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AFRICA I AMERICAS I ASIA I AUSTRALIA I EUROPE www.GISdevelopment.net
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eMARCH 2010 VOL 14 ISSUE 03 Price: INR 150 / US$ 15 Subscriber’s copy. Not for Sale
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tasks such as geocoding and routing. Discover how ArcGIS Web Mapping APIs can deliver
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Copyright © 2009 ESRI. All rights reserved. ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, ArcGIS, and www.esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.
G38642_GIS-Development_Nov09.indd 1 10/15/09 1:37:10 PM
March 2010
Political Maturity is need ofthe HourArup Dasgupta
Data Providers - Building the nationDeepali Roy
DSSDI - A step forward inurban management
Users - Capitalising on techpowerDr. Yogita Shukla
R-APDRP - Empowering with reformsAnand Kashyap
Industry - Creating ecosystem of growthBhanu Rekha
Education - ‘Capacity’ for growthDeepali Roy
INTERVIEW
REGULAR FEATURES
India
07 Editorial 08 News 54 ISPRS:In Retrospect & Prospect
GIS DEVELOPMENT
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DE...
CHAIRMAN M P Narayanan
Editor-in-Chief Ravi Gupta Director Maneesh Prasad
Publisher Sanjay Kumar
PUBLICATIONS TEAM
Managing Editor (Honorary) Prof. Arup Dasgupta
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Assistant Editor Deepali Roy
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GIS Development does not necessarily subscribe to the
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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
Creating demand
for spatial data
Maj Gen (Dr) R. Siva KumarCEO-NSDI India
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ABOUT COVER
The technology-savvy India is fast adapting geospa-tial technologies and investing in multi-billion proj-ects. Having established its prowess in the globalIT arena, India is well poised to do an encore in thegeospatial technology domain.
Image Credits/ Source: Satellite Image of Mumbai: AmitBhawani.com http://is.gd/9WdPf
Google 3D warehouse: Gateway of India by RahulDesai http://is.gd/9We3n
6 March 2010
ADVISORY BOARD
Dato’ Dr. Abdul Kadir bin TaibDirector General of Survey and Mapping, Malaysia
Bhupinder SinghSr. Vice PresidentBentley Systems Inc.
Prof. Ian Dowman Former PresidentISPRS
Prof. Josef Strobl Director, Centre for GeoinformaticsUniversity of Salzburg, Austria
Kamal K Singh Chairman and CEORolta Group of Companies
Mark Reichardt President and CEO,Open Geospatial Consortium
Matthew O’Connell CEO, GeoEyeUSA
Dr. Prithvish Nag DirectorNATMO, India
Prof. V. S RamamurthyDirectorNIAS, Bangalore, India
KCM KumarChairman & Managing DirectorSpeck Systems Limited
Brian NichollsGeneral ManagerAAMHatch
Shailesh Nayak SecretaryMinistry of Earth Sciences, India
Prof William CartwrightPresidentInternational Cartographic Association
Dr Derek. G. ClarkeChief Director: Surveys and MappingSouth Africa
Bradley C SkeltonChief Technology OfficerERDAS
GIS DEVELOPMENT
Dr C Chandramouli
Registrar General and Census CommissionerIndia
Shankar Aggarwal
Joint Secretary, Department of InformationTechnology – eGovernanceGovt. of India
INTERVIEWS
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CONFERENCE REPORT: GTUS
‘Census 2011 will be a GIS-based DSS’
‘NeGP envisages easy access to
information’
Facilitating technology uptake
CORRIGENDUM
In January 2010 edition of GIS Development, the photograph appearing on page 75 is the intellectual property of Tan Hua Seng Jimmy. The credit was missed out.
We deeply regret this slip. – Editor
Miles to go..
have a weakness for maps. Whenever I go to a newplace, I hunt for maps to know about the places ofinterest and savour the romance in the names ofplaces. Recently, I took a trip to Jamnagar in Western
Gujarat. Jamnagar is a bustling town, growing at a brisk pace,the home to many big industries and to important religiousinstitutions and nature reserves. I found that I could not get amap listing all these points of interest because Jamnagar wason the western coast, and the home to important air force,naval and coastguard stations. Ergo, information about Jam-nagar is restricted. This sums up the geospatial dilemma inIndia.
As this special issue on India shows India has come a long waydown the geospatial road, but it still has miles to go. It has atremendous repository of spatial information but it lacks amechanism of organised access. It began talking about aNational Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) when its relevancewas still being debated in Europe. Yet today we are still talkingabout it. Meanwhile, the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) has launched Bhuvan which incidentally, it quiteunnecessarily compares to Google Earth. Bhuvan is what NSDI should be and has features notfound in Google Earth. In short, we are sitting on a goldmine of data and that is the problem - wecontinue to sit on it! We need to develop an attitude of extension that will see data and informationflowing to and from the beneficiaries. We need to enable more sectors and more actors in thegeospatial arena.
Yes, we do have islands of excellence emerging like the DSSDI and the unsung effort of theBureau of Census. The census data is rich and spatially enabled. The new decennial exercisecoming up in 2011 will most certainly take it further. The remote sensing programme pioneeredby ISRO is another island providing the country with a variety of datasets much of which remainssub-optimally used. Partly it is the fault of the colonial data policy which withholds data and partly it is because of the dearth of adequately trained personnel. Capacity building is therefore amajor task.
To an outsider, the Indian geospatial scene is a patchwork quilt of centres of excellence, opportu-nities, threats and weaknesses. The intellectual excellence of India is a given, unfortunately so isits bureaucratic cussedness. What finally wins the day for India is the innovative nature of theaverage Indian. We muddle through or to put it more politely we adapt to situations and circum-stances - and move forward. That is both the hope and the promise.
7March 2010
EditorSpeak
Prof. Arup Dasgupta
Managing Editor (Honorary) [email protected]
I
GIS DEVELOPMENT
EDITORSPEAK
GIS DEVELOPMENT8 March 2010
SOUTH AFRICA
First images fromSumbandilaSatSumbandila satellite has startedsending images. It is a South Africanmicro earth observation satellite. The University of Stellenbosch, SunSpace and the CSIR (Council for Scientific and IndustrialResearch) were key players in itsmanufacturing. The CSIR's SatelliteApplication Centre (CSIR-SAC) han-dles operations, telemetry, tracking,control and data capturing. Thesatellite costs over 20 million rands(USD 2.67 million) to build and 12million rands (USD 1.6 million) tolaunch. It weighs 81 kg and carries a6.25-meter ground sampling dis-tance. The multispectral imagermoves at a speed of seven km per
second. This is the second satellitethe country has launched in last 11years.
CONGO
RS imagery to mapchange DMCii is acquiring new satelliteimages to map the rain forest in Con-go Basin and to measure changes inits forest cover. With this new system,DMCii is expecting more accurateand up-to-date information for forestmanagement, policy making and pro-grammes such as the UN's ReducingEmissions from Deforestation andForest Degradation throughout theregion. DMCii uses a group of satel-lites called the Disaster Monitoring Constellation to provide images ofany part of the world every day.
UGANDA
Google Maps launchedGoogle Maps launched its services inseveral Ugandan towns includingKampala and Entebbe. Google Mapsin Uganda can be viewed via Map but-ton which shows the traditional mapview for finding an address or plan-ning directions. To explore in moredetail, users can choose the ‘satellitebutton,’ which includes satellite andaerial photographs. The terrain viewshows the physical geography of aplace. Google Maps are now accessi-ble in 29 other new African countries.This follows earlier launches ofGoogle Maps in Kenya and SouthAfrica.
KENYA
Insurance for herders International Livestock ResearchInstitute and African insuranceprovider UAP Insurance have offeredpolicies for herders in arid areas ofnorthern Kenya. It will cover live-stock, based on a programme in
Africa that uses satellite images ofgrass and other vegetation that indi-cate whether drought will put theircamels at the risk of starvation. Theproject is funded by UK's Departmentfor International Development, UnitedStates Agency for InternationalDevelopment, the World Bank andFinancial Sector Deepening Trust.
NIGERIA
Africa
NEWS
SURCON exposedNigeria has less than 2000 sur-veyors for a population of about150 million people, according toAfolabi Olukayode Solesi, for-mer Registrar of SurveyorsRegistration Council of Nigeria(SURCON). People who arepractising ethically are notenough to really sanitise theplace because most people whoreceived training in surveyingwere not able to register assurveyors by SURCON.
He said that in terms of getting documents on land matters from the government’s offices, it takes approximately three months in any part ofNigeria. This is because the existing law which guides the operation is a bit faulty.
GIS DEVELOPMENT 9March 2010
AsiaAZERBAIJAN
3D digital map forBaku A 3D digital map of capital Baku willbe ready by September 2010,according to a report on NEWS.AZweb portal. This map will cover anarea of 2,200 square km. It is beingdesigned for better traffic regulationin the city. The state committee iscompiling the map on the basis ofstereo images. This project hasbegun in late 2009.
IRAN
Satellite race in theGulfIran and Israel are planning tolaunch new space satellites to peerinto each other's military domainsas they prepare for possible conflict. Israel already has severalsurveillance satellites in orbit, butThe Jerusalem Post reported thata new satellite, Ofek-8, is expectedto be lofted into space soon to beef up intelligence gathering in the face of Iran's pursuit of nuclearpower. It has radar technology that
can produce real-time images indarkness and all weather. AfterOfek-8, Israel plans to launch Opsat 3000 later in the decade. Iran is expected to unveil three new satellites this month.
According to Iranian Communica-tions Minister Reza Taghipour, thesesatellites are Tolou (Sunrise), YaMahdi and Mesbah-2 (Lantern).
AFGHANISTAN
RapidEye’s imagingcampaign RapidEye has completed a baselineimage campaign covering the Helmand river basin in Afghanistan.
The imagery is now available forpurchase to clients and partnersworldwide. Covering over 250,000square kilometres, the Helmandriver basin is the largest inAfghanistan, accounting for almosthalf of the country's territory. It isthe world’s largest opium produc-tion region.
TAJIKISTAN
GIS for better potato varietiesPotato material from the International Potato Centre (CIP) is helpingfarmers to enhance food and income security in Central and South-west Asia in the face of climate change.
Scientists have integrated GIS with statistical analysis of multiloca-tion trial data toassess the suit-ability of potatoclones for specificlocations.
A three-year CIPproject is boost-ing potato pro-duction with vari-eties that havebeen bred andtested to betteradapt to thedrought andincreased tem-peratures affect-ing countries such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Bangladesh. Atleast 200,000 farm families are expected to benefit from the project,which is producing more reliable harvests for farmers and more sta-ble prices for consumers.
INDIA
Space budget up by58 percentThe Indian space programme budg-et for fiscal 2010-11 rocketed up by58 percent over that of previous yearin the Union Budget presented byFinance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.The budgetary allocation for theDepartment of Space shot up toRs.5,000 crore for the next fiscal ascompared to the revised estimatesof Rs.3,172 crore for 2009-10. Com-pared to Rs.230 crore allocated toISRO's manned mission in 2009-10,the funds for the next fiscal havebeen reduced to Rs.150 crore. WhileRs.100 crore has been set aside forthe lunar mission (Chandrayaan-I
and II); the allocation for the IndianRegional Navigational Satellite Sys-tem, was pegged at Rs 262.10 croreagainst the revised estimates of Rs220 crore last year.
GIS to lead educationreformsTo bring in revolutionary educationalreforms in schools, Punjab StateGovernment has decided to auto-mate all functions of governmentschools in the State with an aim todevelop Management InformationSystem and GIS for effective plan-ning and decision-making. Mainobjective of building MIS and GIS
systems is to monitor the delivery ofeducation to school children and toadminister and manage the internalfunctions of schools.
This is the first time since Inde-pendence a concrete initiative hasbeen taken for education reforms tomake Punjab a leading state interms of providing infrastructureand facilities to primary and upperprimary schools. It would be imple-mented in approximately 18500schools out of which 5250 would beupper primary schools.
NRSC hosts userworkshopNational Remote Sensing Centre(NRSC), Dept. of Space, illustratedthe merits of its various offerings toits user community at the UserInteraction Workshop – 2010 held inHyderabad. G. Balachandran, Addi-tional Secretary, Dept. of Space,inaugurated the exhibition on SpaceApplications for Planet Earth, Manand Moon. He unveiled Oceansat
products and a water resourceassessment document by NRSC onthe occasion.
e-Panchayat on g-tracke-governance project for panchayatraj institutions (e-Panchayat) inIndia includes decentralised data-base and planning, budgeting andaccounting, implementation andmonitoring of Central and State sec-tor schemes, citizen-centric servic-es, unique codes to panchayats andindividuals and essential GIS basedapplications. This project will cost450 billion INR in the span of threeyears. Under this project, Internetconnectivity will be provided to all236,000 panchayats in the countryacross 31 States and union territo-ries. The project will focus on threeactivities—identification of informa-tion and services needs of all stake-holders, process re-engineering andpreparation of detailed projectreport for mission mode project.
GIS DEVELOPMENT10 March 2010
NEWS
ICRISAT gets fruitful resultThe International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-arid Tropics(ICRISAT), in a report, said that the institute’s advance warning about adrought-like condition in a specific region of Andhra Pradesh has yieldedpositive results. ICRISAT used LandSat data to make this prediction andshared it with dry land farmers at the right time. Based on this advisory,farmers cultivated crops that needed less water. Hence, villagers did notmigrate from Adakkal block where rainfall was 90 percent less than nor-mal in 2009 – the driest in 80 years.
Kerala to introduceR-APDRPThe Kerala State Electricity Board isintroducing Restructured AcceleratedPower Development Reforms Pro-gramme (R-APDRP) to capture itsentire distribution network in GIS. Itwill be launched in the state in April. Itwill cover the distribution networkand consumers in 43 urban centres inthe state. The Union Government hassanctioned an assistance of Rs.214crore, expected to cost Rs.288 crore.This programme also envisages cre-ating a well-spread-out computernetwork, setting up a number of infor-mation technology centres and put-ting in place a mechanism to ensurereal time energy audit.
Promising GenXUndergraduate geography students
of the Government College, Kariavat-tom (in Kerala state) has accom-plished the digital resource mappingwith just an old computer and ashoestring budget of Rs 45,000.
Most of them do not have even per-sonal e-mail ids but they have creat-ed digitised maps of the panchayatusing GPS tools. The students usedthe free GIS software, Q-GIS, and
produced thematic maps depictingthe working population of the pan-chayat, population distribution,places of worship, educational insti-tutions and the political map of thepanchayat, with support from theUniversity College and the IndianInstitute of Information Technology -Kerala.
Slums to be mappedAiming to make India slum-free, thegovernment has embarked on a planof remote mapping. With the involve-ment of ISRO in this project, theland-mapping and slum surveys arebeing done through remote sensingwith GIS-enabled software. TheHousing Ministry has set a target ofmaking India slum-free in the comingfive years with the launch of the RajivAwas Yojana.
GIS DEVELOPMENT
EuropeUK
TV series on mapsBBC Four announced two new TVseries: Mapping The World and TheArt of Maps. Due for transmissionthis spring, the series will explorethe role of maps as a unique windowon history and the beauty inherent
within them. Each programme willfocus on one specific map and usehuman stories and testimony, origi-nal sketches and artistic impres-sions, private journals and historicarchive sources to tell its story. Theseries addresses the cartographers'role and the impact their creations
have had within the art world andincludes interviews with artists andPeter Barber, Head of Map Collec-tions at the British Library.
Mapping The World (3 x 60-min-utes) tells the epic and beautifulstory of cartography, from ham-mered rock art to satellite images ofGoogle Earth. The Art of Maps (4 x60-minutes) looks at the art ofmaps, their historical significance,
their relevance to modernmap-making and how they shapethe future of cartography. It will also have an online counterpart featuring exclusive content thematically aligned to the TVseries. Users will be able to explorefive historic maps.
