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th ISSN 2277 - 3134

FEBRUARY 2012 VOL 02 ISSUE 07

www.geospatialworld.netYOUR GEOSPATIAL INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

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Geospatial World I February 2012

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Inside...

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07 Editorial 12 News 50 Events

INTERVIEWS

ARTICLE

Mobile Resource Management

Transforming India’s transport sector

Vaibhav Arora

CONFERENCE REPORT

DGI 2012

Defining the future of geoint

28

24

42

38

46

5

Advisory Board

Abbas Rajabifard President,GSDI Association

Jack DangermondPresident, Esri

Shailesh Nayak SecretaryMinistry of Earth SciencesGovernment of India

Mark ReichardtPresident and CEOOpen Geospatial Consortium, Inc.

Aida Opoku Mensah Director - ICT DivisionUN Economic Commission for Africa

Josef StroblDirector, Centre for Geoinformatics,University of Salzburg, Austria

Vanessa Lawrence CBDirector General and CEO,Ordnance Survey, UK

Matthew M O'ConnellPresident and CEO GeoEye

Bryn FosburghVice PresidentTrimble

Juergen DoldPresident, Hexagon Geosystems

Preetha PulusaniChairman and CEO DeepTarget Inc.

Derek Clarke Chief Director-Survey and Mapping & National Geospatial InformationDepartment of Rural Development & Land Reform, South Africa

Kamal K SinghChairman and CEORolta Group

In retrospect and prospect

The Indian geospatial

trajectory

Prof Arup Dasgupta

K.K. Singh

Chairman & Managing DirectorRolta India Limited ‘An open policy will grow thegeospatial market exponentially’

Steven W. Berglund

President & Chief Executive OfficerTrimble Navigation Limited ‘We wish to create unique solutionsfor India’'

CHAIRMAN M P Narayanan

PUBLISHER Sanjay Kumar

PUBLICATIONS TEAMManaging Editor Prof. Arup DasguptaEditor - Europe Prof. Ian DowmanEditor - Latin America (Honorary) Tania Maria SausenSr. Associate Editor (Honorary) Dr. Hrishikesh SamantExecutive Editor Bhanu RekhaProduct Manager Shivani LalAssistant Editors Deepali Roy, Aditi Bhan, Vaibhav AroraSub-Editor Anand Kashyap

DESIGN TEAMSr. Creative Designer Deepak Kumar Graphic Designer Manoj Kumar Singh

CIRCULATION TEAMCirculation Manager Vijay Kumar Singh

GIS

www.UltraCamEagle.com

APAC Sales:

Singapore:

Beijing:

Xiang Yu,

Peace Map Co., Ltd.

Visit iFlyUltraCam.com

to see the PMC video.

Or scan tag and watch on

your mobile phone.

Download the free tag reader app at http://gettag.mobi.

uring the Davos Conclave a Panel on India concluded that India is on the growth path. Thepercentage of growth varied from a pessimistic 7.5 to an optimistic 10 percent. No one onthe panel doubted India's growth story but there were certain ifs. These mainly related to India's infrastructure, power and bureaucracy. What lessons do we get from these

conclusions for the geospatial arena?

I believe that India's growth story needs, nay, demands geospatial solutions. Take infrastructure; areport by McKinsey on India's urban growth postulates that by 2030 urban India will need aninvestment of Rs 60 trillion to provide 700 to 900 million sq m of commercial and residential space,2.5 billion sq m of paved roads and 7400 million km of metro rail and subways. These are mindboggling numbers and no country in the world will face suchchallenges because India has one of the highest population den-sity in the world and land is the most valuable, coveted and in-demand asset; an asset that has multiple claimants. To addressthis issue there is no alternative to geospatial management. I usethe term geospatial management to indicate that all planning,implementation, monitoring and operations will have to be basedon geospatial technology. The JNNRUM has come not a minutetoo soon and its efficient implementation is a dire necessity. Sim-ilarly the other two big projects, R-APDRP and NLRMP also haveincluded a very strong core of geospatial technologies tightly inte-grated with IT, ERP and CRM. These projects are harbingers ofthe opportunities that are latent in India.

India is fortunate that the government and the political class arecommitted to modern science and technology. India's remotesensing programme is one of the most comprehensive in theworld and Indian users will never be left without an Indian 'eye inthe sky'. Similarly, India's communications infrastructure is wellsupported by satellite communications and a huge fibre optic net-work which is being expanded to every panchayat (large village orconglomeration of villages). The way geospatial technology has been adopted for the projectsmentioned above is also very encouraging. One wishes things could have moved faster but then inIndia things move at their own pace! A reason for this is the baggage of legacy. Relatively neworganisations tend to adopt to new technologies faster than those which have been around longer.

The cause for concern is the lack of trained professionals and industry's over dependence on offshore work. The education system, right from school, needs to introduce geospatial technologysubjects including physical geography. Industry needs to look at opportunities in India not just in data conversion but in advanced areas like modelling. At Davos one of the points that went against India was its over dependence on services. Indian manufacturing needs to pick up. Todraw a lesson from this observation applicable to the geospatial world, India must concentrate oninnovating not just applications but in the core technologies itself.

