. In addition tobuilding and maintaining comprehen-sive systems containing parcel andneighbourhood-level data, these inter-mediaries form institutional collabora-tions, partner with communities todevelop data applications, pioneer newforms of applied research and trainlocal organisations and individuals onthe use of data in community change.

National intermediary networksOver two dozen community data inter-mediaries participate in the UrbanInstitute's National Neighborhood Indi-cators Partnership (NNIP). Such net-works help organisations adopt newinformation tools and use them effec-tively through information dissemina-tion, convenings, and other activities.

Data-backed community development initiativesCommunity development initiativesthat promote the use of data and map-ping in programme development, mon-itoring and evaluation (and provide theresources to support those purposes)help to catalyse innovative applica-tions and effective collaborations.

Public policy supportsLocal political support and favourablepublic policies are essential elements inthe development of advanced applica-tions of parcel data.

CONCLUSIONInvestment in infrastructure, institu-tions and processes that support theseadvanced community developmentapplications is sorely needed to realisethe vast potential that parcel dataholds for the community developmentfield. Public and private institutionsalike have essential roles to play inbringing emerging local solutions tosufficient scale to have measurableimpacts on neighbourhoods, spurringfurther innovation in systems develop-ment and disseminating best practicesin the use of parcel data.

ResourcesPolicyLink www.policylink.org

Northeast Ohio Community and Neighborhood Datafor Organizing (NEO CANDO)http://neocando.case.edu

NeighborhoodInfo DC www.neighborhoodinfodc.org

Full Circle Community Mapping and Planning Projectwww.fullcir.net/FC/Index.htm

Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota www.cura.umn.edu

Cartographic Modeling Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania www.cml.upenn.edu

National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership www2.urban.org/nnip

46 G I S D E V E L O P M E N T J U LY 2 0 0 846 G I S D E V E L O P M E N T A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

Sarah TreuhaftSenior AssociatePolicyLink, USA

[email protected]

Providing access tobasic life sustain-ing support sys-

tems like health, education,social security, social empower-ment to the remotest locationsseemed to be a utopia, but scien-tific innovations in satellite, com-munications and mapping tech-nologies are making it happen atgrassroots level with facilitieslike tele-medicine, tele-educa-tion, health management infor-mation systems (HMIS), neigh-bourhood mapping, public partic-ipation in Geographic Informa-tion Systems (PPGIS), food insecu-rity mapping, vulnerable indexmapping, disease surveillance,environmental epidemiology andmany more such offerings whichhelp enhance the social andhuman capital.

Geospatial technologies have literallyredefined the formation, developmentand maintenance of social relation-ships in a community. These relation-ships help to build human capital andhuman development by empoweringsocial groups and individuals, makingthem aware of their rights (for exam-ple, to land) and increasing their partic-ipation in and influence over demo-cratic processes and giving them access

to health and education facilities. The use of geospatial information (GI)

has altered the users' social practicesand their views of society and natureimmensely. For example, isolatedtribes in the Amazon have been usingsatellites, computers and Google Earthto safeguard their territorial land rightsagainst the threats of logging, agricul-ture, drug wars and oil operations. TwoNGOs in an urban neighbourhood inChicago used GIS to create grassrootdatabases to help address local issuesas an alternative to official governmentrecords. Geoinformation technologiesare being used for clinical field work inKenya, construction of new hospitals inSweden helping patients check intohospitals faster, guiding ambulances

through optimum route during rush-hour traffic and suggesting managerswhere to build clinics that will servethe most people. GI technology alsohelps in the surveillance and outbreakinvestigation of infectious diseases.

In the education sector, satellite tech-nologies help individuals in remoteareas to have access to contemporaryeducation via tele-education. Usinggeospatial tools, it is possible to visu-alise and analyse the behaviour of theneedy in any given region. Withgeospatial information in place, bank-ing and insurance sectors can carry outfaster processing of claims, risk assess-ment is made better, reinsurance ismade faster, market analysis is moreprecise and location based, regulatory


GIS, the changeagent of society

Use of geospatial information has alteredthe users' social practices and theirviews of society andnature immensely

Social Infrastructure

“

”

Tribes ofAmazon usingGPS and GISto map theirterritory

compliance can be maintained, opera-tions and asset management is madeefficient with reduced cost, enhancingthe community service and contributeto the socio-economic development.

The usage of geospatial technologiesfor strengthening social infrastructurevaries from region to region based onthe socio-economic structure and prior-ities of the concerned communities. Indeveloped economies where the appli-cation of technology is leading, usageof geospatial technologies in healthcare systems and community mappingare more advanced than in developingeconomies where these technologiesare still in their pilot phases. WhileUnited States, United Kingdom, Canadaand some of the EU nations have sys-tematically introduced geospatial tech-nologies within the framework of theirsocial infrastructure with numeroustele-medicine associations, urban andneighbourhood mapping programmes,countries like India, Brazil, South Africa,Kenya are showing the way geospatialtechnologies can contribute to socio-economic development with applica-tions like Village GIS and Health Infor-mation Systems.

GEOSPATIAL IN HEALTHCARE The Public Health Agency of Canadauses GIS extensively for public healthpractices and programmes like web-based Map Data Exchange and PublicHealth Map generator. On the otherend, Health Information Systems Pro-gram (HISP) is a premier globallyacknowledged network working forvarious developing and non-affluenteconomies such as South Africa,Mozambique, Ethiopia, Tanzania,Botswana, Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia,India and Vietnam and seeks tostrengthen the health information sys-

tems (HIS) within these countries.The Map Data Exchange, which is a

web-based forum, allows collaboration,networking and sharing of informationand expertise with Canadian publichealth professionals. Public Health MapGenerator is a web-based map genera-tor where one can link health data tospatial data and create a map for fur-ther visualisation and analysis. The HISproject design develops and imple-ments free and open source softwaresfor health services, directly workingwith health service systems in respec-tive countries and deploys HIS withintheir existing structure and strengthenthe informational basis for publichealth care delivery.