Innovative use ofsatellite imageryBritish scientists have developed atechnique that allows monitoring ofEarth's peatlands via satelliteimages and airborne laser scanningdata. According to researchers’team led by Karen Anderson of theUniversity of Exeter, new techniqueinvolves measuring spatial pattern-ing in peatland surfaces as an indi-cator of their condition. Airbornelaser scanning instruments arecapable of measuring fine-scalestructures such as hummocks andhollows.
New mapping toolfrom OSOrdnance Survey (OS) has intro-duced a new tool for its online map-ping API, OS OpenSpace, to createmap mash-ups without the need forany technical know-how. OS claimsthat the new tool makes map mash-up work easier. It allows users toadd markers, routes and searchfunctionality to their web map with-out having to write a single line ofcode. The move comes as the map-ping agency seeks to remove thetechnical barriers that it believesstop many potential users frommaking the most of online maps.
Satellite productionboom According to ASD Reports, satellitemanufacturing industry is poised towitness a steady growth in the com-ing decade. Public private partner-ships will benefit the space industrywith innovative and cost efficientactivities, which will provide a con-tinuing momentum for new spacemissions. By 2013, the industry willsee approximately 10-15 percent
12
NEWS
March 2010
Solarflares toaffect GPSsignals BBC News reported thatover the next couple ofyears, the Sun will reachits period of maximumactivity and solar flareswill be at their highestpoint in years. It hasmade scientists worriedthat GPS signals will beinterfered with in a waythat could cause minor
issues for some GPS users. According to the report, as solar activityreaches its peak the low-power GPS signals (viz. the navigation device in acar) won't be able to pick the GPS signal from orbiting satellites due toradiation from solar flares. Ultimately, GPS receivers in consumer devicesmay be blinded for tens of minutes a few times a year when the sun is atmaximum activity.
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more satellites launched (927) incomparison to the last decade.Communications accounts foralmost 44 percent of the total satel-lites launched in the forecast period(2009-2018), closely followed by
Earth Observation and Reconnais-sance at about 40 percent and theremaining made for navigation andresearch and development (16 per-cent).
NORWAY
geoNorge offersgeospatial dataThe geoNorge portal allows users todownload maps and other countyspecific data through the Norwayweb digital download central sys-tem. Users can login to access thesedata collected in a central system athttps://download.geonorge.no/skdl2/nl2prot/nl2. By accessing the sys-tem, users can consult and down-load files on elevation data, adminis-trative boundaries, transformation
formulae, as well as related topicslike cultural heritage, herding andmany more.
FRANCE
Systematic use of EOThe European Investment Bank(EIB) is considering the systematicuse of earth observation (EO) forproject monitoring and longer-termproject evaluation, according toPeter Carter, Associate DirectorEnvironment and Social Office of theProjects Directorate, EIB. The bankhas been increasingly mainstream-ing environmental considerationsinto its lending portfolio. As its envi-ronmental commitments haveincreased, so too has the demandfor geospatial information.
GIS DEVELOPMENT14 March 2010
GERMANY
GPS-enabled flashlightDesignaffairs Studio has introduced TamTam Flash con-cept GPS torch.
It resembles an ordinary flashlight but is a GPS map-ping device that gives its user the option of either sim-ple turn-by-turn navigation information illuminating thepath in front, or a zoomable map that can be projectedonto any surface for a more detailed overview. It isintended that a simple turn on the TamTam's aperturewould switch between the views.
The designers envisage making the TamTam flash able to read QR tags, giving the user access to detailed localinformation on landmarks, restaurants, clubs and so on.
3D road geometriesIntermap Technologies collaborated with Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. regarding a predictive front lighting systembased on Intermap’s 3D road geometries.
The technology involves the synchronisation of high-resolution 3D road geometries and information supplied bycamera systems in an automobile, into front lighting system – ultimately providing a significant increase in visibili-ty for drivers at night and during incle-ment weather by automatically directing the headlamp before the drivermanually steers the vehicle into a bend or up and down a slope.
NEWS
AustraliaTopo map for SharkBayGeoscience Australia has released anew topographic map of Shark Bayregion (World Heritage Area in West-ern Australia) on a scale of 1:25,000.The map includes Francois PeronNational Park, Shark Bay MarinePark and the coastal zone fromCarnarvon in the north to about 35kilometres south of Hamelin Pool.
Tallest EucalyptusThe tallest Eucalyptus tree in theworld has been discovered andmapped by using a combination ofLiDAR (light detection and ranging)and GIS. The swamp gum, a eucalyp-tus, was nicknamed Centurion andmeasured at 99.6 meters (326.8 feet)
in height and405 centime-tres in diame-ter. Centurionwas foundabout 80 kilo-metres south-west ofHobart, thecapital of Tas-mania.
Disaster prepared-ness in the PacificGeologists from GNS Science willwork on a disaster preparednessproject in the southwest Pacific. Thisproject is part of a joint initiative ofAsian Development Bank and WorldBank for Climate Change Adaptationand Disaster Preparedness. Scien-tists will spend the next six months
collecting information on infrastruc-ture in Pacific Island countries tomeasure vulnerability and risk fromearthquakes and cyclones.
They will work closely with Pacificregional organisations and govern-ment officials in the collection of theinformation. The entire project isscheduled to be completed in Sep-tember 2011.
Website for koalaskoaladiaries.com.au is helping in thefight to save the koala (i.e. furry crea-tures) from extinction. It has used GIStechnology to plot koala sightings bythe public in Queensland and couldeventually be extended to includeentire Australia – to register its loca-tion to the exact tree, field or roadwhere the animal was located inthree easy Internet steps.
3D Model of Centurion basedon LiDAR result
GIS DEVELOPMENT
AmericasUSA
Consumer interest inmobile navigationA new global research identified fourdistinct behavioural motivators driv-ing interest in mobile navigation:commuting behaviour, transporta-tion attitudes, mobile phone behav-iour and past GPS experience. In allnine countries that were part of the
study, at least 2/3rds of mobilephone users stated that they wantan integrated solution for both driv-ing and walking. The nine countriesfor the study included Brazil,France, Germany, India, Russia, Sin-gapore, Spain, UK and the US. Thestudy was conducted by Ipsos MediaCT.
Portal to track healthGeoDecisions worked with the NewYork City Department of Health andMental Hygiene to develop the Envi-
ronmental Public Health TrackingPortal. The portal is a unique hybriddesign and includes analysis toolsfor charting, mapping, graphing,multivariate analysis and dataexporting. It highlight citywidetrends as well, such as the numberof days on which air-quality advi-sories have been issued for generalor special populations.
DG records 2.4%growthFor 2009, DigitalGlobe (DG) reportedrecord revenue of USD 281.9 million,an increase of 2.4% compared to2008. Net income for 2009 was USD47.4 million or USD 1.06 per dilutedshare as compared to net income ofUSD 53.8 million or USD 1.22 perdiluted share for 2008. “We deliveredgrowth in all our target businesssegments and continued to add sig-nificant new capabilities, includingWorldView-2,” said, Jill Smith, CEO.
NGA’s TASERcontractsThe National Geospatial-Intelli-
gence Agency (NGA) has awardedUSD 1 billion in engineering con-tracts to consulting firms - includ-ing Accenture, Lockheed Martinand Boeing - to deliver new tech-nology for gathering intelligenceinformation via satellite, amongother services. The NGA expectsto award Total Application Servicesfor Enterprise Requirements(TASER) contracts for integrationand deployment in mid March
GPS OCX contractawardedThe United States Air Force awardedthe GPS Operational Control Seg-ment (OCX) contract to RaytheonSpace System of Aurora, Colorado.With a baseline duration of 73months, the OCX development con-tract has option years for sustain-ment worth a potential total of USD1,535,147,916. Raytheon teammatesinclude Boeing, ITT, Braxton Tech-nologies, Infinity Systems Engineer-ing and the Jet Propulsion Labora-tory. The OCX with provide new anti-jamming technologies.
16
NEWS
March 2010
GeoDesignintroducedJack Dangermond, ESRI presi-dent, introduced the concept ofGeoDesign, integrating geospatialtechnologies into the designprocess, at the TED2010 (Technol-
ogy, Entertainment and Design) conference in Long Beach, California.Dangermond said “I believe that designing with nature, or GeoDesign,with all the best geospatial technology behind it, is the next evolutionarystep in the design field. GeoDesign is both an old idea and a new idea. Itreopens our minds and hearts; it puts in our hands the means to achievewhat the Japanese masters did so many years ago—designing with geo-graphic knowledge, thus living harmoniously with nature."
GIS DEVELOPMENT
URISA welcomesnominationsThe nomination process for URISA’s(The Urban and Regional Informa-tion Systems Association) GIS Hallof Fame has begun. It honours thebest in GIS. Introduced in 2005, theURISA GIS Hall of Fame documentsthe contributions made by key indi-viduals.
URISA has invited nominationsfrom any profession and is notrestricted to those having a past orcurrent relationship with URISA.Nominations must be submitted toURISA by May 1. The selection crite-ria for this honour include:
- At least 25 years of sustained professional involvement in the GISfield.
- Original and creative contributions tothe field.
Three GITA leaderson NGACThe Geospatial Information & Tech-nology Association (GITA) announcedthat three of its key leaders havebeen appointed to the NationalGeospatial Advisory Committee(NGAC).
The appointed individuals areGITA’s President 2010, Cindi Salas, Director - Land & Field Services, CenterPoint Energy; 2010 President-elect, Dr. Robert F.Austin, Enterprise Application Integration Manager, City of Tampaand Research Committee Chair and former president David DiSera, Vice President & CTO, EMA, Inc.
17March 2010
The Smalls Street Sounds The Smalls Street Sounds is a new interactive online project that aims tocreate a sonic landscape of the US by overlaying local sound snippets onGoogle Maps. Clicking through the 270-plus clips uploaded as of lateWednesday afternoon (trial work) offered an imaginative audio tour fromEast to West and in between. It is a project of The Smalls, a curator of inde-pendent short films whose mission is to "champion the use of diverse andinspiring sounds in filmmaking and support talented artists who usesounds in a creative way to tell their stories and convey their own uniquevision."
When LCA meets GISIRTA’s (Institute of Agro Food Research and Technology) researchers havemeasured the degradation of the planet's soil using LCA (Life CycleAssessment) and GIS. LCA is a scientific methodology that objectivelyanalyses the environmental impacts of an activity or process, taking in thefull cycle, from extraction of raw materials right through to management ofthe waste generated at the end of this material's useful life. The newresearch shows that using LCA in combination with GIS makes it easier toadapt the LCA to study the impacts of land use, not only in the case ofdesertification, but also in terms of loss of biodiversity, erosion, or evenwater consumption. The results show that 38 percent of the world (totaleight areas) is made up of arid regions at risk of desertification.
GIS to map terroir categories Using geography, a Kansas State University professor and his colleague areworking to scientifically identify and map terroir categories that will benefit
the producers who make winesand the connoisseurs who enjoydrinking them. The Frenchrefers terroir as the differencethat soil, weather and locationmake in the taste ofwine.Shawn Hutchinson, a K-State associate professor of
geography on sabbatical in France, is working with Michael Gay, a profes-sor at the University of Toulouse-Ecole d'Ingenieurs de Purpan. They areusing GIS to quantify the impact of place on the quality of grapes and thewine that is produced.
3D city GIS modellingsoftware Bentley Systems introduced a new3D city GIS information modellingsoftware. The just-released V8i(SELECTseries 1) versions of BentleyMap, Bentley Descartes, BentleyGeospatial Server and Bentley GeoWeb Publisher further extend thisportfolio to include new 3D City GIScapabilities.
Bentley Map V8i is at the core ofthe Bentley 3D City GIS productportfolio. Bentley Map V8i (SELECT-series 1) allows advanced visualisa-tion of smart 3D models, createsthematic maps, captures smart 3D
features of buildings, roads and oth-er infrastructure, integrates 3D datafrom different sources, performssmart 3D object editing and qualitycontrol on the 3D data model andcreates realistic renderings and ani-mations.
New Mechanical TSTrimble introduced TS835 Mechani-cal Total Station (TS). It is a mecha-nical total station for building con-struction professionals. It featuresan onboard Windows CE device run-ning Trimble LM80 Layout Managersoftware, a hardware platform offer-ing 5-second accuracy and a fast,long-range EDM with precisionoptics. It can be used with a prismor in reflectorless mode for single-person operation.
HD interactive pendisplayWacom introduced its first full HDinteractive pen display, the DTU-2231. With direct pen-on-
screen input, the DTU-2231 isdesigned to optimise efficiency andproductivity by allowing geophysi-cists, oil and gas experts, planners,engineers, cartographers and emer-gency responders to quickly andeasily create original content, editmaps as well as manage, analyseand share geographic information.
CANADA
Robot subs on ArcticmissionTwo robot submarines will plungeinto the Arctic next month to mapthe sea bed in an effort to helpCanada stake a claim to a largeswath of potentially mineral-richseafloor in the polar region. Canada,the United States, Russia, Denmarkand Norway are involved in a scrumover Arctic bottomland and long-frozen shipping lanes that havestarted to thaw as global tempera-tures rise. The autonomous under-water vehicle mission next monthwill expand that effort. The two 20-foot vehicles will be outfitted withspecialised echo-sounder equip-ment intended to help scientistscreate a three-dimensional map ofunderwater peaks and valleys.
GIS DEVELOPMENT18 March 2010
NEWS
Digital maps for Harley ridersMAD Maps released a new iPhoneapp which includes printed region-al maps, national maps, GPSdownloads and the original iPhoneapp.
It has been exclusively designedfor Harley-Davidson motorcycleriders. In conjunction with Harley-Davidson and tech partner AbaltaTechnologies, MAD Maps letsmotorcyclists download electronicversions of scenic loops right totheir iPhone.
Users can purchase their ridesfrom a library of more than 1000routes in the continental U.S. Thisenables the maps to highlight thebest roads, roadhouses, roadsideattractions and more.
India needs to
develop a mature
vision regarding
its commitment
to not only
geospatial
technologies,
education and
applications but
to policies as
well
GIS DEVELOPMENT
ncredible India!" screams the TV ad as the visuals of elephants androckets, temples and multiplexes zoom in and out in a frenetic, hyper-active montage meant to attract the tourist to savour the variety of a
sub-continent that is also a country. To me, it is indeed incredible that a touristcan now use the full power of IT to connect to India, manage travel, shopping,hotel bookings and even remain in touch with the news in his/her home coun-try. India has taken to IT as a fish to water and provides world class services notonly to the tourist but to the average Indian. The picture however, changeswhen we look at geospatial IT services.
India has made several commitments to the use of geospatial technologies.The government supports a comprehensive remote sensing programme andperhaps one of the largest and most versatile constellations of remote sensingsatellites in orbit. Each and every state of India, from Kashmir to Kerala andfrom Nagaland to Gujarat, has its own centre for application of remote sensingand GIS. There are more than thirty five institutions providing degree and diplo-ma courses in geospatial technology and applications. All the major trans-national geospatial companies have a strong presence in India. There are sev-eral home-grown Indian companies in the technology and service sectors. Thegovernment has recently sponsored two major projects in the power sector and
20
GEOSPATIAL VISION
Prof. Arup Dasgupta
Honorary Managing EditorGIS Development
I
POLITICAL MATURITYIS NEED OF THE HOUR
March 2010
GIS DEVELOPMENT 21March 2010
land records modernisation. Yet if we look closer, avibrant image does not emerge. Unlike the IT sectorwhere G2C and B2C applications abound, the geospatialsector is totally aligned to the government needs. ANational Spatial Data Infrastructure has long been in theplanning. The first meeting was held in 1999 and sincethen, there is a get-together every year but precious littleprogress. Why is it then that geospatial technology, whichis a special branch of IT, keeps running off India like wateroff a duck's back? Some reasons for this are: a colonialdata policy that treats all map users as potential spies, aneducation system that relegates geography to the fluffyrealm of 'social sciences', an inability to recognise thatgeospatial cannot exist by itself but must tightly integrateinto the IT milieu and a mindless hankering for dollarearnings that is satiated by doing other peoples' mind-deadening work neglecting the opportunities in India thatare crying out to be addressed. A study shows that if allIndian geospatial companies paid heed to this internaldemand, there would be so much work that India will notbe able to attend to offshore opportunities for the next tenyears. This is the geospatial opportunity for India. Toaddress this, India must develop a mature vision regard-ing not only its commitment to geospatial technologies,education and applications but to policies as well.