EditorSpeak

7Geospatial World I February 2012

Prof. Arup Dasgupta

Managing [email protected]

D

Geospatial management for growth

12 Geospatial World I February 2012

SOUTH AFRICA

Wind atlas promotes

renewable energy

Dipuo Peters, Energy Minister; alongwith Danish Minister for Climate,Energy and Building, Martin Lide-gaard, launched the wind energyawareness campaign, 'Powered byWind'. The first of its kind campaignin the country will be rolled out inphases and will focus on targetedgroups comprising various segmentsof South African society including civ-il servants, business, local communi-ties in the Western, Northern andEastern Cape, primary school chil-dren (grades 4 to 6) in the threeprovinces and non-governmentalorganisations.

UGANDA

GIS for improved

health services

Makerere University College ofHealth Sciences, on behalf of theEast African Community, received agrant of USD 500,000 for three yearsfrom Grand Challenges Canada andMelinda Gates Foundation. The grantaims to provide information for thedevelopment of diagnostic devicesand a GIS tool. Dr Achilles Katamba,the project lead researcher, said thatthe project aims at ensuring that sci-entists and engineers develop med-ical devices according to the needs ofEast Africa. They will also create a

GIS tool to help public health leadersin the region decide where new med-ical devices can be placed to have thedeepest impact.

SIERRA LEONE

T-SL portal to trace

govt projects

President Ernest Koroma launchedthe Transparency-International (T-SL)portal. It is designed to capture allgovernment projects (tagged usingGPS) in prose and still/video photo-graphs including an interactive inter-net forum through which the citizenrycan put up questions for the Presidentand his cabinet, who can then respondthrough a blog. In addition, the coun-try will become the first in West Africato use Google Earth and let its citizensknow the exact progress of variousgovernment projects.

KENYA

New system for

wildlife monitoring

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)launched ranger-based managementinformation system programme for routine collection of wildlife con-servation status data. As part of the programme, rangers will be requiredto use GPS and standardised fielddata during regular patrols.

They will also be required to mark positions using GPS and record their observations on datasheets which will later be down-loaded into the system. KWS assistant director in charge of ecological monitoring SamuelAndanje said, "The system isembedded in the GIS software whichmakes it quick and easy to see thedistribution and trends of the sub-jects that are being monitored".

NIGERIA

G-power to make tax system effective

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) of Nigeria collaborated with theAbuja Geographic Information System (AGIS) to establish a new mecha-nism to track taxable properties. Alhaji Attah Abdullahi, Director of FIRS,informed that the country is now set to evolve a new tax system, which willcompel every citizen in the working group to pay tax,even as the system has been designed toexpose public officers who steal publicfunds. He disclosed that the FIRSwould be at liberty to implementthe system, having achievedfinancial autonomy, adding thatthe tax agency in Nigeria wouldbe going into partnership withthe EFCC, the ICPC and otheranti-corruption agencies.

NEWS

INDIA

Govt approves three

NLR centres

The Government of India approvedcreation of three National LandRecords Modernisation Programme(NLRMP) centres at Salboni (WestBengal), Puducherry and Berhampur(Orissa ). The government also sanc-

tioned INR 196 lakh for each of thecentres during financial year 2011-12. The NLRMP centres shall be

made operational within one yearfrom the date of sanction. The activi-ties to be supported under the pro-gramme include survey/resurveyusing modern technology such asaerial photogrammetry, updating ofland records, completion of comput-erisation of the records of rights,computerisation of registration, auto-matic generation of mutation notices,digitisation of maps and training andcapacity building of the concernedofficials and functionaries.

NIC wants revised

map policy

The National Informatics Centre(NIC) is planning to suggest meas-ures for suitable modifications to theMinistry of Defence guidelines ondigital map data handling. The movefollows an appeal to the NIC fromofficials of the civic bodies of Chen-nai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore,Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, at ameeting in New Delhi.

The officials pointed to the existingrestrictions pertaining to variousaspects of geo-reference maps,

starting with collecting and dissemi-nating information about certainareas and facilities. The existingNational Map Policy 2005 prohibitsthe export of all maps/digital data in1: 250K and larger scales throughany means.

GIS aiding marketing

strategies

Vodafone India is considering usingGIS maps under 'Project Pappu',which aims to strengthen the compa-ny's presence in rural India. Thecompany decided to go off the beatentrack by tweaking its network cover-age and choosing not to follow theconventional route of expansion alongthe highways and instead covered avillager's community of interests."Vodafone decided to cover locationafter location by first identifying dif-ferent communities of interest. UsingGIS mapping, the planning becameeasier. A village in East UP may have1250 people but there's an 800,000population within 22 kms. That couldbe 1,500 villages. And that's a realcommunity of interest," said SunilSood from Vodafone India.

PHILIPPINES

Geo-hazard maps

available online

Environmental Science for SocialChange announced availability of thegovernment's geo-hazard maps onits website, www.essc.org.ph. Thesemaps have been prepared by theMines and Geosciences Bureau(MGB). Leo Jasareno, Director ofMGB, said, "Through these maps, wejust want to raise the awareness on

Top scientists barred from govt positions

Four of the biggest names in the space communityhave been barred from occupying any governmentposition for their role in the controversial Antrix-Devas deal. In the said deal, Devas was accused tohave been wrongfully allotted S-band frequenciesfor radio waves.

The names include former chairman of the Indi-an Space Research Organisation (ISRO) G Madha-van Nair; A Bhaskarnarayana, former scientificsecretary in ISRO; K R Sridharmurthi, formermanaging director of Antrix which is the marketing arm of ISRO; and KN Shankara, former director in ISRO's satellite centre, according to anorder issued by the Department of Space.


disasters such as floods and land-slides. We want to reach out to thelocal government units and the peo-ple.'' The geo-hazard maps, whichtake up 60 gigabytes and cover 700sheets, have a "high resolution''unlike the maps currently posted onMGB's website. The maps are on ascale of 1:50,000.