The tele-medicine associations inUnited States, the Tele-medicine and E-health Information Services (TIES), UK,are a few examples in developednations which facilitate and promoteaccess to medical care for consumers.By bringing diverse groups from tradi-tional medicine, academic medical cen-tres, technology and telecom compa-

nies, non-governmental organisations,government and more importantlycommon masses together, they tend toovercome barriers quickly whichresults in ethical and equitableimprovement in health care delivery. Indeveloping nations, InternationalTelecommunications Units (ITU) havesuccessfully implemented tele-medi-cine projects in Bhutan, Cameroon,

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8G I S D E V E L O P M E N T

In developed economies, where theapplication of technolo-gy is leading, use of GItechnologies in healthcare systems and community mapping are more advanced than in developingeconomies where thesetechnologies are still in their pilot phases

“

”

Filipinos observing a 3-D model of their territory

49

Ethiopia, Georgia, Kenya, Malta,Mozambique, Myanmar, Senegal,Uganda and Venezuela. The ground-breaking pilot project in Uganda isextending vital health services into iso-lated rural areas. Using an ISDN point-to-point link connecting Mengo Hospi-tal in downtown Kampala with Mula-go Teaching Hospital, doctors in boththe clinics - along with other specialistsconnected to the system via the Inter-net - exchange information on patientdiagnoses and treatment in areas rang-ing from primary care to surgery, pae-diatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology.

GEOSPATIAL IN EDUCATIONCanada and the United States have

over 100 different satellite tele-educa-tion systems operational that are bothstate and province owned and operatedas well as commercial networks rang-ing from primary schooling to graduatelevel programming.

That the Mind-Extension Universityof the Jones Intercable reaches over 20

million homes via cable television is aproof enough to understand the out-reach of these networks. Others such asthe National Technological University(NTU) combines college courses produced by over 40 different universi-ties and provides short courses and corporate training. However, use ofsatellite tele-education has been lessextensive in Europe than in NorthAmerica simply because of extensiveterrestrial telecommunication net-works available.

In developing countries, ITU is closelyinvolved in innovative projects todeliver tele-education services inMorocco and India. These projects com-bine the latest VSAT technology withadvanced Management InformationSystem to bring interactive online edu-cation to rural communities.

Researchers are also working towardsdeveloping a web-based educationalplanning support system as a tool toenhance public participation in schoolplanning in Palestine by integratinginternet technology with GIS and Edu-cational Management Information Sys-tem (EMIS).

They aim to provide those interestedin school planning with spatial data,techniques and a forum to exploreknowledge, express opinions, discussissues and evaluate alternatives overthe Internet.

PARTICIPATORY AND COMMUNITY MAPPINGWith increasing pressure to surrendertheir land to logging and internationaloil companies, the Huaorani tribescould only understand that they weresurrounded on three sides andnowhere to go. They chose digital map-ping technology and participatorymapping to defend themselves. Havingno official records of their territories,

they had to blend local geographicknowledge with modern mapping datato help them stop the loss of ancestrallands and decrease their reliance onoutsiders.

Web-based neighbourhood mappingand public participation in GIS (PPGIS)helped people in improving the condi-tions of their neighbourhoods with freeaccess to property and neighbourhooddata sets and other such informationthat can aid the monitoring of commu-nity conditions as well as by trackingearly-warning indicators of decline, taxdelinquencies, code complaints or nui-sance properties. These trends can fur-ther be compared with other demo-graphic and historical data.

Neighborhood Knowledge Los Ange-les, funded by the US Department ofCommerce's Technology OpportunitiesProgram is one such programme thatconducted extensive outreach andtraining with many community tech-nology centres and community-basedorganisations throughout Los Angelesand helped increase the usage of com-munity improvement data and tools bycommunity residents and activists.

Geospatial information has consider-able positive impact on the ecologicaland social sustainability of human societies in different parts of the world. Geographic information (GI)technologies are contributing andaltering the nature of space and placeas social constructs. With geographicelements in place, every branch ofsocial management could be visualisedand analysed in geospatial contexthighlighting the developmental con-cerns of the society.


By bringing diversegroups from traditionalmedicine, academicmedical centres, technology and telecomcompanies, non-govern-mental organisations,government and moreimportantly commonmasses together, barriers are overcomequickly resulting in ethical and equitableimprovement in healthcare delivery.

Yogita ShuklaPractice Head - ResearchGIS [email protected]

“

”

Local authorities inthe United King-dom have a massive

job in providing services to theirresidents. From refuse collec-tion through social services toeducation, councils have todemonstrate they are perform-ing efficiently to justify thecouncil taxes they charge andthe subsidies they get from thecentral government.

The quality of information these localauthorities have can make or break thesmooth running of day-to-day servicesthat an average Briton expects. Councilworkers need to know who lives wherein order to deliver better services. Infact, it was estimated that 80% of coun-

cil services can be correctly provided ormonitored only with access to geo-graphic information. The informationavailable to authorities to identifywhere people live was historically ofvariable quality. A nationwide drive toimprove the situation is slowly, but sig-nificantly, changing all that though.

Local Government Information House(LGIH) is a government companyowned by the Improvement and Devel-opment Agency (I&DeA). It was set upby local authorities to act as a go-between with the private sector to sup-port their information technologyneeds. Steven Brandwood, programmemanager for LGIH, who helps councils,police and fire services to get to gripswith these issues says, "We purchasegeographic information for local gov-ernments in a digital mapping format.We help local authorities standardise

information collection - concentratingon street and address. We purchase amap, which allows this information tobe displayed in a standard way."

