Utility Sector and Geospatial Technology Industry Infrastructure: an Indian
Perspective
Indian Opportunities in geospatial technology:
- Huge demand from US and European market
- Growing application of GIS in commercial transactions
- Directed marketing,
- Infrastructure design and provision, etc
Threats to Indian geospatial technology:
- Unplanned growth of small scale, start up companies
- Undercutting and over enthusiasm
- Competition from other developing countries
The Indian geospatial technology industry has a large base with a mixture of high
technology, large volume service providers, as well as small start-up companies. In this
milieu, any geospatial technology-based activity needs to be planned and implemented in
well-organized phases in an optimal manner. Most GIS projects traditionally include the
following phases:
- Conceptual design: assessment and evaluation of the existing situation and expected
situations. This involves the identification of user requirements
- Identification of data and data sources, and the procurement of data
- Evolving a strategic and tactical plan
- Identifying technical expertise
- Selection of GIS hardware and software
- Selection of Vendor
- System implementation and maintenance
The most significant of these phases is the identification of data and data sources, and
maintenance of data quality. The positional accuracy, attribute accuracy, completeness
and time of the data and logical relationships or consistency, play a fundamental role in
determining the quality and accuracy of data. Many times this may require a compromise
between needs and cost.
Often, geospatial data is in the hands of government agencies, and this has become a
serious problem in India. The proposed WGS 84-based series of topographical maps
could form reasonable database. The first set of these maps was released in November
2002. In India, the Government continues to play a major role in inventory and mapping
of major national resources and establishing a map information base in the country. Thus,
Government has a major stake in managing the spatial information, as government
agencies are not only the main external providers of spatial information for most
operational applications of GIS, but also because they exert a profound influence on
national development.
Indian National Spacial Data Infrastructure
India actually has a reasonable spatial data infrastructure. It is, however, not in digital
form. Traditionally, the central spatial information infrastructure has been managed as a
set of discrete mapping responsibilities within several central agencies. Relationships
with states have been largely limited to ad hoc or cooperative projects with the states
generally taking on the role of suppliers of data to the federal agencies. There are some
major GIS database programs that are a good step towards the establishment of an Indian
National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). Some of these efforts include: National
Natural Resources Information System, the digital cartographic database, and the natural
resources data management system.
The objective is to develop an information- and knowledge-based society, with special
emphasis on Information Technology and “transparent” e-governance. The next decade is
expected to see further large-scale investment in communications technology as India
moves to exploit the full potential of the information age. Recent initiatives by the
Government, including the IT Act, as well as plans for private and public investment,
make it clear that within a few years an unprecedented capability will exist for sharing
data along identified cyber superhighways.
Using an effective, efficient and widely accessible infrastructure, spatial data could be
readily transported and easily integrated both thematically (e.g., across environmental,
economic, and institutional databases) and hierarchically (e.g., from local to national and
eventually to global levels). Transparent access to databases could provide the
information needed for countless applications, e.g., urban planning, regional planning,
infrastructure management, real estate transactions, taxation, land-use planning,
transportation, emergency services, environmental assessment and monitoring, and
research. The major work on many of these applications is taking place in institutions,
academic bodies and industry located across the nation. In addition, these activities will
lead to new value-added services and market opportunities in emerging spatial
information industries.
The National Natural Resources Information System (NRIS), for which the Department
of Space (DOS) is the nodal agency, was established as a critical element of the
operationalisation of the National Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS).
NNRMS aims to contribute to the optimal management of the nation’s natural resources
and support environmentally sustainable development. Through NRIS, NNRMS makes
available a national inventory of natural resources information in spatial formats and with
proper links to other socio-economic data within a framework of a smart information
system that allows customized retrieval and analysis of data for specific needs. The NRIS
is designed to be a network of GIS-based nodes covering data/information for districts,
aggregated by states to the whole country. NRIS is now available for about 30 districts in
more than 15 states at 1:50,000 scale and for 4 states at 1:250,000 scale.
India has completed the creation of the Digital Cartographic Data Base (DCDB) with the
maps at 1:25,000 scale as input. This data is also available in National Standard
Exchange Format for Digital Vector Data (DVD). Institutions are presently engaged in
the task of completing digitalization of maps at 1:50,000 scale.
The Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) is a multidisciplinary and
multi-institutional program launched by the Department Science and Technology,
Government of India, for developing a scientifically proven database approach for microlevel
planning. The major objectives of the program include the development of
integrated, district level resource databases on natural resources and allied sectors,
research and software support for spatial data management tools for local level planning,
and the development of Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS) for various sectors of
integrated rural development. Thirty-three district GIS Centres have been set up in
different states in collaboration with concerned state governments. The state of Karnataka
is covered in its entirety to demonstrate the efficacy of the methodology on a statewide
scale with the establishment of one state center and thirteen district centers in the first
phase. The databases contain natural resource, demographic, socio-economic, agroeconomic,
and infrastructure data, with the village as the unit. A GIS package, Geo
Referenced Area Management (GRAM++) on Windows 95/NT platforms, has been
developed under this program to organize district level databases and subsequent
information generation through spatial analysis and modeling.
Land is a dynamic feature that can be continuously updated using remote sensing images
in a GIS environment. Satellite images play a major role in GIS, providing up-to-date and
reliable information. As a result of the potential of GIS, the Government now recognizes
the needs of GIS users and managers at all levels. GIS allows for spatial data and nonspatial
features to be related or linked. Also, the geospatial industry has achieved some
unique competencies, including international standards, and is thus poised to play an
important role in national development.
Conclusions
This paper has addressed a number of the issues related to meaningful GIS development,
with specific reference to the current situation in India. Some of these are common to any
developing country.
The synergy among society, business and government is addressed, which is expected to
provide a bright future for the geospatial industry and the use of geospatial data.
An analysis of the phases of GIS development reveals the strengths, weaknesses and
opportunities inherent in the Indian GIS industry.
The development of an Indian National Spatial Data Infrastructure has been recognized
as essential and its implementation status is been discussed.
A road map for the implementation of GIS in developing regions like India on an
operational basis is presented.