CHINA

Farmer friendly land

law on the anvil

With an aim to protect farmers' inter-ests in land expropriations, the coun-try recently amended its land man-agement law. A new report by theEnvironmental Protection andResources Conservation Committeenotified that it is urgent to reform andstandardise land expropriation prac-tices as the current version of the lawhas been proven outdated. Earlier,Premier Wen Jiabao had stated,"Farmers enjoy the legal rights of

land contracts, land use and collec-tive income distribution as basic pro-tections." According to him, the keyto reforms in expropriating collective-ly-owned land lies in safeguardingfarmers' gains from land value incre-ment revenue and China can nolonger sacrifice its farmers' rights toreduce the costs of industrialisation.

Indigenous system to

count carbon emissions

The country will develop its own sys-tem for monitoring and accuratelycalculating greenhouse gas emis-sions, according to Ding Zhongli, VicePresident of the Chinese Academy ofSciences. In addition, the countryalso plans to set up a system to mon-itor atmospheric CO2 concentrationthrough remote sensing, aerial andground monitoring, and atmosphericmodelling. It is pertinent to mentionhere that the country's manmadeforest reserve has reached 62 millionhectares, accounting for one third ofthe national forest coverage. The for-

est coverage rate rose from 18.21percent in 2005 to 20.36 percent in2010, and is expected to reach 21.66percent by 2015.

UAE

HAAD embraces

'syndromic surveillance'

Doctors may soon be able to betterpredict the outbreak of infectious diseases using Google and Twitter-powered surveillance system. TheMinistry of Health and the HealthAuthority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) are considering introducing 'syndromicsurveillance' to foretell the outbreakof infectious diseases. Dr Farida Al

Hosani, manager of communicablediseases department at HAADexplained, "People search for fevers.Google maps it and they see howmany people in the UAE searched forthis term. Another type of syndromicsurveillance is looking into Twitter


RS satellite for civilian use

China launched Ziyuan III, the first high-resolu-tion remote-sensing satellite for civilian use. Thesatellite aims to aid the country's land-resources surveys, natural-disaster preven-tion, agriculture development, water-resources management and urban plan-ning. The satellite, weighing 2650 kg andhaving a designed life expectancy offive years, was developed and pro-duced by the China Academy ofSpace Technology, a subsidiary ofChina Aerospace Science andTechnology Corporation. The firstset of imagery from the satellite isavailable at tianditu.cn.

trending. When people have somekind of symptom, they might mentionthis on Twitter." In 2008, Google'stracker was used to track the spreadof swine flu.

PAKISTAN

Mapping measures to

be tightened

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) sug-gested the government to frame alaw that could stop unlawful activitiesof mapping firms, given that severalother countries have enacted sup-portive laws. Hence, with the objec-tive of regulating mapping standardsin the country, to obviate potentialsecurity risk to sensitive informationand to transform Survey of Pakistan

(SoP) into a national mapping agency,a draft land surveying and mappingbill has been prepared by the SoP.The MoD clarified that in the absenceof any law, it would be difficult tokeep a check on the unlawful activi-ties of unauthorised mapping firms.

TAIWAN

Series of RS satellites

to be launched

The country plans to launch a series of remote sensing satellitesincluding FORMOSAT-5 in 2014 and12 other meteorological satellitesunder the FORMOSAT-7 programmein 2015 and 2017, according to Tai-wan's National Space Organization(NSPO). The 12 satellites under the

FORMOSAT-7 programme, a jointventure between Taiwan and the US,will be launched in two separate

groups due to limited staff and testing facilities. NSPO Deputy Director-General Yu Hsien-chenginformed that six of the satellitesunder the FORMOSAT-7 programme,designed for gathering weather infor-mation in low-latitude regions, willbe launched in 2015, while six othersatellites will be launched in 2017.


GERMANY

3D model of earth

underway

After a year in service, the Germanearth observation radar satellitesTanDEM-X and TerraSAR-X mappedthe entire land surface of earth forthe first time. The data is being usedto create the world's first single-source, high-precision, 3D digital ele-vation model of earth. The GermanAerospace Center (DLR) controlsboth satellites and generates the ele-vation model. DLR claimed that bymid-2013, TanDEM-X and TerraSAR-Xwill have imaged the complete landsurface area of earth several times.The satellites imaged earth from dif-ferent angles and transmitted high-resolution radar data down to thethree ground stations - Kiruna (Swe-

den), Inuvik (Canada) and O'Higgins(Antarctica).

FRANCE

Ice data at fingertips

ESA released CryoSat application foriPhone and iPad. It enables users todiscover ESA's ice mission, track it inreal time and obtain the latest meas-urements. The app's main menu pro-vides access to four sections: missiondescription, a 3D model of the satel-lite, position tracking and data visual-

isation. It not only gives access to allof CryoSat's measurements, but canalso help you visualise the ice sheetsby providing a vertical profile over thearea. Information on CryoSat's cur-rent position is automatically updat-ed, including its visibility over select-ed ground stations. The CryoSatmeasures the thickness of polar seaice and also monitors changes in theice sheets that blanket Greenlandand Antarctica.