According to Brandwood, the authori-ties faced immense challenge beforeLGIH came into being. They had to buyin supposedly more accurate informa-tion from the private sector, which wasbased on a standardised and formattedversion of the information originallyproduced by local authorities! Obvious-ly, this service came at a premium.

Brandwood says: "An additional prob-lem is that, when databases are main-tained independently, they can driftapart. The local authority might namethe flats in one building as - 1, 2 and 3,while social services might know thoseflats as A, B and C. But then from RoyalMail point-of-view, it doesn't matterhow many flats are behind the letterbox and historically it was the RoyalMail database that was used."

Another flaw was the number ofaddresses that were simply missingwhen the last census was taken costingthe councils considerable amount ofmoney. According to Brandwood, localauthorities in Westminster and Man-chester identified a significant numberof missing addresses. Because eachcouncil's grant-based funding fromcentral government is based partiallyon the population size from the previ-ous 10-year census, the financial rami-fications were enormous. Councilscould be providing services to morepeople, but without receiving the fund-ing they were due.

According to Brandwood, another


g-governance

Advantage, local govts

80% of council services can be correctly provided or monitored withaccess to geographic informatioon

task of LGIH is establishing informa-tion-sharing agreements between localauthorities. The solution was a systemof local single registries - called theLocal Land and Property Gazetteer. Thisis linked to a larger National Land andProperty Gazetteer (NLPG). This NLPGmaintains data groups using referenc-ing based on land and property unitsand linked to addresses. It uses historicand alias addresses to help identifyproperties. In turn, this allows allrecords to be mapped and getting themlinked to the records.

"We went through these lists withlocal authorities to match datasetstogether and gave them a referencenumber. This made use of customerrelationship management techniquesmuch easier to bring together the deliv-ery of local services like education andsocial services," Brandwood explains.

"Mapping provides a national grid ref-erence for the address, so when all serv-ices use these maps, one can use thesame information across the public sec-tor and look for an address, bring it upon a map and use this tool to track cus-tomer relationship management."

Under the auspices of the LGIH's Map-ping Services Agreement, the gazetteerservices can be procured centrally -which has obvious cost benefits. Thisgazetteer hub collects data from the 376local authority gazetteers on a regularbasis (the majority are done at leastmonthly). NPLG then runs a series ofchecks on that local data, validates itand uploads it to the central gazetteerwhere it is available to other organisa-tions." Getting 376 local authoritiessigned up to the same system is animpressive achievement. In just fiveyears of use, the NLPG is already payingdividends to local authorities and theBritish taxpayer. Using bulk purchasingpower to procure the services and sup-

port for geographic information, ratherthan for each local authority separatelysaves authorities more than £100 mnper year, based on list prices.

And for comparison's sake, the cost ofthe operations at LGIH is a drop in theocean - around £ 800k to cover theentire programme cost. So the cost ben-efit is fairly clear.

In terms of savings, the National Landand Property Gazetteer and LGIH car-ried out a study with the Centre for Eco-nomic Business Research (CEBR), a lead-

ing independent business consultancy.The study found that just by reducingduplication of effort and enablingaccess to address information, localgovernments could potentially save upto £ 54 million per annum.

CEBR worked out that the invest-ments local authorities needed to makewere relatively low, but the cost: bene-fit ratio was hugely in favour of invest-ing in the systems. They calculated thatfor £ 1 spent, local authorities made £3.30 in savings.

But authorities benefit in other waystoo. Brandwood says: "Authorities arenow trying to handle simple requestsat the first point of call (as far as possi-ble), rather than sending it through tothe specific specialist areas.

And it's not only local authorities thatbenefit. The central hub mechanismmakes information available to police,fire authorities and county councils.The LGIH is also talking to governmentand NHS about access to the service. Itcould be a valuable resource in the pri-vate sector as well.


The investmentslocal authoritiesneeded to makewere relatively low,but the cost: benefitratio was hugely infavour of investing inthe systems. For £ 1spent, local authori-ties made £ 3.30 insavings

“

”

Rob FinchImprovement and Development Agency (IDEA), London, UK

Environmental protection at SurreyHeath Borough CouncilThe location of trees that are protected by"preservation orders" is vital to residentsputting in planning applications. Now, usingthe council's "My Protected Trees" web-site, they identify individually protectedtrees, including aerial photographs of theirsites. Behind the scenes, the council creat-ed a database of 40,000 land units withunique reference numbers in order to easethe system which was previously based onmanual checking.

Dartford Borough CouncilMapping out the borough in Dartford anduploading weekly data to the NLPGallowed the council to make some keychanges, including better location ofpolling stations for elections and identify-ing properties where the tenants were notpaying their council tax. As a result, anextra £12,000 in taxes was collected bythe end of 2006.

Portsmouth Ciity CouncilPortsmouth faced a situation where it had10 address lists and 40 data sets associ-ated with its geographical information sys-tem, which was judged to have only 55%accuracy and integrity. Streamlining thesesystems boosted the accuracy and integri-ty to 95% and allowed the council's FirstPoint Contact Team to handle far moreenquiries, freeing up the specialist servic-es. It also saved an estimated £150,000by reducing duplication of effort andboosted the council's confidence in itsdata.

How local authoritiesbenefitted from the NLPG

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

Local authorities inthe United King-dom have a massive

job in providing services to theirresidents. From refuse collec-tion through social services toeducation, councils have todemonstrate they are perform-ing efficiently to justify thecouncil taxes they charge andthe subsidies they get from thecentral government.