On the technology front, India is well ahead and looks tomaintain the steady pace of progress. Apart from govern-ment support, the industry is well set to accept the chal-lenges of the marketplace. Given India's open policy, thebest in technology is available in India almost as soon as itis released elsewhere. When we start looking at how thistechnology is put to use is when we come across the firsthurdle to overcome. There just aren't enough trained per-sons to make the best use of the technology. We need per-sons at various levels of competence. We need the ITIs toaugment their IT courses with basics of digitisation anddigital spatial data handling skills. We need the engineer-ing colleges to produce graduates and postgraduates withskills in IT applications, geography and computer graph-ics. We need our universities to produce graduates andpostgraduates in geography with skills in IT and in spatialstatistics and modelling. This calls for an overhaul of ouroutdated education system which puts students in silos.This is happening and with a Human Resources Ministerwho is geospatial savvy, things are looking good for thecountry.
At the government level the application scenario is well
defined but the end user istreated as a passive dummy.This needs to change. Mapsdefine relationships andrelationships involve people.People can be excellentsources of volunteered infor-mation. People are alsoaware of what will work intheir local environment. Abottom up approach to fieldlevel data acquisitions andapplications is thus a neces-sity. We need applicationsthat treat each individual asa user as well as applications that interconnect commu-nities. This requires that applications are moved out ofartificial boxes like remote sensing applications, GPSapplications and GIS applications and replaced with inte-grated solutions where geospatial solutions provide thespatial dimension. We are seeing this happening in theRestructured Accelerated Power Development andReforms Programme of the government and in commer-cial projects like Lavasa.
All this of course hinges on appropriate policy reformsthat will enable the industry to realise its potential, openup job opportunities to well trained professionals andthrow open a kaleidoscope of applications accessible tocitizens, professionals in the industry, government andacademia. Here again the pronouncements of the Minis-ter for Science and Technology are very positive andencouraging. It must be said that, even though ministershave a term of five years, successive ministers have beenextremely progressive and have continued the geospatialpolicy reform drive; but the policy has to be implementedby the bureaucracy, the technocracy and the militarybrass. These functionaries have a longer term of officeand unfortunately, they tend to be more hidebound and farless progressive in their approach. This is one reason whya reasonable data policy is still a wishful thought. Fortu-nately, the Indian user is nothing if not innovative andprogress is happening in spite of these obstacles. Imaginethe progress that could happen if an enabling policy is putin place expeditiously. To sum up, an 'Incredible geospa-tially enabled India' is a real possibility and requires boldsteps to be taken at all levels and by all actors. That is mygeospatial vision for India.
If all Indiangeospatialcompanies payheed to the internaldemand, therewould be so muchwork that India willnot be able toattend to offshoreopportunities forthe next ten years
Geographic
data is a key
component
in smooth
functioning of
geospatial
technologies.
Here’s a look at
the status of data
availability and
accessibility in
India
GIS DEVELOPMENT22
DATA PROVIDERS
Deepali Roy
Assistant Editor
GIS Development
BUILDING THE NATION
March 2010
GIS DEVELOPMENT 23
eospatial technologies are growing exponentiallyworldwide and India too, opening up to its poten-
tial, is fast catching up. Applications are finding their wayinto governance and industry alike. An essential compo-nent for smooth functioning of the technology is the con-tent, the geographic data that can also be considered thefuel for the technology. It is the availability, accessibilityand terms and conditions of the use of this data thatdetermines the effectiveness of geospatial technologies.
Data repositories Key repositories and providers for this data in India aregovernment departments and agencies responsible forcreation and maintenance for the geospatial databases inthe country.
Survey of India (SOI), the national mapping agency, pre-pares the topographical maps for the country, with thescale of mapping depending on the national requirementsand technology availability. According to Maj Gen (Dr) B.Nagarajan, Additional Surveyor General, Indian Instituteof Surveying and Mapping, Survey of India, the organisa-tion has been supplying 1:50000 scale topographicalmaps prepared on Everest coordinate system and withpolyconic projection so far. With the introduction of NewMapping Policy 2005, SOI has switched over to preparingtopographical maps on WGS 84 coordinate system/withUTM projection for open series maps and on WGS 84/LCCprojection for defence series maps. These maps are beingmade available in both digital and analogue form for theuser. This effort, which the agency hopes will be complet-ed by end of 2010, will ensure that the country has anaccurate digital topographic database for the whole coun-try on scale 1:50,000.
SOI, under National Urban Mapping Project, is bringingout large scale maps on scale 1:2,000 for core area and1:10,000 scale for peripheral area of 158 major citiesidentified by the Ministry of Urban Development. Digitalphotogrammetric techniques using aerial photographs aswell as high resolution satellite imageries and groundbased methods such as GPS and total station are beingused for the same. Since high resolution imageries areused for preparing 1:10000 scale maps and GPR andallied techniques used for sub surface utility mapping,this effort aims to ensure development of an accurate 5-DGIS for the major cities in India.
SOI also supplies precise station coordinates, bench-mark heights above mean sea level, gravity and magneticvalues at various locations for governmental and non-governmental, educational and research institutions ondemand.
SOI strives to meet the demands of the industry. For theagency, the demand for analogue maps, digital data andother topographical information from the industry andgeneral public has always been overwhelming. Due toshortage of manpower and certain government restric-tions, the department is finding it difficult to meet theentire demand and looks to the private sector to fill up the
March 2010
G
vacuum. SOI has opened a new directorate "business andpublicity" as commercial arm of the organisation. SOI hasdecided to adopt 1:25000 scale topographical maps as thefuture basic scale for the country for which work is gettingunderway.
The Census of India collects, compiles, evaluates, analy-ses and publishes or otherwise disseminates demo-graphic, economic and social data pertaining at specifiedtimes, to all persons in the country or in a well-delimitedpart of it. According to Dr. AP Singh, Deputy RegistrarGeneral, Office of Registrar General of India (ORGI), thedata is collected at two levels: individual and village/townlevel. The data is being used by policy makers, planners,academia, researchers, students and many other agen-cies. The data meets the need of various NGOs and indus-try in various ways. ORGI ensures 100 percent coverage ofIndia for population data collection asthe data is required for various depart-mental purposes.
Forest Survey of India (FSI) publishesdata on forest cover of the country,states and districts in every two years.In addition, the information on growingstock in forest and trees outside forest(TOF) and estimates of tree cover arealso published by FSI. PrakashLakhchaura, Deputy Director, ForestSurvey of India informs that the mainstakeholders of the data are state for-est department and researchers. Theforest cover maps are available ondemand. The data on forest cover includes change in theforest cover with respect to previous assessment, state-
wise tree cover, mangrove cover of the country, forest cov-er in different altitude zones, Northern eastern states andhilly and tribal districts. In addition, many other kinds ofinformation are published in the organisation's report,called State of Forest Report (SFR). This report is avail-able at its website www.fsi.nic.in.
The Central Water Commission maintains data pertain-ing to water sector in the country and river water in par-ticular in the form of publications. CWC's InformationSystem Organisation (ISO) maintains information base onwater and related subject matter by collecting data fromvarious sources. DP Mandal, Advisor, ISO, says that theprimary data collected by CWC includes hydrological dataon gauge, discharge, sedimentation and water quality,data on project appraisal, approval and monitoring,details on irrigation from reservoirs and dams and dataon flood forecast, flood management, flood damage andresettlement.
Besides the Ministry of Water Resources, the other maindata source for bringing out the publications in ISO, CWCare Directorate of Economic & Statistics, NaturalResources Management Division and Dept. of AnimalHusbandry of Ministry of Agriculture, Indian Meteorologi-cal Dept., Office of the Register General of India and Cen-tral Statistical Organisation (NAD) & NSSO.
The Soil and Land Use Survey of India (SLUSI) providesdatabase on soil and land characteristics to the variousstate user departments for planning and implementationof soil and water conservation in the watershed-basedprogrammes for natural resources management. SLUSI
generates two levels of databasethrough rapid reconnaissance surveyfor identification and demarcation ofpriority watersheds on 1:50,000 scaleand detailed soil database on 1:4,000-1:15,000 scale by conducting detailedsoil survey in the priority watersheds.The spatial and non-spatial databasesare documented in the form of reportsand provided to various state userdepartments such as agriculture, for-est and soil conservation for watersheddevelopment programmes at macroand micro level.
Dr.S.N.Das, Chief Soil Survey Officer,Soil and Land Use Survey of India shares that SLUSI isalso developing digital spatial database to launch GIS-
GIS DEVELOPMENT24 March 2010
Data accessibility haslong been an issue
concerning thegeospatial industry, alegacy of a colonialdata policy. Things
however are lookingup now
based web services on watershed, soil and land degrada-tion that will help to meet the demand of the governmentand non-governmental organisations in faster mode.SLUSI uses remote sensing and GIS technologies to gen-erate database at both 1:50,000 and 1:12,500 followingstandard methodologies.
The National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning(NBSS & LUP) of ICAR generates soil resource databaseat different scales in India. The demand for soil resourcesdata is largely from government and implementing organ-isations. Dr. Dipak Sarkar, Director, National Bureau ofSoil Survey & Land Use Planning says that in soil survey,besides the standard soil survey techniques, NBSS & LUPuses inputs from satellite imagery and GPS technologies.GIS technology is being used in generation of soilresource database. Since soil survey needs intensive filedtraverses, soil surveyors visit and collect the soil samples.However, sometimes the organisation minimises the fieldtraverses with the help of physiography map interpretedfrom satellite imageries. In such conditions extrapolationis made based on ancillary data.
The Indian Metereological Department provides datarelated to meteorological parameters (including tempera-ture, pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction etc) atsurface, upper air observation, radar and satellite obser-vations, ship observations and other weather relatedobservations through the latest, precise and state-of-the-art observation tools. The data is required by variousorganisations (national and international) engaged inmeteorological activities, university students for theirresearch and development projects in the field of earthsciences, agricultural activities, services sector like avia-tion, shipping, road transport, hotel industry and insur-ance agencies and common public as well .
According to Dr. (AVM) Ajit Tyagi, DGM, Indian Meteoro-logical Dept., the modernisation drive initiated at IMD isexpected to help in not only augmenting the existingobservational network but also in bridging the gaps thatexist pertaining to the last mile connectivity. The dataused is stored in different formats as per the WMO (WorldMeteorological Organisation) guidelines and standards.The predefined formats are available for each type of data,including surface data, upper air data, radar and satellitedata and other derived products.
The National Atlas & Thematic Mapping Organisationprovides thematic maps. The organisation procures datafrom other official sources and prepares atlases and the-
matic maps. NATMO offer maps at different scales rang-ing from 1:12 million to 1:250,000. Dr. Prithvish Nag,Director, National Atlas & Thematic Mapping Organisa-tion informs that a large chunk of the demand is for dis-trict maps, or atlases like historical atlas, cultural her-itage atlases. Demand mostly comes from the govern-ment for development of their applications.
Data accessibility Data accessibility has long been an issue concerning thegeospatial industry, a legacy of a colonial data policy thatdid not encourage data sharing outside of the governmentor even within certain sections of the government. With alarge quantum of data being classified as sensitive orsecret, and no clear guidelines on what constituted sensi-tive or classified, it had been the prerogative of the agen-cies concerned to decide what data to hold back.
However, things are looking up with modifications in
March 2010 GIS DEVELOPMENT 25
“SLUSI is developing digital spatial database to launchGIS-based web services on watershed, soil annd landdegradation”
Dr. S. N. Das
Chief Soil Survey OfficerSoil and Land Use Survey of India
GIS DEVELOPMENT26 March 2010
Map Policy, policy on data dissemination and successivegeospatial-friendly governments pushing for policies ondata sharing. A much wider spectrum of data is availablenow. Logistical issues including turnaround time dependon the requirement and the procedure of making availablethe data varies from organisation to organisation.
For Survey of India, the turnaround time for supply ofdata depends on who wants data and where. In case theprocedure in place is followed, it takes about two to fourweeks for supplying maps/data. Dr. Nagarajan informsthat since SOI is in the process of switching over fromEVEREST to WGS84 datum maps, certain maps are currently out of print. However, to meet the contingen-cies, photocopies, if acceptable, are also supplied forth-with to meet urgent project requirements. The agencyhopes to smoothen out the process once the transition iscompleted. Census of India makes available all of its dataexcept the data on individuals. The data is readily avail-able; it is supplied as soon as the request is received, saysDr. Singh. The data available with Forest Survey of India isprovided to the intended users as early as possible.Lakhchaura says that the organisation ensures that thereis no delay in processing the data request from its part.Whatever data published by FSI is available on its websitewww.fsi.nic.in. If any data desired by users is not availableon the Web, the same is provided to users on theirdemand. All data published by FSI is available to stake-holders. Central Water Commission supplies data as perdata dissemination and pricing policy of Ministry of WaterResources. Mandal informs that the data relating to Indus& Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basins is classified. Thedata are normally brought out in publications at site,basin and at national level. And, the data are collectedeither through observations or from the results of theexperiments.
For Soil and Land Use Survey of India, the delivery ofdata in the form of hard copies from existing databasetakes approximately two to three days. In case the data-base is required to be generated through conducting soilsurvey, the turnaround time is generally one year depend-
ing on the size of the catchment area to be covered underrapid reconnaissance survey. Remote sensing and GIShave been introduced to minimize TAT. However, TAT alsovaries whenever some VIP request comes in between. Dr.Das says that the database is readily accessible in caseany state government is implementing centrally spon-sored scheme for soil and water conservation underRVP/FPR catchments. However, digital database are notat all accessible beyond G2G domain for which policydecision on data sharing by the state government and pri-vate agencies are required to be taken up. SLUSI shall beable to provide the digital spatial database once the policydecision is available on the matter. The matter may be ini-tiated by National Informatics Centre being the nodalagency identified by Planning Commission to deal withthe matter.
NBSS & LUP takes about one month to deliver hardcopies. Any individual or organisation can procure thepriced publications in the form of hard copy likereports/bulletins, provided the stock of reports/bulletinsis available. According to Dr. Sarkar, the dissemination ofsoft data is governed by the policy guidelines. The organi-sation meets the needs of the users through priced soilresource reports/bulletins in printed form.
The National Data Centre of Indian Meteorological Dept.at Pune supplies data on request in the form of electronicmedia. The Website of IMD (www.imd.gov.in) gives com-prehensive information about related weather events anddata availability. For IMD, the turnaround time for the datarequest submitted depends upon the type and volume ofthe data. If the data is already available raw data, it is pro-vided within 2-3 days; however if the data requires pro-cessing and is voluminous, it takes about 15 days to amonth to provide it to the user. Dr. Tyagi informs that asper the IMD policy and new directives issued by the Min-istry of Earth Sciences, the data is easily available at anominal price (only data handling charges are levied). Thewebsite (www.imd.gov.in ) offers online update of currentobservations, satellite data, earthquake reports andweather forecast products on daily basis round the clock.For NATMO too, the turnaround time depends on thedemand. For hard copy, it varies between six months andfive years. The hard copies are available through salescounters and are available to all, informs Dr. Nag.
