How important is / has been spatial data for Spatial Data Private Ltd's functioning, growth or management?
In the last one year we have been concentrating on the Business Geographics domain. We have had some successes. One of the product we developed is for a MNC bank to track and manage their retail finance products. The spatial data is very crucial. What is more important is that the attribute data needs to be very accurate. These products use address geocoding and for that to work we need to have very high accuracy in street names, house number ranges etc. Secondly, the spatial data has to be current. Even a year old data, when it comes to city mapping, is outdated. Given that our government mapping systems do not update at this frequency and given that most of our cities do not have a good logical system for house numbering, the job of a GIS provider becomes that much tougher.

While acquiring spatial data in the recent past, what according to you had been the main hurdles?
The main issues are the quality and accuracy of data supplied by the agencies. Whether they are satellite images or digital maps they require a lot of verification and correction before using them. But I think it is only a matter of time before these are improved, since only recently data has started to flow in some appreciable quantity. The other major issue is the frequency of updating.

What are your views of data ownership issues, especially keeping in mind the coming days of NSDI?
The fundamental principle is that data is owned by the agency or company which created it. What needs to be addressed is the ease with which the data can be shared by all users, without questioning the ownership. The licensing policies should be such that sharing is easy, affordable and transparent. The government organizations like NSSO and Census have a working system for data sharing. This could be emulated for spatial data too. The private sector will be willing to pay the price of data. The price must be for data irrespective of the value of applications in which the data is used. NRSA provides data for a price whereas the Survey of India provides data based on royalty. The royalty is based on selling price of end user application. A uniform policy will be helpful.

How would you explain the government's role - a more aware, liberal or open entity over the years, in terms of geospatial data access or policies?
Governments (central, state and the local bodies) have a very important role in driving spatial data use. They need to adopt latest technologies for data creation, updating and maintenance so that the data is current, accurate and reliable. Secondly they need to adopt standard protocols for data gathering and publication so that data from multiple agencies are comparable . Thirdly there must be a transparent process for access. If access needs to be restricted for any purpose ( national security, interstate disputes etc), the restrictions must be reasonable, must be reviewed every few years by a neutral body whether such restrictions are necessary and publicly notified. Fourthly , if data created by private agencies require a p riori clearance, the process must be time bound and based on published rules and guidelines. Transmission of data through internet needs to be allowed.

What, in your view, has been the private sector's role in education/training of the Indian geomatics community?
Despite restrictions on data, and other hurdles in the past the private sector has played a major role in educating not only the geomatics community, but also the common man. More news reports are now appearing in the press and all decision makers in government and in private business know about the uses of GIS. The private sector has catalyzed the training and education institutions by providing software at an affordable price, and the non-profit private sector (NGOs) have increased awareness about GIS. For example the recent citizen based ward vision documents prepared by citizens of 10 wards in Bangalore had the involvement of the BDA, Janaagraha (a NGO) and student groups. To cite another example we have been able to sell more than 1000 CDs of city guide maps of Bangalore, Chennai and Kochi in the last calendar year. These were essentially bought by regular PC users for use in their homes.

What are your views on the immediate necessary steps that might leverage the geomatics scenario in India?
The most important and immediate action is required in finalizing and publishing the Map Policy of the nation. It should specify what can be mapped, who all can map, and what clearances needs to be obtained. It should make agencies of the Government accountable and processes transparent. The restrictions on providing guide maps and directions finder over the Internet must be dispensed with. Building up of a national meta data will lead to lower spatial data costs as duplication will be avoided. Lastly there must be a special interest group in bodies like NASSCOM for geomatics.