The quality of information these localauthorities have can make or break thesmooth running of day-to-day servicesthat an average Briton expects. Councilworkers need to know who lives wherein order to deliver better services. Infact, it was estimated that 80% of coun-

cil services can be correctly provided ormonitored only with access to geo-graphic information. The informationavailable to authorities to identifywhere people live was historically ofvariable quality. A nationwide drive toimprove the situation is slowly, but sig-nificantly, changing all that though.

Local Government Information House(LGIH) is a government companyowned by the Improvement and Devel-opment Agency (I&DeA). It was set upby local authorities to act as a go-between with the private sector to sup-port their information technologyneeds. Steven Brandwood, programmemanager for LGIH, who helps councils,police and fire services to get to gripswith these issues says, "We purchasegeographic information for local gov-ernments in a digital mapping format.We help local authorities standardise

information collection - concentratingon street and address. We purchase amap, which allows this information tobe displayed in a standard way."

According to Brandwood, the authori-ties faced immense challenge beforeLGIH came into being. They had to buyin supposedly more accurate informa-tion from the private sector, which wasbased on a standardised and formattedversion of the information originallyproduced by local authorities! Obvious-ly, this service came at a premium.

Brandwood says: "An additional prob-lem is that, when databases are main-tained independently, they can driftapart. The local authority might namethe flats in one building as - 1, 2 and 3,while social services might know thoseflats as A, B and C. But then from RoyalMail point-of-view, it doesn't matterhow many flats are behind the letterbox and historically it was the RoyalMail database that was used."

Another flaw was the number ofaddresses that were simply missingwhen the last census was taken costingthe councils considerable amount ofmoney. According to Brandwood, localauthorities in Westminster and Man-chester identified a significant numberof missing addresses. Because eachcouncil's grant-based funding fromcentral government is based partiallyon the population size from the previ-ous 10-year census, the financial rami-fications were enormous. Councilscould be providing services to morepeople, but without receiving the fund-ing they were due.

According to Brandwood, another


g-governance

Advantage, local govts

80% of council services can be correctly provided or monitored withaccess to geographic informatioon

task of LGIH is establishing informa-tion-sharing agreements between localauthorities. The solution was a systemof local single registries - called theLocal Land and Property Gazetteer. Thisis linked to a larger National Land andProperty Gazetteer (NLPG). This NLPGmaintains data groups using referenc-ing based on land and property unitsand linked to addresses. It uses historicand alias addresses to help identifyproperties. In turn, this allows allrecords to be mapped and getting themlinked to the records.

"We went through these lists withlocal authorities to match datasetstogether and gave them a referencenumber. This made use of customerrelationship management techniquesmuch easier to bring together the deliv-ery of local services like education andsocial services," Brandwood explains.

"Mapping provides a national grid ref-erence for the address, so when all serv-ices use these maps, one can use thesame information across the public sec-tor and look for an address, bring it upon a map and use this tool to track cus-tomer relationship management."

Under the auspices of the LGIH's Map-ping Services Agreement, the gazetteerservices can be procured centrally -which has obvious cost benefits. Thisgazetteer hub collects data from the 376local authority gazetteers on a regularbasis (the majority are done at leastmonthly). NPLG then runs a series ofchecks on that local data, validates itand uploads it to the central gazetteerwhere it is available to other organisa-tions." Getting 376 local authoritiessigned up to the same system is animpressive achievement. In just fiveyears of use, the NLPG is already payingdividends to local authorities and theBritish taxpayer. Using bulk purchasingpower to procure the services and sup-

port for geographic information, ratherthan for each local authority separatelysaves authorities more than £100 mnper year, based on list prices.

And for comparison's sake, the cost ofthe operations at LGIH is a drop in theocean - around £ 800k to cover theentire programme cost. So the cost ben-efit is fairly clear.

In terms of savings, the National Landand Property Gazetteer and LGIH car-ried out a study with the Centre for Eco-nomic Business Research (CEBR), a lead-

ing independent business consultancy.The study found that just by reducingduplication of effort and enablingaccess to address information, localgovernments could potentially save upto £ 54 million per annum.

CEBR worked out that the invest-ments local authorities needed to makewere relatively low, but the cost: bene-fit ratio was hugely in favour of invest-ing in the systems. They calculated thatfor £ 1 spent, local authorities made £3.30 in savings.

But authorities benefit in other waystoo. Brandwood says: "Authorities arenow trying to handle simple requestsat the first point of call (as far as possi-ble), rather than sending it through tothe specific specialist areas.

And it's not only local authorities thatbenefit. The central hub mechanismmakes information available to police,fire authorities and county councils.The LGIH is also talking to governmentand NHS about access to the service. Itcould be a valuable resource in the pri-vate sector as well.


The investmentslocal authoritiesneeded to makewere relatively low,but the cost: benefitratio was hugely infavour of investing inthe systems. For £ 1spent, local authori-ties made £ 3.30 insavings

“

”

Rob FinchImprovement and Development Agency (IDEA), London, UK

Environmental protection at SurreyHeath Borough CouncilThe location of trees that are protected by"preservation orders" is vital to residentsputting in planning applications. Now, usingthe council's "My Protected Trees" web-site, they identify individually protectedtrees, including aerial photographs of theirsites. Behind the scenes, the council creat-ed a database of 40,000 land units withunique reference numbers in order to easethe system which was previously based onmanual checking.

Dartford Borough CouncilMapping out the borough in Dartford anduploading weekly data to the NLPGallowed the council to make some keychanges, including better location ofpolling stations for elections and identify-ing properties where the tenants were notpaying their council tax. As a result, anextra £12,000 in taxes was collected bythe end of 2006.

Portsmouth Ciity CouncilPortsmouth faced a situation where it had10 address lists and 40 data sets associ-ated with its geographical information sys-tem, which was judged to have only 55%accuracy and integrity. Streamlining thesesystems boosted the accuracy and integri-ty to 95% and allowed the council's FirstPoint Contact Team to handle far moreenquiries, freeing up the specialist servic-es. It also saved an estimated £150,000by reducing duplication of effort andboosted the council's confidence in itsdata.