Regulatory environment The geospatial data has been governed by a tightly con-
“SOI has opened a new directorate ‘business andpublicity’ as commercial arm of the organisation”
Maj Gen (Dr) B. Nagarajan
Additional Surveyor General
Indian Institute of Surveying and Mapping
Survey of India
trolled regulatory environment and has not been able tocontribute towards maximising potential of geospatialtechnologies especially in development of the nation.While a lot of initiatives have been taken to this end andhave met with varying degrees of success, a lot moreneeds to be done. With the ever evolving technologicaldevelopments, it becomes all the more pertinent toaddress regulatory issues concerning data facing thegeospatial industry. According to Dr. Nagarajan, with theavailability of precise positioning techniques like GPS,availability of high resolution imageries and their prod-ucts like Google and Bhuvan maps etc., it is becomingincreasingly difficult for the security/ regulatory authori-ties to demarcate to what extent data should be protectedor is there necessity to protect at all. He also adds that incountry like India where several organisations and min-istries are involved in finalising the policy, there is confu-sion which is posing greater challenges in adopting new-er technologies & working with international community.
Dr. Nag observes that data is being generated by varioussectors including government, private agencies andindustry. This data chain needs to move to one standardfor the data to be used for different applications. Dr. Nagalso stresses on making people aware of the informationavailable in different forms and different standards. Theother issues raised by Dr. Nag include evolution of a poli-cy by which data can be generated by all sorts of agenciesas per the standards instead of relying solely on govern-ment departments and the need to organise the spatialdata to organise the nation.
According to Dr. Tyagi, the policy of privatisation and lib-eralisation over the last few years has created new regu-latory dynamics in which a range of state-driven activitiesare now carried out partially or wholly by private sectors.New avenues have opened up for the private parties ingovernment sectors including meteorology, defence andtelecommunications. More players are entering as stake-holders in data availability and management. This shifthas raised some concerns, primarily around issues of dis-
tribution, access, accountability and legitimacy regardingthe meteorological data/ products. He further observesthat there are no regulatory authorities or laws to counterperceptible threats that can arise from the misuse ofmeteorological data, in addition to the challenges that liein addressing an identified problem and its efficient han-dling in terms of maximising the benefits to the economytaking account of the costs and manpower involved.
Conclusion Geospatial technologies are fast establishing a foothold inIndia and becoming an intrinsic element in economic andsocial development. An idea whose time takes little timeto spread its wings far and wide in the India with a popu-lation exhibiting remarkable savviness for technologiesthat show promise of simplifying their lives and known forits innovativeness and defying obstacles to move ahead. Alot has undoubtedly been done to address issues con-cerning one of the founding pillars of geospatial technolo-gies - the data. A lot still needs to be done. On the back ofa growth despite regulatory hurdles, a conducive policywould only propel the industry further to grow by leapsand bounds.
March 2010 GIS DEVELOPMENT 27
“There is a need to make people aware of theinformation available in different forms and differenttstandards”
Dr. Prithvish Nag
DirectorNational Atlas & Thematic Mapping Organisation
GIS DEVELOPMENT28
DSSDI
March 2010
A STEP FORWARD IN URBAN MANAGEMENT
he National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi'sambition to become a world class city will receivea major boost with the completion of the Delhi
State Spatial Data Infrastructure Project (DSSDI), thethree dimensional (3D) GIS collaborative project betweenSurvey of India and IT Department of the Delhi Govern-ment. The key aspects of the project are:
• Creation of comprehensive urban information system
• 3D modelling, texturing, visualisation and creation of virtualwalkthroughs of the NCT of Delhi
• Mapping of underground and overground utilities
• Land information system (LIS) for maintenance of landrecords, spatial and attribute details up to the level of an indi-
vidual parcel and integrating old revenue records with thecurrent survey
• Property survey involving door-to-door survey of all kinds ofsettlements, their usage and classification.
• Installation of wireless IP cameras
• Geo-portal and decision support system that will function asa single window through which all the line departments willaccess information.
The 31 line departments of the Government of NationalCapital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) involved in the project,including the latest entrant, the Postal Department, havebeen directed by GNCTD to start using DSSDI databasefor effective governance. All departments have identifiedat least five applications including mapping and locating
their existing assets/land/buildings,assessing whetherthey are currently fullyutilised or underutilised as per theMaster Plan 2021, andwhether buildingscould be shared byvarious departmentsto achieve optimumutilisation of availableFAR as per the MasterPlan norms. Thedepartments havebeen forthcoming inmeeting the datarequirements fromthem and only a fewdepartments haveprovided limited infor-mation.
The 337 DSSDI fea-tures include 28 inboundary, 98 in build-ing, 59 in transporta-
T
Development process and line departments for Delhi Geo-Portal
tion, 64 in utility, 40 in landuse, 5 in cadastre, 16 inhydrography, 4 in hypsography, 3 in image, 5 in framework, 3 in input for updation and 12 in 3D GIS. The features have been assimilated through GPS survey and levelling, aerial images, GPR survey, inputsfrom line departments and ground validation includingfield property survey and attribute collection.
The project, being implemented in four phases, is invarying degrees of completion. Phase A, the framework,includes digital elevation model with 50 cm accuracy,ortho photo with 25 cm accuracy, aero triangulation with12.5 cm accuracy, GPS control with 5 cm accuracy andmonumentation. The phase is 87 % completed.
Phase B, system design and integration, is 48 % com-plete. The phase includes monitoring and control centres,capacity building, Delhi geoportal and database schema.Phase C, primary data capture, includes utility survey,land information system, topographical mapping and 3Dmapping.
This phase is 80 % complete. 100 % completion hasbeen achieved in phase D, 3D GIS. The phase includes 3D
topology, 3D rendering and texturing. Maj. Gen. GirishKumar, Additional Surveyor General and Project Director,DSSDI, has expressed satisfaction over the progress ofthe project. He said "We are hopeful of the completion ofthe project by April 2010, well before the commencementof the Commonwealth Games. By May-June, the informa-tion should be open to the public in accordance with theMap Policy."
The project has been outsourced to Navayuga SpatialTechnologies. K. Kalyanraman, President, said "Navayugahas created 3D city models for Delhi (1500 sq.km) basedon aerial photographs and field photos. Several GIS appli-cation modules to the line departments have been alsobeen developed by us."
The DSSDI project aims to enable effective and benevo-lent e-governance. The desired benefits include integrat-ed planning and service delivery, enforcement of locallaws and regulations, optimal utilisation of publicresources, disaster management, security cover, management of Commonwealth Games and empoweringcitizens through the Web portal.
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al Fusi
on
Solu
tions
EG
IS f
or
Hom
ela
nd a
nd
Mari
tim
e S
ecu
rity
Ro
lta
is a
lead
ing
pro
vid
er a
nd
dev
elo
per
of
stat
e-o
f-th
e-ar
t an
d f
ield
pro
ven
En
terp
rise
Geo
spat
ial s
olu
tio
ns
/ s
ervi
ces
for
core
seg
men
ts s
uch
as
Infr
astr
uct
ure
, Tel
eco
m, E
lect
ric,
Air
po
rts,
Urb
an D
evel
op
men
t, T
ow
n P
lan
nin
g, E
nvi
ron
men
tal P
rote
ctio
n, D
efen
se a
nd
Ho
mel
and
Sec
uri
ty t
o
clie
nts
wo
rld
wid
e. R
olt
a h
as s
ucc
essf
ully
exe
cute
d m
ult
i-m
illio
n d
olla
r p
roje
cts
in t
hes
e se
gmen
ts in
ove
r 20
co
un
trie
s.
Inn
ova
tio
n T
ech
no
log
y
Ro
lta
envi
sio
ns
a w
orl
d w
her
e sp
atia
l dat
a, b
usi
nes
s d
ata
and
an
alys
is c
onve
rge,
wit
ho
ut
the
nig
htm
are
of
cust
om
pro
gram
min
g an
d r
epla
cem
ent
of
lega
cy a
pp
licat
ion
s. A
wo
rld
in w
hic
h b
usi
nes
ses
assi
mila
te, a
nal
yze
and
vis
ual
ize
com
ple
x re
lati
on
ship
s, o
per
atio
nal
sta
tus
and
tre
nd
s in
sec
on
ds,
no
t d
ays.
A w
orl
d in
wh
ich
info
rmat
ion
acc
essi
bili
ty is
no
lon
ger
the
con
stra
int
to in
form
ed d
ecis
ion
s. T
his
is t
he
wo
rld
of
rem
arka
ble
tec
hn
olo
gy
inn
ova
tio
n, a
wo
rld
en
able
d b
y R
olt
a's
En
terp
rise
Geo
spat
ial I
nfo
rmat
ion
So
luti
on
s (E
GIS
).
Insi
gh
ts T
ech
no
log
y
Ro
lta
un
der
stan
ds
that
insi
ghts
hap
pen
wh
en y
ou c
an s
ee t
he
wo
rld
dif
fere
ntl
y. R
olt
a sp
ecia
lizes
in t
he
conve
rgen
ce o
f sp
atia
l dat
a, im
ager
y,
busi
nes
s d
ata,
net
wo
rk t
op
olo
gies
, ass
et d
ata,
op
erat
ion
al s
tatu
s an
d e
ven
t d
ata.
As
thes
e ty
pic
ally
div
erse
an
d is
ola
ted
info
rmat
ion
so
urc
es a
re
conve
rged
, new
rel
atio
nsh
ips
emer
ge; n
ew p
atte
rns
and
tre
nd
s ar
e vi
sib
le a
nd
new
leve
ls o
f re
al-t
ime
op
erat
ion
s ar
e ac
hie
ved
.
Imp
act
Tech
no
log
yT
MR
OL
TA
Geo
spat
ial F
usi
on
pro
vid
es im
pac
t fo
r b
usi
nes
s an
d g
ove
rnm
ents
. Sp
atia
l an
d b
usi
nes
s in
form
atio
n c
onve
rgen
ce a
mp
lifie
s th
e in
sigh
ts
that
can
be
visu
aliz
ed. T
he
spee
d o
f d
ecis
ion
-mak
ing
is a
ccel
erat
ed b
ecau
se o
f R
olt
a's
inte
grat
ion
tec
hn
olo
gies
an
d t
he
rap
id c
on
figu
rab
ility
of
its
TM
solu
tio
ns.
Ben
efit
s ar
e re
aliz
ed a
s o
rgan
izat
ion
s use
RO
LT
A G
eosp
atia
l Fusi
on
to
fo
cus
on
gap
s in
op
erat
ion
al w
ork
pro
cess
es.
TM
Ro
lta'
s G
eosp
atia
l Fusi
on
, bas
ed o
n t
he
com
pan
y's
ow
n I
PR
, is
an in
nova
tive
, wo
rld
-cla
ss s
olu
tio
n a
nd
fra
me
wo
rk, w
hic
h f
use
s th
e in
form
atio
n,
app
licat
ion
s an
d p
roce
sses
of
an e
nte
rpri
se in
to a
sea
mle
ss, c
oh
esiv
e so
luti
on
. Th
is e
xten
ds
the
valu
e o
f th
e le
gacy
sys
tem
s, G
IS a
nd
exi
stin
g
inve
stm
ents
in d
ata
and
en
terp
rise
busi
nes
s ap
plic
atio
ns
by
enab
ling
cro
ss-f
un
ctio
nal
inte
grat
ion
an
d c
reat
ing
spat
ial b
usi
nes
s an
d o
per
atio
nal
inte
llige
nce
.
Ro
lta'
s cu
ttin
g-ed
ge E
arth
Sci
ence
s so
luti
on
s ar
e b
ased
on
an
exc
epti
on
al c
om
bin
atio
n o
f R
olt
a's
exis
tin
g re
po
sito
ry o
f In
telle
ctual
Pro
per
ty (
IP)
and
key
tec
hn
olo
gies
acq
uir
ed a
t th
e so
urc
e co
de
leve
l fro
m v
ario
us
com
pan
ies
wo
rld
wid
e. R
olt
a E
arth
Sci
ence
so
luti
on
s p
rovi
des
so
me
of
the
mo
st a
dva
nce
d G
eoim
agin
g an
d p
ho
togr
amm
etry
cap
abili
ties
.
Ro
lta
pro
vid
es s
pec
ializ
ed s
ervi
ces
and
so
luti
on
s fo
r d
ata
cap
ture
an
d in
tegr
ity
chec
ks, e
spec
ially
fo
r R
emo
te S
ensi
ng
bas
ed t
hem
atic
map
pin
g usi
ng
mult
isp
ectr
al a
nd
hyp
ersp
ectr
al s
atel
lite
dat
a, P
ho
togr
amm
etry
map
pin
g usi
ng
aeri
al a
nd
mult
isp
ectr
al s
atel
lite
imag
es, a
nd
LiD
AR
pro
cess
ing.
Oth
er
solu
tio
ns
and
ser
vice
s in
clud
e 3D
Ter
rain
mo
del
ing,
ort
ho
ph
oto
cre
atio
n, d
igit
al c
arto
grap
hy,
bas
e m
ap c
reat
ion
an
d u
pd
atio
n, 3
D G
IS c
reat
ion
,
anal
ysis
an
d v
isual
izat
ion
, etc
.
Ro
lta
has
on
e o
f th
e la
rges
t St
ate-
of-
the-
art
Ph
oto
gram
met
ry &
Geo
spat
ial d
eliv
ery
cen
ter
/ p
rod
uct
ion
fac
ility
in A
sia,
hig
hly
ski
lled
an
d d
edic
ated
team
of
ove
r 20
00 t
ech
nic
al p
rofe
ssio
nal
s &
sev
eral
th
ousa
nd
man
-yea
rs o
f d
om
ain
exp
erie
nce
.
Geo
spat
ial i
nfo
rmat
ion
is in
dis
pen
sab
le f
or
Def
ense
& S
ecuri
ty f
orc
es f
or
inte
llige
nt,
an
d u
pd
ated
sit
uat
ion
al a
war
enes
s, d
uri
ng
pea
ce o
r w
ar. R
olt
a's
Mili
tary
-off
-th
e-Sh
elf
(MO
TS)
so
luti
on
s em
plo
y in
nova
tive
tec
hn
olo
gy
linki
ng
op
erat
ion
al n
eed
s w
ith
Geo
spat
ial d
ata.
In
res
po
nse
to
incr
ease
d
dem
and
fro
m t
he
Fo
rces
fo
r ad
van
ced
MO
TS
syst
ems,
Ro
lta
has
lin
ed u
p a
n im
pre
ssiv
e ar
ray
of
hig
hly
res
po
nsi
ve a
nd
rel
iab
le s
yste
ms
for
Def
ense
& H
om
elan
d S
ecuri
ty e
nvi
ron
men
ts.
In t
he
area
of
Ho
mel
and
Sec
uri
ty, R
olt
a is
ab
le t
o p
rovi
de
solu
tio
ns
for
Surv
eilla
nce
, In
telli
gen
ce, A
nal
ysis
, Op
erat
ion
s an
d P
ub
lic S
afet
y so
luti
on
s
incl
ud
ing
Em
erge
ncy
Res
po
nse
so
luti
on
s fo
r th
e P
olic
e F
orc
es. F
or
Mar
itim
e Sa
fety
& S
ecuri
ty, R
olt
a o
ffer
s co
mp
lete
so
luti
on
s fo
r se
arch
an
d r
escu
e
op
erat
ion
s, p
rote
ctin
g o
ffsh
ore
cri
tica
l ass
ets,
sh
ipp
ing
lan
e m
anag
emen
t, t
erri
tori
al w
ater
s su
rvei
llan
ce, e
nvi
ron
men
tal m
on
ito
rin
g, o
ffsh
ore
pla
tfo
rm p
rote
ctio
n, p
reve
nti
on
of
traf
fick
ing,
fis
her
ies
con
tro
l an
d h
arb
or
pro
tect
ion
.
®A
s a
Pri
nci
pal
Mem
ber
of
the
Op
en G
eosp
atia
l Co
nso
rtiu
m (
OG
C),
Ro
lta
emp
loys
an
inn
ova
tive
Geo
spat
ial b
usi
nes
s m
od
el t
hat
fully
exp
loit
s th
e
Inte
rnet
an
d O
GC
Web
Ser
vice
sta
nd
ard
s.
