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:
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:
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:
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. | ||
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