How local authoritiesbenefitted from the NLPG

A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

Cert

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Human develop-ment, povertyalleviation, food

and livelihood security, equi-table and inclusive growth,health for all, universal pri-mary education, empower-ment of marginalised (SC, STand women) and ecologicalsecurity are the main develop-ment goals of any developingnation.These goals could beachieved through good gov-ernance. Governance, in abroader sense, includes thelegitimate authority exer-cised in the application ofgovernment power and inthe management of public

affairs. There is greateremphasis on participation,decentralisation, accounta-bility and responsivenessand even broader concernssuch as those of social equi-ty and justice. Governance,therefore, has broader can-vass than government andenvisages the roles of all thestakeholders: the state, pri-vate sector, civil society, andthe citizens at large. Whengovernance involves use ofgeo-information and com-munication technology(Geo-ICT), the same can betermed as GIS enabled gov-ernance or G-Governance.

Most of the economic,social and environmental

processes are inherentlyspatial in nature. They cannot be fully understoodwithout taking into accounttheir spatial dimensions.Geo-ICT becomes mosthandy tool in such scenarios.

E-governance and so g-governance systems can pri-marily be categorised intothree types based on theparticipating groups in thegeospatial electronic inter-action:

• G2G: Government-to-Government;

• G2B: Government-to-Business and its reverse -B2G Business -to-Govern-ment; and

• G2C: Government-to-

Citizen and its reverse-C2GCitizen-to-Government.

However, this article dis-cusses G2C and its reverseC2G, primarily because oftwo reasons: firstly, it focus-es on citizen-centric servic-es, opportunity for publicparticipation; and secondly,G2G is an essential prerequi-site for G2C. The key strate-gies for developing two-waysystems (G2C and C2G)enabling e-inclusion are:

• Focus on citizen centrality;

• Ensure co-planning andco-management;

• Ensure equitable accessto information and services;

• Develop and stimulatelocal economic growth;

• Facilitate forward andbackward flow of informa-tion;

• Develop and maintaineducated and skilled workforce;

• Ensure right to informationand feedback for enhancedpublic participation; and

• Involve all the stakehold-ers.

India has the requisite corecompetence in informationtechnology. However, thereis a need to integrate thefunctions of all the net-works - public and private -in a seamless way and pro-vide internet facilities in thecountry in a similar way asour telephone networks ofmultiple service providershave been integrated.

OPPORTUNITIESSeveral opportunities areavailable for g-governance


g-governance

Of opportunities and challengess

in India in terms of betterpolicies and good Geo-ICTinfrastructure.

POLICIESThe Government of Indiaapproved the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP),comprising of 27 MissionMode Projects (MMPs) and10 components, on May 18,2006 NeGP aims at improv-ing delivery of governmentservices to citizens and busi-nesses with the followingvision:

"Make all governmentservices accessible to thecommon man in his locality,through common servicedelivery outlets and ensureefficiency, transparency andreliability of such services ataffordable costs to realisethe basic needs of the com-mon man."

Government of Indiaannounced the NationalMap Policy (NMP) in May2005 and authorised Surveyof India (SOI) to issue guide-lines for the implementa-

tion of the NMP. Conse-quently, guidelines wereissued by SOI in 2006 (DST,2006). Keeping in view ofnational security, two seriesof maps has been proposedin the policy namelydefence series map (DSM) tocater for defence andnational security require-ments, and open series map(OSM) for common civilianuse. Available geo-ICT iInfra-structureNeGP has provi-sions for certain core andsupport infrastructures(www.mit.gov.in). Figure 1shows the programmeframework for g-gover-nance. State Wide Area Networks (SWANs) arebeing setup to provide 2Mbps connectivity up toblock level with provisionfor wireless connectivityfrom the block level to thevillage level.

Government has approvedCommon Service Centres(CSCs) scheme for providingsupport for establishing100,000 CSCs in 100,000 vil-

lages. State Data Centers(SDC) have been identifiedas one of the important ele-ments of the core infrastruc-ture for supporting the e-governance initiatives ofNeGP. SDCs are expected toprovide efficient electronicdelivery of G2G, G2C andG2B services through thecommon delivery platformseamlessly supported bycore connectivity infrastruc-ture such as SWAN and CSCconnectivity extended up tovillage level. The SDC wouldprovide several functionali-ties such as central reposito-ry of the state, secure datastorage, online delivery ofservices, citizen informa-tion/ services portal, stateintranet portal, disasterrecovery, remote manage-ment and service integra-tion, etc. SDCs would alsoprovide better operationand management controland minimise overall cost ofdata management, ITresource management,deployment and other costs.

Planning for establishingthe National Spatial DataInfrastructure in India com-menced in November 2000with the setting up of a taskforce to prepare a viablestrategy and action plan(ISRO, 2001).The Indian NSDIwas formally constitut4edin 2007.

CHALLENGESSuccessful implementationof g-governance requiresthat the geo-ICT be used in a

substantive way by admin-istrative field officers andother stakeholders of devel-opment in their day-to-daywork. Creation of a geo-ICTinfrastructure will be anunproductive exerciseunless its effective imple-mentation is considered asan integral part of geo-ICTstrategy. The implementa-tion of geo-ICT is poor inIndia. The main problemsrelating to implementationof g-gov are discussed here.The implementation frame-work for g-governance isdepicted in Figure 2.