Ro
lta,
hea
dquar
tere
d in
Mum
bai
, em
plo
ys o
ver
4500
pro
fess
ion
als
wit
h c
oun
tryw
ide
infr
astr
uct
ure
an
d in
tern
atio
nal
sub
sid
iari
es a
cro
ss t
he
glo
be.
Fo
rbes
Glo
bal
has
ran
ked
Ro
lta
amo
ngs
t th
e "B
est
200
un
der
a B
illio
n"
for
four
tim
es in
six
yea
rs. R
olt
a h
as b
een
incl
ud
ed in
th
e S&
P G
lob
al
Ch
alle
nge
rs L
ist™
200
8, b
y St
and
ard
& P
oo
r's.
Th
is L
ist
iden
tifi
es 3
00 m
id-s
ize
com
pan
ies
wo
rld
wid
e th
at h
ave
a to
tal m
arke
t ca
pit
aliz
atio
n b
etw
een
US
$1 &
$5
Bill
ion
an
d h
ave
show
n t
he
hig
hes
t gr
ow
th c
har
acte
rist
ics
alo
ng
dim
ensi
on
s en
com
pas
sin
g in
trin
sic
and
ext
rin
sic
grow
th. R
olt
a w
as
ran
ked
at
the
#1
po
siti
on
in H
um
an R
elat
ion
s (H
R),
an
d a
t th
e 3r
d p
osi
tio
n in
ove
rall
ran
kin
g in
th
e 20
09 D
ataQ
ues
t su
rvey
of
Bes
t E
mp
loye
rs in
the
IT s
ecto
r. T
he
Co
mp
any
is li
sted
on
th
e N
SE in
cas
h a
nd
F&
O s
egm
ent
and
fo
rms
par
t o
f C
NX
IT
, NIF
TY
Mid
cap
50
and
CN
X 5
00 in
dic
es.
Th
e C
om
pan
y is
als
o li
sted
on
BSE
'A' g
roup
an
d f
orm
s p
art
of
BSE
Mid
cap,
BSE
200
, BSE
500
, BSE
IT
an
d B
SE T
EC
K in
dic
es. T
he
Co
mp
any'
s
GD
R is
list
ed o
n t
he
Mai
n B
oar
d o
f L
on
do
n S
tock
Exc
han
ge a
nd
its
FC
CB
's a
re li
sted
on
th
e Si
nga
po
re S
tock
Exc
han
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Sub
sid
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s:
• R
olta
Sau
di A
rabi
a •
Rol
ta A
sia
Pac
ific
• R
olta
US
A •
Rol
ta C
anad
a •
Rol
ta T
US
C •
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ta U
K •
Rol
ta B
enel
ux •
Rol
ta M
iddl
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ast
Ind
ia o
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es:
• • D
elhi
NC
R •
Cha
ndig
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• D
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adun
• C
henn
ai •
Ban
galo
re •
Hyd
erab
ad M
umba
i • P
une
• V
adod
ara
• G
andh
inag
ar •
Jam
naga
r •
Bho
pal •
Kol
kota
• B
huba
nesh
war
GIS DEVELOPMENT
What is the current status of NSDI?
We successfully conducted our annual eventNSDI-9 in Pune, India in December 2009.We also launched Karnataka state geoportalduring the event.
Where implementation is concerned, NSDIis primarily interested in providing metadata.Metadata from many of our participatingorganisations is now available on NSDI Indiageoportal. This is a big achievement to startwith. After this, we are interested in seeingthat standardised datasets are made availableto ensure interoperability. To that end, webrought out NSDI metadata standard fouryears ago. In November 2009, we broughtout new metadata standard, NSDI MetadataStandard Version 2. We are now building onother standards like content standards etc.
NSDI has also been involved in evolving policies like Map Policy 2005. We are nowinvolved in revisiting the policy making it possible for people to share more easily the datasets, add value to the datasets theyare handling, provide applications, services
and solutions. This policy will come out very soon.
What are the efforts being made to make
the constituents more proactive and willing
to data sharing as there is often a reluc-
tance to share data?
Reluctance to share is one of the key impedi-ments for this kind of activity. It is humannature to be possessive of what we have.There is a process of consensus buildingrequired which we have gone through. Allthese organisations are part of us and we arehappy to say that they are very proactivelyworking with us. We have felt that there weresome difficulties that they also face. Manpow-er is a big issue. We have provided an annualgrant of Rs. 10 lakh for five years to our 14member organisations, to generate the rightkind of datasets, right kind of environment,
March 201032
Inte
rvie
w
aj Gen (Dr) R. Siva KumarCEONSDI-India
CREATING DEMAND FORSPATIAL DATA
M
right kind of tools and also populate themetadata. We have also been conduct-ing annual events through variousorganisations to create awareness.They now understand the benefits ofdata sharing.
Several awareness campaigns and
workshops later, spatial data is still
considered proprietary. Is there a pro-
vision in the proposed policy to make
data sharing mandatory?
It is not, at this point of time, going to bemade mandatory, but the policy is likelyto mandate people to provide a metada-ta and identify what they want to shareand what they would not want to, forany reasons including commercial, intel-lectual property and security. Todaythere is no clarity on what is available.
What is NSDI expecting from the user
community?
Users get foxed by technologies. Notmany people have an understanding ofgeospatial or the difference betweengeospatial and other resources avail-able. What I am keen on is that peopleshould not look for data itself, theyshould be able to find a solution to aproblem. I am not referring to organisa-tions that can recruit geospatial profes-sionals, I am referring to a commonman. For example in case of a flood, acommon man must know whether hishouse is affected or not, and if it isaffected, then how he can escape. Heneed not approach SOI, NRSC formaps or satellite imagery and then gen-erate DEM. He only needs to have thesolution, not data or software. Andthese solutions should be availablethrough devices like cellphones becausethis is what common man uses. We areworking towards this end. The industryshould build tools, and they should alsonot bother about data availability. They
should assume that data is there with usand we should be confident that ourdata will be used towards this end andnot for misuse. We have to build thiskind of bond between data generators,users, and industry.
Do you see a role for private organisa-
tions and the industry participation in
NSDI?
Yes, industry has been part of evolutionof NSDI from day one and continues tobe so. But what we are looking at is, theindustry should see how they can pro-vide solutions to people rather than sell-ing them software or hardware. Thenthey become a partner in a true sense. Itcan be possible with a good PPP model.
NSDI experience worldwide is not
very satisfactory/successful. What are
the lessons learnt?
We have learnt from their mistakes andthey are learning from our experience.We realise that unless there is a mecha-nism to generate datasets at the lowestlevel, it will not work. So NSDI is nottalking about national level only, we aretalking about state level and communitylevel as well. It is important to have bothtop down and bottom up approach.
SDIs at state level are slowly material-
ising. Any plans to link up the two?
We do not aim to directly get involved increation of state SDIs. We only providesuggestion and advice. Eg. Kerala hasestablished its SDI on its own. The dataneeds to be demand driven, and we aretrying to create that demand for spatialdata.
What is your vision for NSDI for the
next three years?
We want that more states should havespatial data infrastructure towards whichwe are already working with the states.
What we are giving is metadata. It isstates that provide district, village leveland local level data and it is this kind ofdata that will generate demand. Wehave to make people at this level,including planners and tehsildars, tomake use of the data. Our aim is thatthey should see value in this. We are nottalking about maps alone. We are tryingto add the additional attribute informa-tion to the map and graphic data so thata complete geospatial information sys-tem is there. We are hopeful that thiswill happen. Maybe not the entire coun-try, but we will demonstratively show thevalue of the data from the village level tothe national level. If we can meet theaspirations of the people, then it willhappen. Also at village level, it is impor-tant to provide the information in localand colloquial language.
We have asked local universities touse their sociology students, who wouldgenerally be belonging to those areas,to be involved with and get acquaintedwith the information systems available atvillage level.
33March 2010 GIS DEVELOPMENT
NSDI is not
talking about
national level only,
we are talking
about state level
and community
level as well. It is
important to have
both top down and
bottom up
approach
With India
amongst the
foremost nations
in implementa-
tion of geospatial
technologies, it
becomes
imperative to
take stock of
what is on the
platter of user
organisations
GIS DEVELOPMENT34
USERS
Dr. Yogita Shukla
Senior Practice Manager - ResearchGIS Development
CAPITALISING ON TECH POWER
March 2010
ndia is amongst the foremost nations in the implementation of geospa-tial technologies across different sectors including agriculture, naturalresources, defence, power, urban planning, transport, land informa-
tion, health, telecom, banking and insurance. This makes it imperative to takestock of what is on platter of user organisations of geospatial technologies invarious sectors.
I
GIS DEVELOPMENT 35
PowerAn illustration of the benefits of geospatial technologiesin the power sector is the 30% saving made in total costfor detailed project report (DPR) by West Bengal StateElectricity Board. This instance is just the tip of the ice-berg when it comes to harnessing the benefits of geospa-tial information in national and state level power projects.It did not take long for the Ministry of Power (MoP) torealise this potential, as is evident by the implementation
of GIS mapping in Nation-al Electricity Policy andIntegrated Energy Policy.
"Geospatial technolo-gies have been deployedin two major pro-grammes of the Ministryof Power for improvingefficiency of electricitydistribution network aswell as improving the effi-ciency and the manner inwhich the consumers areserved," says DevendraSingh, Joint Secretary,MoP, who is responsiblefor overseeing the imple-mentation of these twoambitious programmes.These are the Restruc-tured-Accelerated PowerDevelopment ReformsProgramme (R-APDRP)and Rajiv GandhiGrameen VidyutikaranYojna (RGGVY), meant torevamp the entire elec-tricity distribution net-work in the country. WhileR-APDRP is being imple-mented to strengthen thedistribution network in
urban areas, RGGVY is aimed at electrifying all villagesand habitations in rural India. "In R-APDRP, GIS mappinghas been made mandatory till the distribution trans-former level as it will help not only in tracking the energyflow but maintaining the account and audit of theft or oth-er losses," says Singh. R-APDRP is being implemented by
State Discoms and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) isthe nodal agency to operationalise this programme underthe aegis of MoP.
RGGVY implementation involves preparation of district-based detailed project reports for execution on turn-keybasis. GIS mapping has significantly contributed towardscost saving in DPR preparation. "During the 11th Planperiod, GIS mapping will be undertaken on a pilot projectbasis in RGGVY and then may be scaled up as per therequirements," informs Kapil Mohan, Director- Distribu-tion, Ministry of Power. Rural Electricity Corporation(REC) is the nodal agency for RGGVY programme that isbeing implemented with 90% grant from the Governmentof India and 10% as loan by REC to the State governments.
According to YK Sehgal, Executive Director, Power GridCorporation of India Limited, every aspect of power sectorneeds to be looked at for economic efficiency keeping inmind the huge demand for power. GIT helps reduce costsby optimising routes and channelising resources, energyaccounting and auditing. The sector has tightened its beltby incorporating modern technologies including thegeospatial. This is evident not only by making GIS map-ping mandatory through R-APDRP, but also the use of GITin RGGVY. Geospatial applications are also finding theirway in transmission surveying and routing of the lines aswell in finding suitable sites for establishing generationplants. It is extensively used in hydro power generation forlocation of suitable sites. The geospatial industry needs tocapitalise on opportunities present in the power sectorand expand the scope and implementation of geospatialtechnologies in the sector.
Rural development With more than 70 % of its population residing in villages,India is well recognised for its rural character. It is no sur-prise then that rural development is one of the focusareas of the Indian Government. A wide range of flagshipprogrammes including National Rural Employment Guar-antee Scheme (NREGS), Rajiv Gandhi National DrinkingWater Mission (RGNDWM), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak
March 2010
“Geospatial technologies have been deployed forimproving efficiency of electricity distribution netwworkand the manner in which consumers are served.”
Devendra SinghJoint Secretary, Ministry of Power
Yojna (PMGSY), Swarnjayanti Gram Swaozgar Yojana andIndira Awaas Yojana are evidence of this focus.
With such ambitious programmes, the scope of geospa-tial technologies in rural infrastructure is immense and astart has already been made. RGNDWM incorporatesremote sensing and satellite images for water prospect-ing and identifying recharge structure. "NRSC has beenassigned to undertake hydrogeomorphological mappingof the entire country under RGNDWM and maps beenreleased," says R. M. Deshpande, Additional Advisor,Department of Drinking Water Supply. According to him,with depleting ground water resources, State govern-ments are keen to utilise the knowledge provided bygeospatial technologies. Korba in Chattisgarh has utilisedgeospatial technologies for mapping water bodies, handpumps, tube/bore wells, water sample collection andanalysis in nine parameters and prepared a detailed the-matic water quality map for the district.
PMGSY has deployed geospatial technologies on a pilotproject basis in the states of Rajasthan and HimachalPradesh for planning and management of rural roadswith support from World Bank. In addition, digital data-base for all the rural roads in India is expected to be com-pleted by the end of April 2010. "Our priority is to preparea digital database of maps and coordinates for all therural roads in India. Once the data is made available witha click of button for analysis, we would be civilised enoughto ask to select one of the GIS platforms in district ruralroad plans and road network plans' informs Dr. B P Chan-draskehar, Director Technical - PMGSY, Department ofRural Development. NREGS also is looking for geospatialsolutions to monitor the progress of its different activitieson a real-time basis.
Environment and forestsForests are the traditional users of geospatial technolo-gies and now the applications are spreading to environ-mental zoning, environmental impact assessments andpollution monitoring. The Ministry of Environment andForests (MoEF), the nodal agency for environment andforests in India, has been onboard the National NaturalResource Management Scheme (NNRMS), along withother ministries, since 1983. Several projects of MoEFhave deployed geospatial technologies and in current FiveYear Plan (2007-2012), the major focus areas for utilisa-tion of GIT are Forest Information Management andResource Assessment (FIMRA), Community CapacityBuilding for Sustainable Management of NTFP, Integrat-ed Forest Protection Scheme (IFPS) and EnvironmentalZoning Atlas (EZA).
IFPS is focussing on procurement of wireless networks,computers and GIS systems for forest protection. Geospa-tial technologies are being incorporated in EZA for sitingof industries zones and classifying the environment in adistrict. Additionally, it is also building a GIS-based deci-sion support system for scientific management of air pol-lution along with networking of existing manual/continu-ous monitoring stations. Efforts are on to link most infor-mation on forest resources with maps/spatial data withGIS capabilities under the FIMRA scheme. Similarly, aforest biodiversity conservation network is being estab-lished with the system of five yearly reporting on the stateof forest biological diversity. Efforts are also on to spatial-ly map the genetic diversity and germplasm of bamboospecies under the Gregarious Flowering of Bamboo in theNorth East scheme.
Wildlife Institute of India is carrying out long termresearch on key species in identified areas using moderntools and technology such as remote sensing, GIS, GPSand satellite telemetry. Geospatial technologies are alsomaking inroads into the modernisation of working plansby state forest departments with the establishment ofgeomatics units within State Forest Data Centers.
GIS DEVELOPMENT36 March 2010
“With depleting ground water resources, state governmentsare keen to utilise the knowledge providedd by geospatialtechnologies.”
RM DeshpandeAdditional Advisor, Department of Drinking Water Supply
GIS DEVELOPMENT38 March 2010
Land resourcesWith rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, the pres-sure on land resources has increased and availability ofaccurate information on land is therefore a priority for thegovernment. The National Land Resource ManagementProgramme, also known as National Land Records Mod-ernisation Programme (NLRMP), is an ambitious e-gov-ernance and system reform initiative by the Departmentof Land Resources to integrate the data on land recordson a GIS platform. NLRMP aims to usher in a system ofupdated land records, automated and automatic muta-tion, integrate textual and spatial records, establish inter-connectivity between revenue and registration andreplace the present deeds registration and presumptivetitle system with that of conclusive titling with title guarantee.