EGNOS extends its

reach

Air traffic control guidance of theEuropean Geostationary NavigationOverlay Service (EGNOS) safety-of-life signal for aviation is set to extendfrom France and Switzerland to the

UK and Germany. It provides horizon-tal and vertical guidance informationfor aircrafts performing safety-criti-cal landing approaches to airports ina similar way to existing InstrumentLanding System (ILS) devices - butwith no ground-based navigationinfrastructure needed at the airports,representing a cost-effective alterna-tive for smaller airports. Designed byEuropean Space Agency (ESA), incooperation with the European Com-mission and Eurocontrol, it is theEuropean equivalent of the 'Wide

Lasers measure earth's wobble

The earth spins around once every 24hours on its axis, but this rotation isn'tas straightforward as it sounds. Forceslarge and small cause the planet towobble as it spins. Known as the Chan-dler Wobble, the effect can pose aproblem for navigation systems likeGPS. Hence, scientists are workingwith lasers and mirrors to device a sys-tem to track the kinks. The idea is tobuild a ring laser similar to ones usedin aircraft guidance systems. The installation includes two counter-rotat-ing laser beams that travel around a square path with mirrors in the cor-ners, which form a closed beam path. The scientists plan to make the ringlaser capable of running continuously for a period of years.

First-TanDEM-X-mosaic-of-Iceland

EGNOS-ground-network


Area Augmentation System' (WAAS)service in North America.

ESA outlines space

plans for 2012

The ESA recently revealed its plansfor 2012. It includes the launch ofGalileo satellite navigation system'sin-orbit validation satellites inAugust/September. On July 16, theagency scheduled the launch of mul-ti-satellite Swarm mission, which willprovide the best survey of earth'smagnetic field and its temporal evolu-tion. During June 15 - July 15, a jointESA-Eumetsat launch event will beheld at Eumetsat's premises in Ger-many. In addition, in May, the agencyscheduled the launch of MetOp-Bmeteorology mission.

The MetOp satellites are a series ofpolar-orbiting meteorological satel-lites operated by Eumetsat. Theycomplement the US polar-orbitingweather satellite network operated byNOAA.

RUSSIA

Vladislav Surkov to

lead GLONASS

Russian Prime Minister VladimirPutin announced that Deputy PrimeMinister Vladislav Surkov will beresponsible for the modernisation ofeducation, science and healthcare, as

well as for the development of theGLONASS. Recently, Surkov madeheadlines, after President DmitryMedvedev appointed him DeputyPrime Minister. The reshuffle had leftpolitical analysts puzzled with somebelieving that the new position is

abasement for the "chief Kremlinideologist". Others said that this is apromotion for Surkov, who will nowhave to tackle some more "down-to-earth" spheres.

GLONASS seeks

private investment

Russian government refused to fundGLONASS programme because theGLONASS team failed to submit adetailed report of the expenses theywere planning. The funding pro-gramme was to be implemented byDecember 31, 2011, with the govern-ment approving a USD 10 billion draftback in autumn.

Now they will have to seek privatesources to fund the project. Current-ly, the GLONASS system has 31satellites in orbit (24 of them are inuse) and three on reserve, withanother two being tested. In addition,Russia has been investing in itsSDCM Glonass-augmentation capa-bility, whose design is similar to theWAAS, EGNOS and Japan's Multi-functional Satellite AugmentationSystem (MSAS).

UK

'Catapult' centre to

boost space activities

In a bid to promote space activitiesamongst "UK plc", UK Science Minis-ter David Willetts announced that thenext 'Catapult' technology and inno-vation centre will be dedicated todeveloping new space applications.He added that the centre is intendedto provide businesses with "access toorbit test facilities, to develop anddemonstrate new technologies". The

ESA to cancel Sentinel launch

Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director-General of ESA, threatened to cancelthe planned 2013 launching of a series of earth observationsatellites (Sentinel satellites) co-financed withthe European Commission(EC) unless the com-mission commitsto financingtheir opera-tion beyond2014. Giventhat theEC's preparations for its 2014 to 2020 budget are likely to stretch into2013, the commission is unlikely to commit to GMES financing in 2012.The Sentinel satellites are part of Europe's Global Monitoring for Envi-ronment and Security programme, on which ESA and the EC havetogether spent approximately EUR 2.3 billion (USD 3 billion).

UK government's Technology Strate-gy Board (TSB) is driving the 'Cata-pult' concept, which is a network ofworld-leading technology and innova-tion centres.

It aims to create a critical mass forbusiness and research innovation byfocusing on a specific technologywhere there is a potentially largeglobal market.

BELGIUM

Call for common border

surveillance system

The European Commission (EC) pro-posed European Border Surveillance(EUROSUR) to enhance internal coor-dination between member states inthe fight against illegal immigration

and also to combat other seriouscrimes such as drugs and humantrafficking. Under the proposed surveillance system, exchange ofoperational data and the use of modern surveillance technology,which facilitates real time satellite imagery between national bordersurveillance authorities, is compulsory. The system will costapproximately EUR 338 millionbetween 2011 and 2020. The systemis expected to begin operations fromOctober 2013.

Geospatial World I February 2012 19

SPAIN

Institute for better hazard management

Association of Geologists (ICOG), Spain, proposed to integrate NationalGeographic Institute (IGN) with the Geological Survey (IGME) and form theSpanish Institute of Geography and Geology (IGGE). The ICOG claimedthat it would improve the hazard management situations such as Lorcaearthquake or volcanic eruption on the island of El Hierro. According tothe proposal, theIGGE will be theonly entity forseismic riskmanagement,volcanic and oth-er natural haz-ards manage-ment. It will alsobe responsiblefor thematic car-tography in linewith the UnitedStates GeologicalSurvey (USGS).