Technical ProblemsThe g-governance applica-tion is very resource inten-sive. It normally is spreadacross multiple locationsand supports multiple delivery channels. It is hence important to havesolutions that are technolo-gy neutral, cost-effective,easily replicable and scala-ble. Some of the key priorityareas of immediate concernare as follows:

• National policy on openstandards for g-governance;

India has therequisite corecompetence inIT. However,there is a need tointegrate thefunctions toprovide bettergovernance

“

”

57A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

G I S D E V E L O P M E N T

Fig. 1: G-Governance: Programme Framework (Adopted fromNEGP Programme Framework)

• Interoperability frameworkfor data access, presenta-tion including data preser-vation, publication, archival,etc for both spatial andnon-spatial data;

• Network and informationsecurity standards;

• Metadata and data stan-dards for g-governanceapplications;

• Enterprise architectureframework for NeGP and g-governance;

• Visualisation issues ofspatial data; and

• Interoperability of spatialand non-spatial data.

There should be bottom-up approach to promotelocal initiatives and buildapplication-specific andenterprise-wide spatialdatabases (Singh, 2005).There should also be evolu-

tionary approach to access,combine and use datathrough user-centricmethodologies like proto-typing and cultivation ofstandards (ibid).

Organisational ProblemsSuccess of g-governancewould be a function of abili-ty, capacity and willingnessof an organisation to adoptgeo-ICT. How the users'existing work processesmay be influenced byadopting g-governance,incentives and barriers tochange, organisational com-munication, availability ofappropriate training etc.,constitute the major organi-sational problems of g-gov-ernance.

Programme/Project man-agement andprocess re-engineeringproblemsExperiencefrom success-ful ICT projectssuggests thattechnology isjust 20 per centof the wholeeffort (Bhatna-gar, 2004). Get-ting the tech-nology right isimportant, butprocess re-engineeringand changemanagementdemand fargreater atten-

tion (ibid). This could also betrue with geo-ICT basedprojects. Logical FrameworkApproach (LFA) could beadopted for project manage-ment. This method is partic-ipatory, goal-focussed,transparent and involves allthe stakeholders. Projectcontinuity- development ofa core group of man powerand prevention of their pre-mature transfers helps inbetter management of aproject. A balance should bemaintained between plan-ning, coordination, andaction.

Institutional problemsIndia has a broad and pow-erful installed base for spa-tial data. However, the insti-

tutional aspects of the sameinstalled base create lock-ineffects (Singh, 2005). Theseinstitutions have historical-ly acted in a compartmen-talised manner with limitedsharing of data or applica-tions, and cited security con-cerns have limited theaccess to spatial data for notonly citizens and the privatesector, but also for othergovernment agencies (ibid).The NMP along with legisla-tion on right to informationin India is a paradigm shifttowards openness andaccess to information. How-ever, these will not paymuch dividends unlessthere is change in the veryculture.

CONCLUSIONThe development of coreand support infrastructuresunder the provisions ofNeGP is appropriate, boldand significant. However,the design of Geo-ICT infrastructure in India istop-down, supply driven,data-centric and techno-centric. In order to facilitatebetter g-governance, itshould be bottom up,demand driven and infor-mation centric.


Pramod K SinghAssociate ProfessorInstitute of Rural Management, Anand, [email protected]

Fig. 2: g-Governance: Implementation Framework

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By adding to ongoing datacollection efforts that con-nect data about city servicesinto more manageableselections, agencies canensure that critical servicesare being evaluated andthey can correlate the datadirectly to strategic plangoals. An effective perform-

ance measurement processmust be able to analyseoperations, highlightaccomplishments, makeimprovements or justifycurrent practices. Robustperformance measurementpractices tied to a technolo-gy solution can be a manag-er's lifeline to city or county

departments, between juris-dictions and to local resi-dents.

ALL THINGS GEOGRAPHICThe majority of all decisionsmade in government can beassociated with a geograph-ic location. In fact, mostexperts agree that 90 per-cent of the raw data collect-ed by government has ageographic relationshipembedded in it. Forinstance, most work ordershave a street location asso-ciated with it; a businessand its associated revenuescan be linked to a mailing

address; programmes relat-ed to housing, youth servic-es, and focussed targetedprogrammss (elderly) aredependent on an under-standing of a demographictrend that can be connectedto a census (geographic)tract.

With the realisation thatmost things have a spatialrelationship comes the ideathat geography and the dataand applications associatedwith it can be performanceindicators. A geographicapproach to performancemeasurement offers a freshway to develop situationalawareness while noting


g-governance

Tech solution to measure performance

Support for performance measurement andaccountability to make government work moreefficiently and effectively has been building

within the public sector and the concept is now accepted asa standard management practice. Often public officialsmeasure levels of service to effectively respond to the pub-lic's demand for evidence that government is delivering atacceptable levels.

milestones toward goals.This geographic approach

implies that managementshould rethink how toanalyse progress and setstandards for success. Ulti-mately, it suggests thatmanagers should changefrom a spreadsheet methodto a mapping approach.

RETHINKING PERFORMANCEMEASUREMENT Many areas within the gov-ernment sector have beenidentified as targets for per-formance measurement.They include: facilities man-agement, fire and emer-gency management, high-way and road maintenance,housing, human resources,information technology,library services, parks andrecreation, police services,purchasing, refuse and recy-cling and risk management.

Thinking about codeenforcement performancemeasurements might raisequestions about how manycode violation complaintsare received and how quickthe response is. Similarly,management might want tosee a measurement of codeenforcement officers' pro-ductivity, such as the num-ber of complaints they arehandling per day.