Geospatial applications have also found their way inIntegrated Watershed Management Programme (IWDP)of the Department of Land Resources. MIS with GIS-based Web applications for online monitoring would beused as a tool for planning and monitoring of watershedsdown from national level to district/ micro-watershed lev-el. "Each State will set up a GIS lab under IWDP anddevelop geospatial database on disaggregated land data,demographic details including poverty mapping, tribalareas, drought prone areas, extent of land treatment,details on water table," informs Vivek Dave, Deputy Devel-opment Commissioner, Rajiv Gandhi Mission for Water-shed Management, Madhya Pradesh.
TransportTransport sector, including roadways, railways, airwaysand waterways, is one of the biggest beneficiaries ofgeospatial technologies. The National Highways Authorityof India (NHAI) has developed Road Information System(RIS) containing the data of highways on golden quadrilat-eral (GQ), north south (NS) and east west (EW) corridorsof NHDP with features of graphical viewing through GIStechnology. It is developing a similar database for statehighways and major district roads. "Rs. 30 crore havebeen allocated for GIT which is roughly 1% of total alloca-tion for IT sector. This will be utilised for creation of cen-tralised GIS map, developing input and output mecha-nism, land survey, software development, software pro-curement, GPS surveys and conversion of paper mapsinto digital maps," says Sharad Mathur, GM, IT, Centre forRailway Information Systems (CRIS). Inland WaterwaysAuthority of India, responsible for development and regu-lation of inland waterways for shipping and navigation, isusing geospatial technologies for maintenance of nation-al waterways as well as development of new waterways.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) is working towardsimplementation of space based augmentation system tocollect information from each of the navigation satellitesand broadcast differential correction and integrity dataover a wide area using geostationary satellites. It is alsoswitching over to satellite based CNS/ATM for air-spaceand air- transport operations. The modernisation drive atmajor airports in India has also opened up the scope forintegration of geospatial information with their IT systemsfor better maintenance and security at airports.
Urban developmentUrban development is also one of the focus areas of theGovernment of India to build sustainable infrastructure inthe cities. The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) haslaunched ambitious schemes such as Jawaharlal NehruNational Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and UrbanInfrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medi-
“Each state will set up a GIS lab under IntegratedWatershed Programme and develop geospatial databbase ondisaggregated land data and demographic details.”
Vivek DaveDeputy Development Commissioner, Rajiv Gandhi Mission forWatershed Programme, Madhya Pradesh
um Towns (UIDSSMT) for improving urban infrastructurewith access to basic amenities such as portable watersupply. "Project proposals for JNNURM implementationare still shaping up so it is difficult to comment right nowon applications of geospatial technology in these proj-ects," says Sanjay Kumar, Director, JNNURM Directorate.However, according to him another ambitious project,National Mission Mode, on e-governance in municipalitiesis incorporating GIS functionalities in the property taxa-tion information system (PTIS).
The National Urban Information Scheme (NUIS) ofMoUD is developing GIS database for 137 towns/cities inthe country on two scales, 1:10,000 and 1: 2000 and utilitymapping at 1:1000 scale for 24 cities.
"Under this scheme, geo-referencing of satellite data for117 towns has been completed. Similarly, GIS database of66 towns at 1:10,000 is ready and forwarded to SOI forquality check, aerial photography for 1:2000 mapping 86towns completed and NUDB&I data collection for 72towns in 16 states is also completed,"' informs MonhisKhan, Assistant Town Planner, Town and Country Plan-ning Organisation.
AgricultureThe agrarian occupation of majority of Indians makesagriculture one of the key thrust areas for overall develop-ment of the nation. Ever since Independence, this sectorhas remained the focus area of successive governmentsand therefore one of the forerunners in applications ofgeospatial technologies. Projects such as Crop Acreageand Product Estimation (CAPE) during the 7th Five YearPlan are evidence of the impetus given to geospatialapplications in agriculture sector.
Adhering to the tradition of using geospatial technolo-gies in management of agriculture sector, several nation-al level schemes have been launched in the 11th Five YearPlan (2007-2012). Under the Development of NationalDatabase and Information System for NRM, a digital data-base is being created for management of soil, water andforest resources that will be closely linked with the villageknowledge centres and village resource centres. Geospa-tial applications have been deployed in strengtheningAgricultural Marketing Information Systems (AMIS) usingICTs. They are also being implemented in climate change,risk and disaster management and agro climaticresearch programmes. A crop-potential map of India isalso being developed under the crop science research ini-tiatives. The other major scheme is AgriculturalResources Information System (AgRIS), a central sectorscheme for strengthening/promoting agricultural infor-mation system. It is being implemented by National Infor-matics Centre (NIC) on behalf of the Department of Agri-culture and Cooperation (DAC), Ministry of Agriculture. Itis an e-governance initiative to foster agricultural growth,reduce poverty and ensure sustainable resource usage inIndia at grassroots level. The DSS using geospatial tech-nologies is being developed under AgRIS to facilitatefarmers to adopt appropriate agricultural productionpractices.
Water resources India has been bestowed with natural sources of freshwater in the form of perennial rivers, big lakes and otherinland water bodies. However, increasing population,mismanagement of water resources and erratic rainfallhave all resulted in acute water shortage in some areas tofloods in others. Water resource management is thus apriority to ensure sustenance of India's one billion popu-lation. The Ministry of Water Resources, the nodal agencyfor the development and regulation of the country's natu-
March 2010 GIS DEVELOPMENT 39
“Rs. 30 crore have been allocated for GIT which is about 1%of total allocation for IT sector.”
Sharad MathurGM, IT, Centre for Railway Information Systems
ral resources and irrigation activities, has been one of theearly users of geospatial technologies in India. It is cur-rently implementing several programmes incorporatinggeospatial technologies. Water Resource InformationSystem (WRIS) will provide information on basin maps,river networks, command area maps, irrigation projectlocations, water logged areas, saline areas, canal net-works, wasteland maps, snow cover, land use/land coverfor surface water bodies, informs Yogesh Paithankar,Director, Remote Sensing Directorate, Central WaterCommission. Other programmes in water resource man-agement incorporating the technologies include Com-mand Area Development and Watershed ManagementProgramme, Flood Management Programme and Accel-erated Irrigation Benefit Programme.
Homeland security The use of GPS and Google Maps by terrorists in execut-ing 26/11 attack in Mumbai was a wake up call for securi-ty forces in India to upgrade and update themselves withstate-of-the-art technologies to handle such situations.Police forces all over India are now giving a face-lift byprocuring GIS and GPS based systems. Delhi Police hasinstalled a GPS-based solution that will facilitate routingof emergency calls directly to PCR vehicle network opera-
tors in case of traffic congestion, medical assistance andfire as well as crime-in-progress situations. Several citiestoo are lapping up these technologies to provide betterlaw and order to its citizens. Chandigarh Police haveordered the procurement of GIS/GPS-based automaticvehicle tracking system (AVTS) including automatic calldistribution (ACD). This will involve not only the procure-ment of GIS and GPS system but will also carry out GISmapping activities to find out different locations on mapwhile patrolling. Bhopal Police have recently ordered for50 GPS instruments for its special branch and JaipurPolice have ordered the supply of vehicle GPS locator.Police force in not only big metros but also in two-tiercities are serious about taking the advantage of GIS andGPS technologies to be able to manage crime and terror-ist activities in their cities and jurisdiction areas.
Disaster managementWith a vast coastline and huge mountain ranges servingas its borders, with varied climatic conditions, India isprone to a large number of natural disasters such ascyclones, tsunamis, landslides, earthquakes, floods anddroughts. Huge casualties are reported every year due toone or the other natural disasters and it becomes quiteprudent for India to have a dedicated National DisasterManagement Authority (NDMA) as well as Disaster Man-agement Support (DMS) system by ISRO.
DMS programme is a commitment from ISRO to provideaerospace data and value added products in a timelymanner to support all the phases of disaster manage-ment activities in the country. It is also working towardsthe development and deployment of fail-safe emergencycommunication systems through fixed networks as wellas mobile devices. DSC aims to disseminate all spaceenabled products and services to the end users for disas-ter management.
ConclusionGeospatial applications have been able to gain ground inIndia as is evident by incorporation of geospatial tech-nologies in different national level schemes across differ-ent sectors. The challenge for the industry now lies inmaking these technologies sustainable in the long runand to be able to cater to the needs of the citizens. It istime now for geospatial technologies to turn ubiquitousand help the remotest individual reap the benefits in theirday-to-day life.
GIS DEVELOPMENT40 March 2010
“Under the National Urban Information Scheme of Ministryof Urban Development, geo-referencing of saatellite data for117 towns has been completed.”
Monhis KhanAssistant Town PlannerTown and Country Planning Organisation
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GIS DEVELOPMENT
How is Census 2011 different from the previ-ous ones?Census of India is one of the largest produc-ers of maps in the country. We have digitalfiles of all the six lakh villages in the countryand have been producing several thematicatlases that can provide information right fromthe village level. With Census 2011, we arehoping to bring in dynamic information ratherthan offering static data. So far, we have beenproducing thematic data, but we are nowevolving to offer a GIS based decision supportsystem (DSS) for policy makers by bringingspatial and non-spatial data together.
Emphasis is being given to training the cen-sus functionaries. In this aspect, the Office ofthe Registrar General of India (ORGI), togeth-er with UNICEF, has devised a 4-tier traininghierarchy. The ultimate aim is to have a clearunderstanding of the critical features of cen-sus and the knowledge and skills to undertakeand effectively perform the tasks assigned tothe 2.7 million enumerators and supervisors.
Based on the requirements of the user min-
istries and the level of development in ruralareas due to government interventions, sever-al new dimensions are added to Census2011. For example, the scope of questions onsources of drinking water and sanitation hasbeen broadened. As mobile phone connectivi-ty has penetrated even in rural areas, informa-tion on the availability of such facility in ruralhouseholds is also being ascertained.
We are also working on producing digitalmaps of all 33 capital cities in the countryusing satellite imagery. Ground truthing is alsobeing carried out and the digital maps wouldbe ready by March 2011.
Can you brief us on how and what geeospatialtechnologies are being used in Census 2011?Geospatial technology is playing a major rolein this census. During earlier censuses, therewere a few instances where either the enu-
March 201042
Inte
rvie
w
r. C ChandramouliRegistrar General and Census Commissioner, India
CENSUS 2011 WILL BEA GIS-BASED DSS
D
meration area was recounted or leftunattended due to non-availability of rel-evant maps showing administrative/geographical coverage. To overcomesuch omissions and overlaps, Census ofIndia has contemplated the use ofgeospatial technology in the executionof the census operations spread in twophases i.e., house-listing operationsscheduled to be started in April, 2010and in population enumeration in March2011.
This apart, we are standardising geo-graphical identifications codes of alladministrative units and the addressingsystem in the country. This is beingdone in association with the Departmentof Information Technology.
ORGI is involved in preparing NationalRegister of Indian citizens and in thepreparation of Mulltipurpose NationalIdentity Cards (MNICS). What is thescope of this project and the value ofgeosppatial component?Along with house-listing operations,information for the preparation ofNational Population Register (NPR) willbe collected from April 2010 onwards.The NPR will contain details of all the'usual residents' of the country regard-less of whether they are citizens or non-citizens.
The initial stage of preparation forNPR will involve biographic data collec-
tion of all residents of the countryincluding newborns. To this, biometricdata of people older than 15 years like10 finger prints, photographs and irisdata will be added. De-duplication of thedata and issue of unique identity num-bers will be done by UID Authority ofIndia. The NPR would then be finalisedand maintained by the Office of RGI.
What in your view is the role of censusin national planning and how geospatiialtechnologies can directly contribute tothis?The Census of India collects basic dataon a variety of attributes in the country.The information includes the amenitiesavailable in each household, drinkingwater, sanitation, energy consumptionand so on. The population enumerationincludes information of individual personsuch as gender, age, sex, religion, edu-cation status, profession/occupation,worker, non-worker and employmentstatus etc. This data provides a compre-hensive data profile of each and everycitizen of this country and once this datais compiled in a GIS environment, it willprove to be an effective tool for betterplanning.
What is the contribution of Census ofIndia to DSSSDI?The Directorate of Census Operations,Delhi, is the user department of the
DSSDI geospatial database. DSSDI is providingward-wise detailed mapsof NCT Delhi which willbe used in the house-list-ing and housing censusbeing conducted in NCTDelhi from 1 May 2010.The Census EnumerationBlocks (CEBs) are beingcarved out of these mapsand these EB maps will
be given to the enumerators for propercoverage of each locality in the ward.This will reduce chances of omissionsand overlapping.
What is ORGI's vision for the countryvis-à-vis use of geospatial technologies?The mandate of the organisation onmaps for pre-census activities includespreparation of administrative boundarymap of the states, district, sub-district,towns, villages and wards in towns forproper coverage of entire geographicalarea for use in house-listing operationsin 2010 and population enumeration in2011.The use of geospatial technologyin post-census activities includes thepreparation of thematic maps on censusdata for various census publications andpreparation of atlases and District Cen-sus Hand Book (DCHB) maps. So far,the organisation has proposed to pro-duce more than 10,000 administrativemaps including interactive thematicpresentation of data through maps inGIS domain which will be available forthe user departments, planners,researchers, students and policy mak-ers. Our vision is to use this effectivelyand make it a dynamic tool for decisionmaking in the country.
43March 2010 GIS DEVELOPMENT
Emphasis is being
given to training the
census functionaries.
In this aspect, the
Office of the Registrar
General of India
(ORGI), together with
UNICEF, has devised a
4-tier training
hierarchy.
Though
individual
projects are being
implemented since
1990s, this is
the first time
government has
initiated power
sector reforms on a
large scale in the
country.
GIS DEVELOPMENT
ower is the backbone for development and more so for a country likeIndia which envisages an ambitious 9% GDP growth during its EleventhFive Year Plan (2007-12). Though energy output is progressively
increasing, transmission losses, power pilferages, irregular billing is wideningthe demand-supply gap in the country. On the threshold of this growth curve, itis but prudent that government has initiated the Re-structured AcceleratedPower Development and Reform Programme (R-APDRP).
Though, individual projects are on since 1990s, government has initiated power sector reforms on a large scale in the country only recently. CESC is thefirst organisation that embarked on power reforms by introducing geospatialtechnology in 1990. Since then, companies are extensively using this technolo-gy in distribution, transmission as well as generation. For instance, Power GridCorporation of India Limited (PGCIL) is harnessing it in transmission, AlternateHydro Energy Centre (AHEC) is using it in resource assessment for renewableenergy resources and under R-APDRP, it has been integrated with distribution.
The key objectives of R-APDRP include:• To determine accountability and reduce AT&C (Aggregate Transmission & Commer-cial) losses.
• Strengthening and upgrading sub-transmission and distribution network, and adop-tion of information technology.
• To bring about reduction in outages and disruptions, & increase consumer satisfaction.
Understanding the key role of geospatial technologies, the Union Ministry ofPower (MoP) has made use of GIS mandatory in the National Electricity Policy2005 and Integrated Energy Policy.
Structure of R-APDRPAccording to the R-APDRP norm, MoP will sanction money to Power FinanceCorporation (PFC) which acts as a nodal agency. It will provide necessary supportto R-APDRP Steering Committee and assist MoP in assessment of claimsthrough empanelled Third Party Independent Evaluation Agencies (TPIEA) forconversion of power utility loans into grant for Part-A and Part-B projectsrespectively. Projects will be sanctioned by a steering committee (from the Min-istry of Power) which will have representatives from all concerned bodies and itwill be routed through the PFC to the utility/ state electricity distribution compa-ny (DISCOM) directly. According to R-APDRP norm, the money is first given to theutility in the form of a loan. After they achieve the desired target, it is convertedinto a grant, else it will remain a loan. PFC has already appointed KPMG as the
44
R-APDRP
Anand Kashyap
Sub-Editor
GIS Development
P
EMPOWERING WITHREFORMS
March 2010
GIS DEVELOPMENT 45March 2010
process consultant for the reforms programme. Thus, itbecomes a quadripartite agreement between the Ministryof Power, PFC, State government and the power utility.