Natural disasters cost EUR 95000 mn

In a medium risk scenario, during the period of 1986-2016, natural disas-ter will cost Spain approximately EUR 95,000 million, according to areport by the Geological Survey of Spain. During a conference, organisedby the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), it wasproposed that there is an urgent requirement of state land act for naturalhazard mapping in the new urban plan. Experts stressed that citizens areat risk if natural disasters are not assessed seriously. Thus, there is aneed of natural hazard maps for the entire territory. The maps will helpdetermine the level of risk and help take preventive measures.

Portal to connect LiDAR experts

DIELMO (Digital Elevation Models) 3D, a Spanish company, launched theLiDAR-Online network (www.Lidar-Online.com). This cloud-based net-work allows users to view LiDAR point clouds in 3D online with no spe-cialised software or knowledge, create profiles of the data allowing meas-urement, editing, classification and downloading as LAS, CAD and GISformats. The website aims to open LiDAR data to new markets, increas-ing the demand for new projects, acquisitions and solutions related toLiDAR.

Victoria to upgrade

alert system

Victoria state government signed adeal with Telstra to upgrade theEmergency Alert system to a nationallocation-based phone emergencywarning system. Federal emergencymanagement minister, Robert

McClelland said, "This new location-based solution will send warnings tomobile phones that are physically inan emergency zone when a disasterstrikes." In December last year,McClelland had urged Aussies tocomment on a proposed emergencymessaging system called CommonAlerting Protocol. In addition, he hadalso launched the DisasterWatch appfor both iPhone and Android smart-phones, which sends users the latestpublic information about disasterevents via direct feeds from officialsources.

G-tech to help

prevent bushfires

Esri Australia developed Fire Man-agement Maps for Cape GantheaumePark on Kangaroo Island. The mapsidentify fire danger zones and provide

an official guide for bushfire preven-tion measures for the area, whichwas decimated by a series of blazesonly four years ago. CapeGantheaume hosts South Australia'smost popular nature-based tourismattraction, Seal Bay, which brings inaround 105,000 visitors annually.DENR (Department of Environmentand Natural Resources) Spatial Information and Geographic Information System (GIS) advisor Iain Malcolm said, "Previously thepublic would have had to view ourplan physically using paper-basedmaps; Fire Management Maps movedthat process online and added extrafunctions."

ABC maps coal seam

gas wells

The Australian Broadcasting Corpo-ration (ABC) pulled together informa-

tion from dozens of sources to provide an insight into the promiseand the dangers inherent in the coal seam gas rush. It produced awebpage which shows Australia'scoal seam gas activities in the formof a map and graphs. It claimed thatit is the most comprehensive mapmade so far. But, mining industrygroup Australian Petroleum Produc-tion and Exploration Association(APPEA) has alleged that the websiteis riddled with factual errors such as listing of out of production andconventional gas wells as coal seamgas wells."


Fight against space debris

The country backed a proposal tominimise 'space debris' circlingthe earth. The plan was put forthby the EU, which called for aninternational code of conduct forouter space activities. The codeaims to prevent both accidentaland deliberate damage to satel-lites and other space objects,which creates long-lived debrisand poses risks for crucial space-based infrastructure. The govern-ment has given the proposal in-principle support and will actively engage in negotiations to finalise a deal.Current estimates suggest there are around 500,000 pieces of long-livedorbiting space debris large enough to seriously damage or destroy satel-lites or human space flights.

BUSINESS

Google, World Bank

team up

Google announced a partnership withthe World Bank to make Google MapMaker data more accessible to gov-ernment organisations in disasterscenarios. Google Map Maker is thetool for crowd-sourcing, editing andmaintening Google's world map.According to media reports, this part-nership could improve response timeand effectiveness in crises in under-served areas of the world.

Moreover, Google aims to competewith Ushahidi and other open-sourceplatforms. The World Bank has sup-ported much-needed online mapping efforts, such as the April2011 project in South Sudan thatenabled Google to put the new country on the map.

Raytheon bags USD

320 mn contract

Raytheon Company bagged a USD320 million contract related to itsactive electronically scanned array(AESA) radar programmes. Accordingto the company's press statement,AESA radars optimise situationalawareness and provide superior air-to-air and air-to-surface capability.The agile beam enables the radars to"interleave" in near-real time, so thatpilot and crew can use both modessimultaneously. So far, more than 300AESA radar systems have been deliv-ered by Raytheon to customers formultiple platforms worldwide, and

have been in service for more than250,000 operational flight hours.

OrbView-3 data

accessible at no cost

OrbView-3 satellite images collectedaround the world between 2003 and2007 by Orbital Imaging Corporation(now GeoEye) at up to one-meter res-olution can now be downloaded freeof cost through USGS EarthExplorer.The dataset includes 180,000 scenesof one meter resolution panchromat-ic, black and white and four meterresolution multi-spectral data, pro-viding high resolution data useful fora wide range of scientific applica-tions. The initial data format available is GeoEye's Basic Enhanced (L1B)product. However, processing to asystematically terrain corrected(L1Gst) product is also available on demand. Eventually, the entire data set will be processed to theL1Gst level.

POLICY

Govt trying to lower

Landsat costs

The US government agencies areworking together to look for ways toreduce the cost of future Landsatmissions as a result of congressionaldirection included in the 2012 budgetpassed in December. With the 2012budget, the Obama administrationsought to consolidate Landsat'smanagement and budgetary authoritywithin USGS by creating the NationalLand Imaging Program. The adminis-tration requested a total of USD 99.8million for the first year of the pro-gramme to establish the organisa-tion, pay for ongoing Landsat opera-tions, prepare ground systems toobtain data from the Landsat DataContinuity Mission scheduled forlaunch in early 2013 and plan forLandsat 9 and Landsat 10.


Autodesk, Pitney Bowes collaborate

Autodesk, Inc. entered into astrategic alliance agreement withPitney Bowes Software, Inc.Under the terms of the agree-ment, Pitney Bowes Software andAutodesk will join forces to betteraddress the need of a global cus-tomer base. In addition, bothcompanies will work together todeliver solutions which addresssome of the more immediate business issues within a number of identifiedverticals. Paul McRoberts, Vice President, infrastructure product linegroup, Autodesk, said, "Users of BIM, including the Autodesk Infrastruc-ture Design Suite, can gain benefits from the deep insights that MapInfocan provide. With our combined deep industry expertise and solutions forGIS, we will be well positioned to offer a more comprehensive solution tothe market."

APPLICATIONS

Web platform for

data sharing

Harvard's Center for GeographicAnalysis developed WorldMap, acloud-based open source softwareplatform. It makes easier publishingand sharing maps and other geospa-tial data. In addition, it aims to fill thegrowing niche between desktop mapping applications and more lightweight, nimble web solutions.

According to Harvard's press statement, beta version of WorldMap already boasts of 1,250users from more than 100 countriessince its launch in July 2011. Usershave contributed more than 1,700mapping layers and created over 500map collections to support theirresearch.

'GPS app most power

consuming'

Computer scientists at the Universityof Texas and the Australian NationalUniversity conducted the first sys-tematic power profiles of micro-processors.

They concluded, "In terms of ener-gy, the GPS is one of the most expen-sive functions on your phone. A badalgorithm might ping your GPS farmore than required. If the applicationwriter could analyse the power pro-file, they would be motivated to writean algorithm that pings it half asoften to save energy."

According to the scientists, thisstudy may point the way to how com-panies like Google, Apple, Intel andMicrosoft can make software andhardware that will lower energycosts.

INNOVATION

DARPA to revive 1300

retired satellites

Through its Phoenix Programme, theDefense Advanced Research ProjectsAgency (DARPA) will award USD 36million to contractors to revive morethan 1,300 retired satellites in geo-stationary orbit (GEO). The agencyaims to create a new communica-tions system for military personneland also send mini robots into spaceto recycle and reuse antennas of dormant satellites. The satellites costaround USD 300 billion and theirposition in the geostationary orbitmakes them prime targets for reusebecause the satellites have largeradio frequency apertures that cancover large areas of the earth's surface.

MPASS to detect

smoke from space

NASA engineers, working with acad-

emicians, developed the Multi-Para-meter Aerosol Scattering Sensor(MPASS), which measures and char-acterises particulates in real time. Tounderstand how best to detect smokein space, NASA flew the SmokeAerosol Measurement Experiment(SAME), aboard the space station.The experiment was originally con-ducted in 2007 and ran a second timein 2011 along with MPASS. "MPASSdevice was designed to not only gainsome concentration measurementsof the particles, but also to get somesize measurements. So you couldeventually tell the difference betweensmoke and dust," MPASS developerPaul Greenberg explained. The con-cept may find uses on earth whereknowing about particle size could becritical.

RS tech boosts yield

Soil scientists at the College of Agri-culture, University of Kentucky, con-ducted studies on the effectiveness ofremote-sensing (RS) nitrogen appli-cators and developed an algorithmfor use in the equipment that has


'Warrant compulsory for GPS tracking'

The US Supreme Court ruled that police need a search warrant beforetracking a suspect with a GPS device. The highest US court ruled 9-0 thatpolice had violated the rights of a suspected drug dealer when they placeda GPS on his vehicle without a warrant. The Fourth Amendment of the USConstitution provides guarantees against unreasonable search andseizure. "We hold that the government's installation of a GPS device on a

target's vehicle constitutes a 'search,'" Jus-tice Antonin Scalia wrote. "The government

physically occupied private property forthe purpose of obtaining informa-

tion. By attaching the deviceto the Jeep, officers

encroached on a protected area."

proven to increase yields in Kentucky.The said applicators used sensors tomeasure crop canopy conditions andapplied the appropriate amount ofnitrogen to a particular area. Thealgorithm increased yields by anaverage of 3.9 bushels per acre. Thetotal amount of nitrogen used hasremained about the same, but nowvaries over a field with some loca-tions receiving more or less than oth-ers. With these averages, producerscan expect to get a return of aboutUSD 20 per acre.

J-Track shows real-

time path of satellites

NASA released J-Track tool. Itrequires the latest version of Javaplug-in integrated with the browser.The tool shows real-time animation

of paths of 443 satellites in the orbit.Users can select individual satelliteseither from a drop-down list or bysimply clicking on any item on-screen.

However, NASA warned, "Thisapplication serves as an educationaltool and may not be completely accu-rate due to time discrepancies in theusers' browser, updates to satelliteorbital data, etc. We are currentlydeveloping an improved satellite

tracker using modern browser-basedtechnology and hope to have thisavailable in 2012."