With a geographic per-spective, questions can berephrased or rethought todevelop new measurementquestions and mitigationapproaches. For example:

Where are the complaintscoming from? Can we rebal-ance the load or design thecode enforcement territoriesto meet an expectedresponse? Can we targetspecific neighbourhoodsbased on increases in codeviolations? What is the rela-tionship between code vio-lations and crime rates inthe same area? What are thedemographics of the neigh-bourhoods? Do code viola-tions fall within specificneighbourhoods that qualifyfor extra funding? What isthe cost per code enforce-ment district? Where is themost time spent? Could offi-cers be routed more effi-ciently to maximise produc-tivity and reduce costs?

GEOGRAPHY ANDACCOUNTABILITYA good performance man-agement system yields thenecessary data for assessingservice needs and perform-ance and helps elected offi-cials in their oversightresponsibilities. It also helpsthem make objectiveresource-allocation deci-sions and formulate policy.Performance of a specificservice can be tracked over

time to demonstrateimprovement, or it can bebenchmarked against levelsof service provided in simi-lar communities. The imple-mentation and integrationof a successful geographicsystem (GIS) has helpedadministrators close the gapon deficiencies and developperformance plans that areresult-driven and linked totheir agency's goals. Funda-mental to the capabilities of

a GIS is its ability to meas-ure, track and manageworkflows. Successfulimplementations come fromorganisations that matchthe technology to the organ-isation's business goals andobjectives. They understand

where GIS can fit into thejurisdiction and apply spa-tial logic directly to work-flows.

When an organisationimplements an enterpriseGIS and begins collecting anarray of data about activitiesincluding projects, sched-ules, costs, personnel andcustomer service, measuringperformance becomes a sim-ple exercise. Geographicinformation can be geocod-ed and integrated with exist-ing spatial data for analysisand display. Analysts canrun geographic densityanalyses on incidents orcomplaint data and whendisplayed on a map, man-agers can easily identify hotspots for attention including

trash collection, road repairsor code enforcement. Map-ping the number of missedtrash pickup complaints fora specific area might suggesta problem with a supervisor,while mapping potholes canhelp determine which roads

61G I S D E V E L O P M E N TA U G U S T 2 0 0 8

to slate for resurfacing. Inaddition, focussing on cross-department analysis canprovide a comprehensiveview of the entire agency.

MAPPING MUNICIPALACCOUNTABILITYAn early adopter of enter-prise GIS technology, thecity government of Balti-more, Maryland, developeda policy-driven performancemeasurement system inwhich participants haveinteractive dialogues withdecision makers.

After being elected mayorof Baltimore in 1999, MartinO'Malley implemented acomprehensive municipalmanagement and accounta-bility programme called

CitiStat. Faced with shrink-ing revenues and growingexpenses, the mayorrealised that the old way of doing business was notworking. Through CitiStat,O'Malley sought to breakthrough the bureaucraticparalysis and create a newprocess of managing gov-ernment.

The methodology involvesreviewing agency financialand operational issues andperformance every twoweeks. CitiStat meetings aremandatory and provide atwo-way forum for discus-sion of issues and problemresolution. In the CitiStatroom, decision makers can resolve an issue in min-utes and avoid months ofmemos.

Along with the implemen-tation of CitiStat, city offi-cials authorised the creationof an enterprise GIS groupwithin the mayor's office ofinformation technology. Keyto CitiStat meetings is themayor's ability to view anassortment of spatial data inone image and observe rela-tionships between seeming-ly disparate datasets.

The single, common geog-raphy of the city pointedtoward the need for a cen-trally managed and sharedGIS to ensure that redun-dancies would not occuracross agencies.

The CitiTrack systemincluding Baltimore's new311 "One Call Center" hasbeen a significant addition to the CitiStataccountability tool. CitiTrackmanages the intake, routingand resolution of servicerequests. City residents canreport a nonemergencyproblem or complaints byeither calling 311 or enteringit online at the Baltimorewebsite.

The calls are routed to oneof 300 possible city servicetypes and are assigned atracking number. The sim-plicity and benefits of theCitiStat programme haveattracted worldwide interestbecause it fosters accounta-bility.

Having recently beenelected governor of Mary-land, O'Malley announced inApril the establishment ofStateStat, a system of per-formance measurement forstate agencies.

Another derivative, BayStat, is a Marylandregional system for accountability.

Situational wareness/real-time governanceThe latest trend in manag-ing for results is the adop-tion of an executive dash-board.

An executive dashboard issimply an Internet-basedinterface that sits on anindividual desktop provid-ing real-time situationalawareness of activities. Theexecutive dashboard pro-vides an opportunity toadjust daily, weekly ormonthly workloads as databecomes available. Thisinterface provides for aninteractive way to meet orexceed performance goals.

With a geographicapproach, a GIS can provide a platform fromwhich all data can bebrought together to form an executive dash-board. Use of spatially referenced data gives managers the ability to integrate legacy data into a single interface.

For example, in a real-timesetting, a manager can seethe complaints coming in ona Tuesday morning abouttrash pick up after a holiday.He can see where the trashpick up complaints are com-ing from, make adjustmentsand monitor the rate thecomplaints that are beingmitigated.

62 G I S D E V E L O P M E N T 62 G I S D E V E L O P M E N T A U G U S T 2 0 0 8

Christopher ThomasManager, ESRI GovernmentIndustry Solutions,ESRI, USA

The CARE dash-board provides acontinuous updateof cases andserves as a tool tokeep the depart-ment head andother managersabreast of caseswithout having touse a mouse orkeyboard.

The XXI Congress of Internation-al Society of Photogrammetryand Remote Sensing (ISPRS)

from 2nd July 2008 to 11th July 2008brought together a colossal gatheringof over 3000 geospatial professionalssand 100 technology providers from 75countries to Beijing to explore, estab-lish and operate a neww silk road forinformation from imagery.

Leading to a people-cen-tered and sustainabledevelopment-orientedinformation society, thetheme of the conference -Silk Road for Informationfrom Imagery was aimed topromote the sharing ofimaging and ranging tech-nology across the globe.