Part-A of R-APDRP includes the establishment of base-line data and IT applications for energy accounting, audit-ing and consumer service centers with a project outlay ofRs 100 billion. Part-B includes regular distribution proj-ects worth Rs 400 billion.
Some of the activities to be covered under part-A:• GIS mapping, metering of distribution transformers & feeders.
• Automatic data logging for all distribution transformers andfeeders and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisi-tion)/DMS (document management system) system in theproject area having more than 4 lac population and 350 MUannual input energy.
Some of the activities to be covered under Part-B:• Renovation, modernisation and strengthening of 11 kV levelsubstations, transformers, transformer centers.
• Strengthening of sub-transmission system to 33 kV or 66 kVlevels in some exceptional cases.
The key objective of R-APDRP is to improve financialhealth of state electricity boards. There is no compulsion forstates to work on this project. Yet, all the states in the coun-try have initiated these reforms understanding the need.
Status of R-APDRPAs per the latest update, 25 private companies have beenempanelled for the bidding process. Till December 2009, atotal of 1,125 projects costing around Rs 4,174 crore underR-APDRP have been approved for 18 states. These are:Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand,Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan,Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Sikkim and West Bengal.Recently, there is one more addition i.e Kerala.
BenefitsThe first benefit would be to get rid of power wastage andtheft which amounts to about 15%. Spatial data will help power distribution bodies in ensuring optimum utilisation ofpower and spreading the power coverage areas especially atrural level. It will also place them in a position of early detection of fault and could ensure adequate power supply.Moreover, it will boost the distribution of clean energy.
ChallengesAll good things come with certain challenges. It applies toR-APDRP too. 18-36 months completion time is a huge
challenge with this project. Dipak Kumar Banerji, IT Con-sultant, CESC Limited, India, said that CESC's geospatialproject in Kolkata is running 2-3 months behind thescheduled time.
According to Satya Prasad, GIS Practice Head, TCS,"Handling real time data is a challenge." He pointed outfew other challenges like lack of coordination betweengoverning bodies, data availability and accuracy, aggrega-tion and assimilation of data from multiple sources andformats, data interoperability, standards based approachtowards developing spatial data infrastructure, flexibilityin use of open source software and business softwaresolutions and a spatial data chain. He believes thesethings will be crucial in the success of R-APDRP.
ConclusionIt was truly a long due policy which is in action now. Thebusiness opportunity for the IT sector remains in not onlyproviding services and solutions but also providing trainedmanpower to implement the ambitious programme. Onthe other hand, it will be a concern to watch out how thisinfrastructure and systems are utilised and maintainedafter the completion of this multi-billion project.
A buoyant
economy, proactive
government and an
aware user are
putting geospatial
industry on an
exponential growth
curve, challenges
of data and
capacity
notwithstanding
GIS DEVELOPMENT
he Indian geospatial scene is in a major transformation. The industry,which used to be just another outsourcing hub providing digitisationservices and working on sub-contracted projects from overseas, is
today bustling with massive projects in the domestic space. With governmentinitiating reforms in several infrastructure segments while mandating the useof geospatial technologies in these projects, the ecosystem of the geospatialindustry is changing dramatically. Let us know more about the promisingchanges and inevitable challenges the industry faces in the country.
Teeming with activityFor the Indian geospatial companies, digitisation is passé. They are quiteengaged in providing a variety of solutions in the country with projects ofnational significance running into billions. Government is the major user of thistechnology in the country.
But while talking about the acceptability of these technologies, there seems tobe a broad variation among the user agencies. According to BVR Mohan Reddy,CMD, Infotech Enterprises, "Some progressive central organisations like ISRO,DST and State IT&C departments have taken leadership position in advocatingthis technology, while State departments dealing with land, forestry, mines etc.have not been able to catch up yet due to organisational inertia. While in mostcases there is a conscious drive and initiative from the top bureaucracy to ush-er in new technologies like IT and GIS, the middle level managers and domainexperts are not adequately exposed to adopt these technologies into the organ-isations' functioning."
46
INDUSTRY
Bhanu Rekha
Associate EditorGIS [email protected]
T
CREATING ECOSYSTEM OFGROWTH
March 2010
GIS DEVELOPMENT 47March 2010
Commenting on the level of projects, Dr Mukund K Rao,President and COO, ESRI India says, "The general trend isthat government is looking for solutions to governanceissues, many of which are at enterprise level. Private sec-tor is also looking at building their own enterprise solu-tions while small entrepreneurs are looking for stand-alone GIS solutions. This is a mixed bag." KaushikChakraborty, Vice-President - Asia Pacific, ERDAS, takesa similar view. He says, "The uptake is definitely improvingyear on year. But I would still say that we do not see asmuch happening in the enterprise space as we do in oth-er parts of the world. There is a willingness and lot of talkof moving to enterprise scale." On the acceptability levelsof latest technologies, the industry seems to be dividedagain. Says K Kalyanaraman, President, Navayuga SpatialTechnologies, "The acceptability of latest techniques isquite good at individual and department level. We also seelot of open source and interoperable solutions being usedin the market." But by and large on a national scale, thereis a lot of reinventing the wheel. There is still scepticismin picking up latest technologies. Many a time, users pre-fer to take up a pilot project to understand the effective-ness of the technology. This actually slows down thedevelopment process by a year or two. More than technol-ogy, industry points out administrative and policy bottle-necks for the penetration of these technologies. "Most ofthe decisions are happening on the basis of competitiveRFP and not on the basis of technology used. They arelooking at their minimum requirements to be met irre-spective of whether technology is state-of-the-art or not,"opines Rajesh Kalra, Managing Director, RMSI Pvt Ltd.
Challenges aboundHaving acknowledged the significance of geospatial tech-nology and making huge investments in it, the country isbattling with several teething troubles on the threshold ofa geospatial boom. One of the popular perceptions among
the industry is the unavailability/timely availability of qual-ity data. "It is important to make location based informa-tion part of decision making in public and private enter-prises. For this, we have to overcome a challenge which iscompletely administrative and policy driven. Multiplesources, multiple formats, limited or no metadata, accessrestrictions, security and quality and data updation areother issues," says Kaushik.
Citing the absence of a proper data sharing mechanismas another bottleneck, BVR Mohan Reddy suggests,"Databases have to be unlocked by means of a liberal andimaginative data policy. Geospatial data created by gov-ernment and industry becomes accessible to all only in asecure and reliable data sharing regime." But the com-munity seems to have mastered their way around workingwith the policies in place. "More often than not, we are notseeing data as a stumbling block as we started going witha mindset that these are the boundary conditions and weneed to be prepared for it. We keep alternative plansready," says Rajesh.
Another major challenge for this fledgling industry in thecountry is the availability of qualified and trained man-power. This has partially contributed to the slow adoptionof geospatial technologies in the government sector.According to Kaushik, the problem is more about qualityrather than quantity. He says, "The problems lies at thebase level education, which does not incorporate geospa-tial as the most fundamental aspect." The geospatialindustry is investing in training its personnel without get-ting bogged down. "Over the last couple of decades,industry has developed considerable in-house capacity interms of digitisation and photogrammetry, to serve pre-dominantly overseas customers," says Mohan Reddy.However, the existing capacities for field survey and datacollection are low compared to the increasing demand forsuch services. So, the fallout is that "skilled manpowerpricing is very competitive and companies are poachingfrom each other which is again spiralling the manpower
The general trend is thatgovernment is looking forsolutions to governanceissues, many of whichh areat enterprise level
- Dr Mukund K RaoPresident & COO, ESRI India
Geospatial data created bygovernment and industrybecomes accessible to all onlyin a secure and rreliable datasharing regime
- BVR Mohan ReddyCMD, Infotech Enterprises
cost to an unreasonable level," adds Rajesh. Anothermajor issue in the industry is the low prices being quotedby some venders to bag projects. "This is leading to theproject scope getting diluted in the process of executionor the work not being completed in a quality/professionalmanner," Kalyanaraman expresses concern. This is alsoleading to failed project outcome. Rajesh adds, "Thiscould put the buyers into trouble as it involves lot of timeand money and would also scar the reputation of theindustry and the efficacy of the technology."
Opportunity in waitingChallenges not withstanding, the country is offering suchimmense scope to the industry that major IT companiesand international players too are getting into the fray."That is the good sign that Indian market has the strengthand the grit to generate huge opportunity and sustaincompanies," Mukund exudes confidence. The geospatialindustry should evolve revenue sharing models ofengagement with these investors to create and maintaingeospatial databases and applications as part of the over-all IT framework implementation.
As the economic growth continues, India is investing inevery sector of development. "Geospatial is becomingcore in every vertical. Mapping and modernisation needsitself will keep the industry busy for the next 5-10 years.Projects like National Land Records Modernisation Pro-gramme (NLRMP) are just tip of the iceberg," Rajeshquips. "Infrastructure is one vertical that will support eco-nomic growth. And infrastructure growth will directly fuelgeospatial industry. This is true for both planning of infra-structure and maintaining it. The other potential verticalis homeland security to combat terrorist and Naxaliteactivities," opines Kaushik.
The industry is unanimous of the opinion that in the nextfive years, India would be among one of the largestgeospatial market in the world outside of defence andhomeland security. "For various reasons, this market is
not easily addressable by international players. Theirproducts might be successful, but project implementationand execution is difficult for them because of the verynature of the projects, diverse culture and umpteen lan-guages involved. One can bring project managementexpertise and technology from outside but bulk of the exe-cution ought to be addressed locally. These are the barri-ers for international companies," analyses Rajesh.
Responsible industry"Indian geospatial industry is a large spread of smallcompanies with varied interests, each one cutting eachother to win pieces of work and each one struggling toexecute their projects, all of them stuck with the sameproblem. Now that the buyers market is opening up,things are likely to change which will start forcing theindustry to find a common ground," says Rajesh. To over-come the challenges and tap the potential the country hasat offer, the industry is putting in concerted efforts toorganise itself. The recently formed Association ofGeospatial Industries of India (AGI) is a major step in thisdirection. The aim of AGI is to nurture the industry so thateverybody can benefit. It will take lead from vested inter-ests and bring companies to a common platform foreverybody to voice their concern. "As an industry, AGI hasdecided to review all the policies, understand what willunshackle the industry and fuel growth and put our rec-ommendations forward to the government in unison. Wepropose to take one voice to the government but at thesame time not dictate the government policy," saysKaushik as the founding member of AGI.
ConclusionIndia is registering strong growth despite global econom-ic slowdown and it augers good for geospatial industry aswell. The industry is unanimously positive about thegrowth of geospatial in the country as they see the shiftfrom international to domestic projects.
GIS DEVELOPMENT48 March 2010
The acceptability oflatest techniques is quitegood at individual anddepartmentlevel
- K KalyanaramanPresident, Navayuga Spatial Tech
AGI will review all policies,understand what will unshack-le the industry and fuel growthand put our recommendationsforward to the government
- Kaushik ChakrabortyVP-Asia Pacific, ERDAS
The education
sector needs to
offer its support to
the geospatial
industry to
capitalise on the
opportunities
presented to it
and together
enable the industry
to grow
GIS DEVELOPMENT
he geospatial industry in India is on a fast track, fuelled by governmentinitiatives, technology innovations and increasing demand from thecorporate sector. With the opening up of a huge market for the geospa-
tial industry, there is bound to be quantum jump in manpower requirement atdifferent levels all over the world and in particular in India, which not only offersa huge local market but also serves as outsourcing hub to provide solutions andservices worldwide.
The challengeMeeting the requirement of adequate workforce with requisite skill set howev-er, is a great challenge for the education sector. Geospatial education in India isstill in a nascent stage and unless more educational institutes start offeringdegrees in this field, India will face a severe human resource crunch. Geospa-tial education needs to be supported by the grant-in-aid schemes of the UGCand AICTE. A limited form of governmental support is provided by grants undervarious schemes of UGC, DST, DOS- NNRMS.
Some courses/trainings in RS-GIS for university teachers are being conduct-ed by ISRO's RRSSCs. Today, courses are being offered by some universitiesleading to a graduate degree in geoinformatics. Some have gone as far as start-
50
EDUCATION
T
‘CAPACITY’ FORGROWTH
March 2010
GIS DEVELOPMENT 51March 2010
ing post-graduate courses. Issues of prerequisite qualifi-cations have been unfortunately overlooked. The require-ments of the industry have till date been always on theback burner when Indian universities and their syllabusare concerned and the case of geospatial education is nodifferent. To make the education meaningful and aid themuch required human capacity building, the relevance ofwhat is being taught also needs to be addressed.
A strong grasp of fundamentals of the technologies canboost the skill sets and contribute significantly to the req-uisite manpower demand. Emphasis on an understandingof fundamentals however is often found wanting in thecurricula and stems value addition in work processes,software development and research on field needs.
Way forwardIdentifying steps towards capacity building necessitatesaddressing the question of "How many geospatialists arerequired and at what level?" as an initial requisite. Thisquestion will need to consider the present capacity i.e.output from universities and institutions in India.
In addressing present day availability of trained man-power in geospatial, it is also imperative to gauge andcomment on the present calibre of our geospatialists. Anever festering issue is that of the calibre of our teachersand instructors, with faculty being one of the key areasrequiring capacity building. In any capacity building meas-ure the trainers are the foundation on which the future isbuilt.
Many educational institutions are churning out 'trained'workers who are not pegged to a certain benchmark. Italso needs to be seen if a single national level curriculumwill serve the purpose. This brings up the relevance ofstandardisation of curricula and evaluation on the road tocapacity building.
The role of distance education is another area of rele-vance. Geospatial education has been made popular by anumber of online (distance) education courses offered byinternationally reputed institutes as well as by commer-cial enterprises keen of generating the necessary mind-share for their software and data products among upcom-ing professionals. The advantages and drawbacks of dis-tance education however need to be carefully looked atbefore considering it as the source of qualification that theindustry requires.
Pre-qualification for embarking on geospatial education
is most often overlooked. At the present moment, mostpost-graduate as well as certificate courses admit candi-dates with no conditions on the prior stream of education.Students with a background in commerce as well as thearts subjects are allowed to enroll for the same coursesas students with a prior science or engineering back-ground. This brings together individuals with widely dif-ferent learning curves. A minimum qualification for candi-dates aspiring to take up courses related to geospatialtechnologies could prove to be a step towards addressingsuch issues.
Geospatial education is multidisciplinary. It could beworth the while framing curricula to extend the list toinclude areas like psychology and spatial statistics.Another significant but often overlooked aspect is softskills. Equally important as imparting requisite technicalskills by formal education system is developing goodcommunication and behavioural skills.
A number of other steps in curricula framework cancontribute towards capacity building. These includeestablishing a balance between curricula standardisationand flexibility, introduction of GIS as subject in IT syllabus,introduction of GIS survey courses, emphasis on vectorGIS concepts, geospatial exposure to school going chil-dren, adopting a holistic approach towards geospatial
education, teaching of geospatial education in relation toone or more themes like transportation, business man-agement, urban development, forest resources,wildlife/conservation, designing programs to providegeography students with sufficient background in scienceand mathematics to transfer and compete successfullyduring study period, adopting electives in curricula whilenot compromising on teaching of basics, identifyinggrowth sectors and providing courses in those sectors, andtraining on both generic software and specific software.
With constantly changing technology, working profes-sionals need to be constantly updated and trained. A keyconcern is that skills alone are not deemed sufficient tomeet demand.
It is imperative that the skills be worth of employabilityand employability be the parameter for capability. Workingtowards tackling the issue of low skills to boost employa-bility needs to be high on the priority of the education sec-tor. Also, a successful endeavour towards capacity buildingmerges requirement for both generalists and specialistsrather than only specialists.
Government initiatives Any measures towards capacity building are incompletewithout the involvement of the government. The requisitegovernment initiatives include building capacity within the system, reaching out to colleges and universities,addressing the restrictions on data availability, establish-ing resource hubs, developing educational policy forgeospatial education, providing funding for capacity build-ing, enhancing proposals in geospatial science in HRD
Ministry and fitting geospa-tial education into existingframework of education.
Industry Collabora-tionIndustry too has its role cutout in capacity building. Itcan promote exchange ofideas with scientists/devel-oper institutions for mutualbenefits and research work,offer internships to studentsof geospatial education toenhance learning experi-ence and work towards a
partnership with higher education infrastructure. Theindustry in turn has its own set of expectations from theacademic sector. As Kaushik Chakraborty - VP-Asia Pacif-ic, ERDAS highlights, there is a requirement for training atmultiple tiers - science and technology, implementationand application level. Educational institutes appear to befocussing on training people for the application tier andthe implementation tier but not the real base level ofunderstanding. He also stresses on requirement of peoplewith stronghold in IT but also with a basic understanding ofgeospatial.
Societal awarenessAs with any emerging technology, societal awarenessplays a key role in it getting established as a technology toreckon with. Key to societal awareness is bringing technol-ogy to people. A greater brand equity for a technology is astep towards attracting the requisite talent. It is importantthat people accept the technology. Aspirants for thesetechnology courses should know what they are dealingwith and then go for the required post-graduate qualifica-tion. Finally, the right time to realise this as profession isnow.
Conclusion With the opportunities presented in geospatial technolo-gies, it becomes imperative for India to strategise geospa-tial human resource capacity building. And it is for theeducation sector to offer its support to capitalise on theopportunities and together enable the industry to grow. Acrucial skillset required is the combination of knowledgeof IT and geospatial. The need of the hour is for the gov-ernment, academic sector and the industry to cometogether to realise this growth.
(Based on the round table meeting during Map India 2010 confer-ence. The participants included Dr. Hrishikesh Samant, St. Xavier'sCollege, Mumbai, India; Amit Khare, Department of Higher Education,Government of India; Dr. Josef Strobl, University of Salzburg, Austria;Pankaj Dixit, GM-NIIT Ltd; Dr. PK Garg, IIT Roorkee, India; RRaghuGaneshan, Avineon India Private Limited; Dr. Rakesh Malhotra, NorthCarolina Central University, United States; Dr. Mohamed R. Bual-hamam, UAE University; Dr. Aniruddha Roy, Navayuga EngineeringCo. Ltd.; Dr. Bharat Lohaani, IIT Kanpur, India; Dr. Shahnawaz, Univer-sity of Salzburg, Austria; Dr. Seema Parihar, Delhi University, India andDr. PK Joshi, TERI University, India)
Deepali RoyAssistant Editor, GIS [email protected]
GIS DEVELOPMENT52 March 2010
Educationalinstitutes tend to focus on training forapplication andimplementationbut not the realbase level of understanding
Can you brief us about the Nationale-Governance Plan (NeGP) of Govern-ment of India?The National e-Governance Plan(NeGP) was approved by the UnionCabinet of Ministers in 2006. This hasbeen initiated with a vision to deliverpublic services to every citizen in his/herlocal area in a cost efficient manner.Under NeGP, we have developed astrategy to focus on 3-4 key areas. Thefirst element is to focus on providingservices and not on acquisition of soft-ware and hardware. Secondly, we aregoing for public private partnerships(PPP) wherever feasible. Third, we arecreating an e-infrastructure. Under this,we are creating State Wide Area Net-works (SWAN) across the country. Weare also creating State Data Centres(SDC) in each state capital and unionterritory and setting up 100,000 Com-mon Service Centres (CSC) which willact as front-end kiosks in rural areas.
E-infrastructure is being implementedby State governments and not the Gov-ernment of India. Government of India
has framed certain guidelines and alldecisions are taken by the states look-ing into the requirements and expecta-tions of its people in the design ofSWANs, data centres and CSCs.
In addition, we are evolving standardsto ensure interoperability. We haverecently notified three standards - oneon metadata, one on forms and the thirdone on area and person codification.
Whatt are the initiatives of Ministry of ITto involve geospatial technologies forbetter e-governance?Geospatial technologies can, to a verylarge extent, be harnessed for the ben-efit of government programmes andprojects. Most of the government pro-grammes - whether it is building infra-structure like dams or highways, urbanplanning, land records - have spatialcomponent inherently in them and sogeospatial technologies are primary. Thesecond aspect is making use of thistechnology immediately in governance.As far as the Department of InformationTechnology (DIT) is concerned, we do
not have a clear roadmap and have notbeen able to harness geospatial tech-nologies in governance. We are spon-soring some projects that leveragegeospatial technologies but not at alarge scale.
Is there any proposal to incorporate andintegrate spatial data into State DataCentres?As of now, there is no such thinking. Atthe moment, many government depart-ments are working in parallel and insilos. There is no point reinventing thewheel.
What iis your vision for better e-gover-nance in India?NeGP has identified 27 Mission ModeProjects (MMPs) and work is on in fullmeasure on these projects. We areplanning to complete all MMPs by2012. As e-infrastructure will be opera-tional by June 2011, including SDCs, alarge number of state government,union territories would be willing to startdelivering services in electronic mode.
Inte
rvie
w
hankar AggarwalJoint SecretaryDepartment of InformationTechnology - eGovernanceGovernment of India
'NEGP ENVISAGES EASYACCESS TO INFORMATION'
S
53March 2010 GIS DEVELOPMENT
GIS DEVELOPMENT
SPRS has played an important role in my life. Ireceived my diploma in 1961 from the Royal Insti-tute of Technology KTH in Stockholm, and Prof.
Bertil Hallert employed me as his assistant. He was veryactive in ISP, as it was called at that time, and he encour-aged his collaborators to publish research papers inter-nationally and to participate in ISPRS working groups.From 1964 to 2000, I participated actively in all ISPRS'scongresses and many of its activities. After my PhD inphotogrammetry in 1967, I worked for seven years in pri-vate industry as consultant until I was appointed profes-sor and head of the Department for Photogrammetry atKTH in 1974.
In 1976, Sweden was elected to host ISPRS TechnicalCommission V, covering close range photogrammetry forfour years with myself as Commission president. During1980-84, I chaired a working group on digital elevationmodels. At the Congress in Rio de Janeiro in 1984, I waselected secretary general from 1984-1988; from 1988-92,I was president of ISPRS; and from 1992-96, I was the firstvice-president. This level of involvement is not at allunique; it is rather typical for a president of the Society tohold several positions and responsibilities in the Society.
The aim of ISPRS is to stimulate, initiate and coordinateinternational cooperation for the advancement of pho-togrammetry, remote sensing, spatial information, andtheir applications. The Society arranges congresses, sym-posia, colloquia, seminars and the like where companiesand government agencies present products and services,and people present results of research and applications,discuss them and identify new directions for developmentof the disciplines. Reports and research papers are pub-
lished in ISPRS archives and the Society has an officialjournal. After my tenure as president, the Society began topublish ISPRS highlights with contents of administrativeand organisational nature. Much information is nowadaysavailable through the Web pages of ISPRS, www.isprs.org.
People working with and through ISPRS come from aca-demic institutes, government agencies and private indus-try. The activities cover all aspects of photogrammetry,remote sensing and spatial information in a vast range ofapplications from surveys and mapping to medicine andarcheology. Research and development coordinated byISPRS is most often organised in projects and executed byindividual members of working groups. All expenses insuch a project are typically covered by the organisations inwhich the individual members are employed. This meansthat each participant has to recognise an interest andadvantage in participating in the project on behalf ofher/his employer.
ISPRS can identify needs and possibilities of R&D but itcannot fund projects. It can initiate, it can connect people,it can provide an international organisational structure forthe cooperation between interested parties. Meeting theabove conditions, management of projects, workinggroups and commissions have to be based on decisionsmade in consensus between the parties. When I waspresident of ISPRS, I was also dean of the engineeringfaculty in Stockholm.
That meant that I spoke for and was chairman of the fac-ulty, the university senate and the faculty board, whichcomprised about 300, 40 and 8 members respectively.These bodies were responsible for the planning of pro-grammes for research and research training; in particu-
54
ISPRS: IN RETROSPECT & PROSPECT
March 2010
ENCOURAGINGYOUNG SCIENTISTS
Prof. Kennert Torlegård
Former President, ISPRS (1988-1992)
I
VIENNA
GIS DEVELOPMENT 55
lar the part that was funded directly from the governmentto the university. Consensus was considered to be ofutmost importance, which needed good preparation,negotiation and early information before a propositioncould be presented for decision.
The decision-making process in the management ofISPRS between congresses was very similar to that of thefaculty. ISPRS Council and Technical Commission presi-dents had joint meetings once a year. Often the editor ofthe journal and the chairman of the Financial Commis-sion were invited as well. There were 14-16 participantsand the meetings lasted 2-3 days. We found it useful tospend the first day outside the board room, giving ampletime for everybody to discuss the agenda topics freelybefore we sat down with all documents and fixed theagenda.
The informal discussions paved the way for the smoothrunning of the formal meeting. When I was president ofthe Society, it had five awards and during my term, a newtype of award was introduced, namely Best paper byYoung Author. The Japan Society for Photogrammetry andRemote Sensing had donated Sw. Fr 10,000 towards thisaward.
The Council decided to use this gift to encourage youngpeople to present papers and attend the Congress by giv-ing four ISPRS awards of 2500 Sw.Fr. each. The SwissSociety for Photogrammetry sponsored four additionalawards for papers with topics related to Commission V. Atotal of 59 papers were submitted before the deadline.Council members and Technical Commission presidentsreceived about four papers each for evaluation. From 14nominated papers, I selected four winners of the ISPRS
Awards. I was assisted by Prof. Dr. Armin Gruen and Prof.Dr. Einari Kilpelä and our evaluation of the papers wasmade in a log cottage in northern Finland during our tra-ditional skiing week. The Commission V paper jury con-sisted of Prof. Dr. Armin Gruen, Dr. Clive Fraser andmyself. Since then the Society has developed more incen-tives for students and young scientists, such as the Youthforum and Student Consortium.
Why did I let myself in for ISPRS? As a PhD student anda young photogrammetrist in the 1960s and 70s, I visitedcongresses and symposia so as to meet colleagues whoworked on same or similar problems and applications asI did for discussions and exchange of experience andinformation.
The way to contact them was to present a paper. It wasalso interesting to visit the exhibitions and see new instru-ments and products from manufacturers and vendors.Later when I became professor there were other reasonsfor my involvement in ISPRS affairs - I wanted to find col-leagues for joint projects in R&D; I used my internationalrelations when supervising my PhD students, i.e. throughmy contacts I knew who was doing what and where inR&D, or I could find it out. Then the students could maketheir own contacts.
Why did I commit myself to the management of ISPRS?At a science meeting in Graz, Society president Dr FredDoyle asked me whether I would consider becoming Sec-retary General of ISPRS. He believed that I would be ableto do the job, and he also said the he thought it would begood for my career. And so it was. My reward has been alot of wonderful experiences and many good friends fromall over the world.
“Dr Fred Doyle asked me whether
I would consider becoming Secre-
tary General of ISPRS, believing
in me. And so it was. My reward
has been a lot of wonderful experi-
ences and many good friends from
all over the world. ”
March 2010
GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGY UPDATE SEMINAR
FACILITATING TECHNOLOGY UPTAKE
eospatial has been witnessing a great degree ofadvancement in the last couple of years and itcontinues to grow in terms of technology develop-
ment, product management and its utility and integrationwith mainstream information technology. Though most ofthe economies in the South East Asia have been showingpromising results in the utilisation of geospatial technolo-gies, yet a lot remains to be done. Understanding thisground reality, GIS Development developed and designeda series of promotional events in selected countries ofSouth East Asia, aimed at providing technology updates tothe existing and potential users. This event was brandedas Geospatial Technology Update Seminars (GTUS).
The first round of these seminars was organised inJakarta (Indonesia), Bangkok (Thailand), Hanoi (Vietnam),Manila (Philippines) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).
Industry partners were ESRI as GIS partner andHewlett-Packard was the hardware peripherals partner,in all the five countries. AAMHatch was the LiDAR/pic-tometry partner and joined in Jakarta, Hanoi and KualaLumpur. ESRI, represented by Mark Cygan, Industry Man-ager, Map Chart and Data Production Team, focussed onthe technologies provided by the company, than the prod-ucts. Hewlett-Packard, defying the sceptics questioning
how they can relate to the geospatial technology, provedthat printing technology is a crucial part in geospatialservices and demonstrated how customers can improvetheir business outcome by having an in-house large for-mat printing solutions. AAMHatch did justice to its role asLiDAR/pictometry partner with comprehensive presenta-tion on both technologies, with pictometry capturing theaudiences' interests and participants eager to see whatpictometry can offer in their applications.
Jakarta, IndonesiaThe five-nation seminar got off to a start in Jakarta,Indonesia on 26 January 2010. Bakosurtanal, the nation-al mapping agency of Indonesia and Indonesia LandAgency (BPN) were the government partners for theIndonesian leg. Drs. Sukendra Martha, Primary Secretary,Bakosurtanal demanded the community to keep pace notonly with the technology, but also in producing requisiteprofessionals and quality for the anticipated growth in thesector. Ir. Bebas Purnawan, Head, Centre Network Sys-tem and Spatial Data Standardization discussed the roleof Bakosurtanal as the nodal agency in coordinating SDIactivities in the country and also the roadmap of what'snext in their plan.
G
March 2010GIS DEVELOPMENT56
58
Bangkok, ThailandBangkok was the host of the second leg of the event, heldon 29 January. Guest of honour, Dr. Somchet Thinaphong,Chairman of GISTDA Executive Board, addressed theaudience about the activities of GISTDA like space-basedthematic mapping in the areas of disaster and risk reduc-tion, natural resources and environment management.Government partner GISTDA has joined related govern-ment agencies in identifying the use of satellite data forthe development of the country.
Hanoi, VietnamThe seminar in Hanoi, on 2 February was the first ever GISDevelopment event in Vietnam and marked the collabora-tion with the Department of Survey and Mapping Vietnam(DOSMVN). In his keynote address, Nguyen Tuan Hung,Director General of DOSMVN, expressed that although theGovernment of Vietnam has recognized and identified theneed for as SDI, they are also aware of the challenges.With the approval of Vietnam Survey and Mapping Devel-opment Strategy to the year 2020, DOSMVN is on a mis-sion to create the national spatial data infrastructure andcompleting the geographical databases within the period2011-2015.
Manila, Philippines The seminar in Manila, held on 5 February, received anoverwhelming response not only from the governmentsector but also from academia and private sector. Nation-al Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA)was the government partner. Under Secretary Diony A.Ventura, Administrator of NAMRIA informed that the
Authority's mission is toemploy the most advancedtechnologies to support sus-tainable growth and develop-ment and it has undertakenthe Inter-Agency Task Forceon Geographic Information(IATFGI) which led to theestablishment of NSDI whilePRS92 have been initiated tohave a homogenous nationalnetwork of geodetic controlpoints.
Kuala Lumpur,MalaysiaDuring the Kuala Lumpurseminar on 9 February, Ahmad Fauzi Nordin, Deputy Director General of Survey and Mapping, sharedinformation on the current technologies being utilised inJUPEM, and their mission to become a wireless and digital organisation. Aziz Yusoff, Senior Director ofResearch, Development and Commercialisation, ATSB,caught the audiences' attention with a video of RazakSATlaunch.
The government partners in each of the host countrieswere keen to have the second round of seminars withmore industry partners. With an innovative concept, GTUShas brought the thought leaders together and given adirection to the national mapping agencies in the respec-tive countries.
GIS DEVELOPMENT March 2010
siaA 20p 1a 0Me posG a tin ao l Inn fo oiti rmbi ah tx iE o n& , Te ec cn he nr oef lon go yC an na di s AA p l pa liu cn an tiA o nht s9
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