MISCELLANEOUS

OGC gets new

Chairman

The Open Geospatial Consortium(OGC(R)) Board of Directors unani-mously elected Jeffrey K. Harris asChairman of the Board of OGC. Har-ris succeeded OGC Founder DavidSchell, who will continue to serve asChairman Emeritus. Jeff has been anOGC director since 2003 and a mem-ber of the Board's Executive Commit-tee. He has been a key participant inthe OGC's strategic and businessplanning processes and an influentialspokesman for OGC and for the ben-efits of open standards in both thepublic and private sector enterpriseworldwide.

Esri releases world’s

basemap

In cooperation with National Geo-graphic, Esri released the NationalGeographic World Basemap. The basemap reflects National Geographic's cartographic design, typographic style and map policies.Designed to be aesthetically pleasing, the Basemap is for userswho want to display minimal data on a vibrant, highly detailedbackground. The map is currently available at ArcGIS Online in thebasemap gallery. It combines a century-old cartographic traditionwith the power of GIS technology toproduce a distinctive internet-basedmap service for different users.


Satellites to detect underground nuke tests

Analysing interferomet-ric synthetic apertureradar (IfSAR) images,scientists pointed out forthe first time the 'uplift'of ground above a site ofunderground nucleartesting. The study hasbeen published in Geo-physical Research Let-ters. Lead author PaulVincent, a geophysicistat Oregon State Univer-sity (OSU), however,cautions that the find-ings won't lead to a dra-matic ability to detect secret nuclear explosions because of the time lagbetween the test and the uplift signature. However, he said, it does "pro-vide another forensic tool for evaluation, especially for the potential explo-sive yield estimates."


From being a technology companyto being a complete solutionsprovider - Trimble has undergone atreemendous transformation inrecent times. What has broughtabout this transformation?

There are two elements behind

this transformation. One is the pur-

suit of growth. By exploring solu-

tions, Trimble endeavours to expand

its horizons. This approach gives us

more intellectual space and therefore

leads to growth. The other is the shift

in the requirements of the market.

We believe that the market wants,

and is embracing, our evolution into a

solutions company. As technology

gets more sophisticated and at the

same time also becomes more use-

ful, users expect integrated function-

ality. So whether it is a government

agency or any private client, users

want solutions which enhance pro-

ductivity and efficiency. This has driv-

en Trimble's evolution.

Do you think it is also a representa-tion of the changing face of theindustry?

I do think this represents the

changes being witnessed in the

industry. Hopefully, we are leading

the way as opposed to following.

Users' requirements are changing as

the elements of solutions are becom-

ing more complex. New technologies

and more nuances, the integration of

wireless and more positioning and

software content requires a higher

level of standards. So I believe that

Trimble reflects the state of the

industry.

In just six years, Trimble haswitnessed tremendous growth inIndia. What makes India an excitingmarket for you?

India is becoming a legitimate

growth market in its own right,

fuelled by overall growth in the coun-

try. In the geospatial context, India is

definitely an exciting market drawing

us in. In turn, we hope to drive some

of the developments within India by

bringing in new concepts-taking the

best of our technology from across

the world and localising it for the

Indian market.

We hope to create a balance

between the two and create unique

solutions. The potential

solutions that can be derived for the

Indian market in the process can be

equally relevant for other parts of the

world, be it Brazil, South East Asia or

Africa. In that sense, India is provid-

ing a unique laboratory to try out new

things.

What are the verticals you arefocussing on in India?

In the last few years, Trimble has

placed greater emphasis on verticals

like electrical utilities, waste man-

agement and railways, to name just a

few. We have created an organisa-

tional structure to focus on these

industries with the idea of assem-

bling Trimble's point technology into

a suite of capabilities that we can

bring to these verticals. In addition,

we are focussing on cadastre, min-

ing, energy and power sector. We

have categorised the utility space into

electric and water management. In

energy, we have established an oil

and gas vertical.

We have recently forayed into

this vertical and are exploring

the possibilities in oil and gas sector.

We are focussing on distinct,

well-defined groups and verticals

and creating a unique set of

capabilities for those verticals.

It is part of Trimble's core strategy

and it works out particularly well

for India.

Five years ago, Trimble had 10 employees in India. Today,it has 400. Bringing state-of-the-art tecchnologies to the

Indian shores, Trimble is providing localised solutions to suitthe market. Stevenn W. Berglund, President and Chief Executive

Officer, Trimble, explains why India is important for Trimbleand how it is adapting to this evolving market...

INTERVIEW

‘We wish to create

unique solutions for India’

What kind of challenges do you

foresee in India for these verticals?

We are approaching the Indian

market with an appropriate level of

humility. We need to understand the

market before we can comment on

difficulties or opportunities. Even

though we are now close to 400 peo-

ple in India, it is still a learning

process. We also want to ensure that

we organise ourselves appropriately

as a company-to be both strategic

and opportunistic of the market

place. So the challenges really are

internal to Trimble, that is, to make

sure that we are demonstrating the

appropriate flexibility and adaptability

to the Indian market. It is an evolving

market and we need to learn about it

to be relevant.

One of the challenges in developingcountries like India is that the adop-

tion of advanced technoloogies forinfrastructure development islow. How do you propose toaddress this issue?

Emerging economies have

the opportunity to adopt state-

of-the-art technology without

the legacy that has to be con-

sidered in most of the cases.