Prof. Yang Kai, President,Chinese Society of Geodesy,Photogrammetry and Car-tography, declared the con-ference open. The Vice-Min-ister of Land Resources andDirector General of theState Bureau of Surveyingand Mapping of China, LuXinshe, and ISPRS PresidentProf. Ian Dowman deliveredopening speeches.

In his opening remarks, Ku Xinshe,said "The development of photogram-metry and remote sensing allows theglobal community to better under-stand our environment, assist in disas-ter management and more generally,improve quality of life." ISPRS PresidentIan Dowman in his address said, "The

ISPRS tag line is information fromimagery and we must live up to it. Wemust not only extract information, wemust make sure that it is used for thebenefit of society."

Following the ISPRS Congress tradi-tions, a number of the awards werepresented. The prestigious Brock GoldMedal Award was presented to Prof.Armin Gruen. The Otto von GruberAward was given away to Dr Matthias

Butenuth; the U.V. Heleva Award toMartin Raubal, Stephan Winter, SvenTessmann and Christian Gaisbauer;and the inaugural Wang ZhizhuoAward to Prof. Christopher Gold. Prof.John Trinder and Prof. Armin Gruenwere awarded the honorary member-ship of the ISPRS.

The scientific programme of the con-

ference consisted of three types of tech-nical sessions that had 63 WorkingGroup Sessions (WgS) and relatedPoster Sessions (PS) organised by theWG officers; 22 Theme Sessions (ThS)on a theme that covers activities ofmore than one ISPRS Working Group;and 16 Special Sessions (SS) on topicsthat were not directly related to theactivities of ISPRS.

The plenary sessions talked aboutdiverse topics like "Interna-tional Cooperation to Builda GEOSS" to "The Evolutionof LiDAR; "Rapid ResponseSystem of Photogrammetryand Remote Sensing forWenchuan Earthquake"and others. The four-dayexhibition was thrownopen by Lu Xinshe. Theexhibition witnessed par-ticipation of over 100 inter-national and local mappingagencies from 25 countries.

About 120 delegates repre-senting 41countries in theGeneral Assembly passedthe Beijing Declaration. TheDeclaration called on theinternational communityto commit adequate invest-

ment to scientific research and devel-opment; education and training;capacity and infrastructure building;promote the sharing of research andtechnology for peaceful applications;and encourage constructive dialoguescientists, governments, public and pri-vate sectors, NGOs and internationalorganisations.


Conference Report

ISPRS explores the silk route

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang met representatives of ISPRS Congress,ISPRS council members and leaders of sister societies and national mappingagencies at Ziguangge, Zhongnanhai, before the opening of the Congress.

IKONOS | collected 2 October 2007Beijing National Stadium “Bird’s Nest” | Beijing, China

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Planner

August 20084 - 8 AugustESRI User ConferenceSan Diego, USA

www.esri.com/events/uc

6 - 9 AugustTechnology Exhibition; Geoinformation, GPS and Mapping; National Coordinating Agency for Survey aand MappingJakarta, Indonesia

http://www.geospatial-exh.com25 - 27 AugustGITA 2008 Sydney, Australia

www.gita.org.au

25 - 29 AugustURISA’s Fourth Caribbean GIS Conference Grand Cayman, USA

www.urisa.org

September 20088 - 10 SeptemberCanalys Navigation Forum - EMEA Budapest , Hungary

http://emea.canalysnavigationforum.com

8 - 11 September10th International Symposium High Mountain RS CartographyKathmandu, Nepal

www.icimod-gis.net/news/showDetail.php?id=193

26 - 27 SeptemberASIA GIS 2008 Busna, Korea

www.asiagis2008.com

29 September - 3 October FOSS4G2008Cape Town , South Africa

www.foss4g2008.org

30 September - 2 October INTERGEOBremen, Germany

www.intergeo.de

October 20081 - 3 October4th Asian Space Conference Taipei

www.nspo.org.tw/ASC2008

27 - 31 October7th International Conference of the African Association of Remote Sensing ofthe Environment (AARSEE)-2008Accra, Ghana

http://www.aarse2008.org/index.html

28 - 30 October2008 ESRI Europe, Middle East & Africa UserConference London, United Kingdom

www.esriuk.com/emea2008

November 20082 - 4 November2008 China International Trade Fair for Geo-desy, Geo-Information and Land Manage-ment Surveying TTechnology and Equipment

Shanghai, Chinawww.chinageo-expo.com

4 -6 NovemberXXVIII INCA International Congress 2008Gandhinagar, India

www.cmap.org.in

10 - 14 November29th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing Colombo, Sri Lanka

http://220.247.235.243/acrs2008/index.html

12 - 14 NovemberDigital Earth Summit on GeoinformaticsPotsdam, Germany

www.isde-summit-2008.org

18-20 November 2008 Rocket City Geospatial Conference Inconjunction with the 5th Annual Alabama GIS Symposium

http://www.rocketcitygeospatial.com

J U LY 2 0 0 8

GIS DEVELOPMENT EVENTS


18 - 20 AugustMap Asia 2008Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

www.mapasia.org

25 - 26 AugustMap Africa 2008Cape Town, South Africa

http://mapafrica.gisdevelopment.net

20-21 OctoberGeospatial Technologies for Design andEngineering 2008Dubai, UAE

[email protected]

10 - 13 February, 2009Map World ForumHyderabad, India

www.mapworldforum.org

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AUGUST 2008 VOL 12 ISSUE 8 RNI 68561/18/6/98/ISSN 0971 ......AUGUST 2008 VOL 12 ISSUE 8 AFRICA I AMERICAS I ASIA I AUSTRALIA I EUROPE The Global Geospatial Magazine About the cover: