May you elaborate on some of the recent initiatives of Bharathidasan University in recent past in the domain of spatial sciences?
The Centre for remote sensing, established with an aim of conducting advanced academic, research and extension programmes, by the Bharathidasan University, nearly a decade ago has emerged as one of the centres of excellence and has brought out scintillating packages of newer information in the field of spatial sciences in the areas of:

• Mineral and hydrocarbon habitat mapping
• Visualialisation of time transgressive and modern geological processes
• Water resources modeling
• Natural disater zonation mapping,
• Planner oriented information and decision support systems etc

How much do you think is the role of academicians in policy formulation and advocacy of issues?
The academicians can work on multiple fronts:

• They can introduce time demanding academic programmes of regional and national relevance
• They can conduct R&D programmes to provide solutions on policy matters
• They can even conduct workshops and brain storming sessions for the policy formulators
• Owing to their own academic freedom they can widely advocate all policy issues

What you think are the issues that might be affecting the geospatial science descipline in Indian education?
Infact many perplexing issues have started cropping up in Geospatial education in India.

Many educational institutions have started closing down their academic programmes in their basic discipline, changed their courses into information sciences and have started teaching the mixture of things which is going to terribly affect both their basic sciences as well as the geospatial sciences. The geospatial component must be made as an integral part in the warranting disciplines. Otherwise the geospatial experts who are going to be produced in the future years may know only the concepts in spatial technology and not in their disciplines or in the field of their specialisations:

• This is going to create a similar scenario like information technology with the possible collapse because the students may be good in computer technology but not in their field of specialisation
• In most of the institutions the geospatial component is more in their curricula rather than domain knowledge. Hence, the institutions may be generating only the technicians and not the experts. This may also create a dangerous jam in the job market

People own a wrong notion that anybody can do anything in any field of science by knowing spatial technology. This is expected to create a danger that people may not be able to exploit the virtues of spatial technology to its deserving limits. So it is high time that the geospatial science which started mushrooming in the academia are more domain specific, curricula are designed accordingly and the same is taught at different levels:

• with preliminary exposure at under graduate level
• more deeper at Post graduate level and
• Advanced levels at post PG level

What are your comments on the aspect of industry-institution-government interface in terms of careers of Gis experts created through education in India?
The industry can be broadly grouped into two types, the one the software selling industry in which the career prospects for the GIS experts is very average.

But in the other user oriented industries which are carrying out operational projects for creating GIS databases both for the national and the international agencies the career prospects appear to be better.

The governmental agencies/departments have embarked into creation of GIS databases on their already generared data and in addition some agencies have started taking up some modeling studies also. While the GIS experts generated by the academic institutions are appreciably employed in the above said two types of industries, in the governmental systems the entry of GIS experts appears to have just started.

Where in your understanding,lie the future of geospatial sciences and geospatial market in India?

• The geospatial science can emerge as an excellent science provided it is made as an integral part in every related basic sciences then only its credibility can be established
• It is this credibility only that is going to decide the future market potential