Utility Sector and Geospatial Technology Industry Infrastructure: an Indian
Perspective
I.V. Murali Krishna
Centre for Spatial Information Technology
JNT University, Masab Tank,Hyderabad 500028, India
E-Mail: iyyanki@icorg.org
Brig. J S Ahuja
(Retd) Chief Consultant Org-GIS 304 Archana Arcade
St Johns Road Secunderabad 500025, India
orggis@hd2.dot.net.in
M. K. Munshi, Rolta India
Commerce Centre No. 1, World Trade Centre, 17th Floor
uffe Parade,Mumbai - 400 005 India
munshi@rolta.com
Chandrasekhar Nori
Speck Systems Siddarth Plaza SD R 4th Secunderabad AP, India
chandra_nori@specksystems.com
P. Jotimani
Pentasoft Technologies Tidel Park 9th, Canal Bank Rd.
Floor No 4 Chennai Tamil Nadu, India
jothimani@pentasoftech.com
Ravi Gupta
Centre for Spatial Database Management and Solutions
G - 4, Sector, 39, Noida - 201 301 (UP), India
Ravi.gupta@GISdevelopment.net
Abstract
The GIT market in India has increased from about 290 million Indian Rupees (USD
$5.85 million) in 1997 to 790 million Rupees in 2000. The market continues to grow, but
more slowly. Although many opportunities for providing GIT services exist in India, the
industry is not at the desired level primarily because the development of geospatial
information systems is not being viewed as a continuous process that requires constant
updating. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the Indian GIT market
are reviewed.
Introduction
Geospatial technology is just one of the information systems capable of integrating data
from mixed sources to provide the information necessary for successful decision-making
in facilities management. The noticeable global trend is that geospatial technology is
moving from being a vertical market segment to representing a horizontal one. As an
affirmation of this, it can be noted that some of the major general relational database
vendors are now incorporating spatial models into their base technology, enabling any
business to use the geographic tools in its application.
This has specific relevance to Indian geospatial technology developers as well as to
service providers. Commercial vendors, representing the world’s largest software
companies, are adopting GIS Technology in the desktop mapping market. Having made a
humble beginning in 1980s, the geospatial technology industry in India is at a threshold.
The number of GIS companies in India mushroomed over the past decade. The task of
estimating real business potential both globally and for a country the size of India has
been difficult. Although great opportunities for providing GIS services exist, the industry
is not at the desired level for a variety of reasons.
The Indian GIS Scenario and Market Potential
Technologies that are seen as being critical to the GIS industry’s ability to address a
broad range of market segments include:
- Navigation and Positioning
- High Resolution Sensing
- Image Analysis
- Geospatial Data and Infrastructure
- Database creation
- Data Visualization
- Database Management
- Communications and Distribution
- User Applications and Customized GIS Solutions
- Miniaturization
- Embedded Technologies
The market growth potential for the geospatial technology industry in India is a bit
complicated because of several interrelated issues. A conservative analysis suggests that
the markets which represent the future growth for the geospatial information technology
industry is those areas where Government plays a considerable role:
- Land Inventory
- Natural Resources
- Environment
- Infrastructure (Engineering, Construction, Transportation and Utilities)
- Health
- Emergency Preparedness and Internal Security
- Defense
The general presumption by both the user and the service provider is that the ideal GIS
and its implementation must be well justified, transparent and contemporary. It is
accepted that GIS is an assemblage of hardware and software that becomes useful only
with the involvement of people, reasonable structuring and very high quality data. The
data becomes crucial and central in this design and database implementation requires
almost 95 percent of the time and effort in a developing country like India. GIS has never
been a better buy than today.
GIS is being viewed as a continuous process that requires constant updating. Thus, in any
professionally planned program or a project, the comparatively short life of hardware and
software needs to be reflected in the budget by the allocation of funds for long term
maintenance and upgrades. Without planning for continuing investment over the long
term for system and data updating, any GIS will soon become obsolete. Nothing is more
useless than having a system that provides out-of-date information. This becomes a
central frustrating issue in all activities related to GIS, from conception to
implementation, management and maintenance.
Evolving Views on GIS Development
The primary components that identify the evolution of geospatial technology and provide
a proper perspective for the situations specific to India or any other developing region
are:
- Data types, mapping scales and data sources
- Data acquisition and data quality
- Spatial and non-spatial data analysis and integration
- Data format standardization and interoperability -- Open GIS concept
- GIS and socioeconomic issues
- GIS and sustainable development
- Digital cartographic cognition, visualization and analysis
Geospatial technology is considered affordable in India, where circumstances dictate that
a great deal of emphasis be placed resolving social issues. In India, there is a need to
develop a centralized database that could deliver information to multiple users across
different geographical locations at a low cost without data redundancy.
These types of developments suggest that the geospatial technology research community
is responding in a positive manner to societal needs, the government and to industry
needs. But there is a long way to go to make these efforts reasonably effective.
Geospatial technology is seen as a tool that provides most of the capabilities needed to
generate and update databases, especially for e-government services. There is also a
strong move toward the establishment of a National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI).
The Indian government has recognized information technology as an effective tool in
catalyzing economic activity, for e-Governance and in developing human resources. The
convergence of IT efforts at various administrative levels, also known as backbone
computerization, has made it possible to bring the relevant information and services into
the public domain, thereby providing ways to improve the quality of life of the average
citizen. Several application software packages of direct public relevance are currently
under development. GIS is emerging as an obligatory tool for governance, commerce,
environment, infrastructure management and social science. The demand for innovative
geographic information products, services, and know-how is increasing every day.
Accurate and up-to-date earth resources and utility information, which play an important
role in GIS-based e-governance, can be derived from satellite images, for example, IRS
PAN images at 5.8m ground resolution and IKONOS images at 1m-ground resolution.
Many state and central government organizations are using satellite imagery as a primary
source of data input for GIS. The list of applications ranges from natural resources
mapping to infrastructure management.
GIS applications are diverse and include identifying problem power or telecom cables in
a network, determining the suitability of land for different uses, planning future land uses
for different objectives, managing cadastral information for the purpose of property
ownership, taxation and regulation, and the tactical analysis of new commercial
enterprises. The World Wide Web is a major enabling technology for much of this new
openness and has made it possible to unlock information that has long been held
secretively.
Phases in the adoption of geospatial technology
Geospatial technology implementation requires strategic and tactical decisions. These
decisions have specific relevance when one considers socio-economic issues and the
Indian GIT scenario. Against this background, a SWOT analysis is attempted with
reference to Indian expertise in the area of geospatial technology.
Indian Strengths in geospatial technology:
- Low cost of production
- Highly qualified skilled workforce
- Strong R & D capabilities
- Industrial infrastructure
Indian Weaknesses in geospatial technology:
- Inadequate / investment in tools / training
- Sectorial focus of existing organizations
- Too much Government control
- Government involvement at all stages of the spatial information chain
- Limited consumer knowledge of the applications and benefits of spatial information