Therefore there is a potential

of being revolutionary and rad-

ical in terms of conceptually

embracing technology. The

opportunity lies in reversing the

typical paradigm of being slower

to accepting more advanced tech-

nology. However, creating this

change is not easy. From Trim-

ble's standpoint, the key is to

respect local con-

ditions and

adapt to

them. At the same time, we need to

take on a bit of missionary role and

try to evangelise our vision to the

local circumstances based on our

experiences from around the world.

We need to present our views as

alternatives to engage in these

leapfrog activities. I am relatively

optimistic that if we play an active

role, we may be able to contribute

to creating some leapfrogs in

technology.

How do you foresee the positioningmarket in India, given the develop-ment of GAGAN and IRNSS?

Trimble has three core technolo-

gies: positioning, wireless communi-

cation and information technology.

Positioning, in general, is core to

most of the solutions we offer-either

position or location. So we do see

ourselves playing a multi-dimension-

al role in this sector. In the case of

India, we also see ourselves-may be

more so than other places in the

world-as being a fundamental con-

tributor of core technology, whether

it is participating in the development

of satellite positioning at the national

level or creating new standards with-

in the company.

India has a rich pool of qualifiedhuman resources. Can you tell usabout your R&D activities in Inddia?

We have 400 people in India and

a significant portion of those people

are engaged in development activi-

25

Steven W. BerglundPresident and

Chief Executive OfficerTrimble Navigation Limited

Emerging economies havethe opportunity to adopt

state-of-the-art technologywithout the legacies,ttherefore they can be

revolutionary and radicalin conceptually embracing

technology.

ties. We have development centres in

Chennai and Pune. We intend to grow

that capability. We inherited the

Chennai facility in 2007. At that time,

it was only focused on mobile

resource management applications.

Today, most of the Trimble divisions

are accessing the Chennai facility for

development with 15 divisions present

in Chennai for R&D requirements. It

is largely a matter of Trimble taking a

decision about the relative utility of

Indian development and taking

advantage of it. We have about 5,500

employees at this point of time

around the world out of which 400 in

India. Five years ago, we had approxi-

mately 10 people in India.

Acquisition has been a key strategyfor Trimble. In India also, we wit-nessed the acquisition of Taata Auto-motive Mobility Technologies. Howhas the move benefitted the compa-ny? Can we anticipate more acquisi-tions in India?

Acquisitions are not necessarily

core to our growth strategy. Acquisi-

tions have played a role, principally as

mechanisms to establish beachheads

in new market spaces, fill in product

line gaps or add new technologies to

our solutions portfolio. More impor-

tantly, continued innovation and

industry domain experience are the

primary factors which allow Trimble

to focus on organic growth as our

principal strategy in our core market

segments. For example, it is more

prudent to buy a small company

which has domain experience and

leverage that acquisition to gain a

better insight into the market place.

That is the strategy for acquisitions

that we also follow in India.

The other question that we try to

answer in terms of pursuing the Indi-

an market is whether the competen-

cies or centres of domain experience

that exist in India for an acquisition

will allow us to serve the market

place in a better fashion or not. In a

way, the acquisition of Tata opera-

tions was a bit of both. It gave us a

better window into the Indian market

by bringing in people who understood

the market. It also fuelled our ambi-

tion, that is, we could use it as a plat-

form for future growth within the

country. I think if we find those cir-

cumstances elsewhere with other

Indian companies, certainly we would

engage with the idea of acquisitions.

As an alternative, we may look at

partnering with companies since

acquisitions may not be the best

mechanism to leverage a relationship

in the Indian market.

You have talked about localisationof your solutions, while internation-alisation is the fundamentaal core of

Trimble strategy. How do you main-tain a balance between localisationand internationalissation of solutions?

It seems like a bit of paradox but

in reality it is all about balance. What

we need to do as a company is to

leverage our best international solu-

tions as much as we can. The reality

is that one cannot afford to do every-

thing multiple times in the interna-

tional market. So on the one hand, it's

a matter of scale-being able to scale

up on a worldwide basis and apply

that scale everywhere in the world; on

the other hand, there is a need to

recognise the elements which are

unique to a particular market and

incorporate that uniqueness in

market solutions. This way, we will

not invent unwanted products or

solutions and then look for cus-

tomers. At the same time, we need to

reinvent ourselves to meet the

requirements of each

national/regional market.

The idea is to create a hardware

platform worldwide and a base level

software platform. Then, depending

on the specific local market needs,

we can create a localised software

layer on both hardware and software.

This way, the balance would always

be dynamic. It is something that we

need to continually deal with. It is not

easy but I think it is the appropriate

approach to the market place.



PSLV C12 launching RISAT-2. Image Courtesy ISRO

IN RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

28

The

Indian

Geospatial

Trajectory

The

Indian

Geospatial

Trajectory

n January 19 this year, I was at the annual NSDI meet held in Bangalore. The last NSDImeeting I had attended was the second one inthe picturesque hill station of Ooty in 2002. Theten year gap gave me an opportunity to assess

how far India has moved on the path of geospatialenablement. Perhaps it was good that I missed theintervening meetings because the contrast betweenthen and now was all the more evident and gave me agood benchmark to measure the progress and try topredict the future trajectory. In 2002 the main playerswere the big departments like Space, Science and Technology and Forestry, with the Defence Ministry providing an ominous backdrop. A plan to release a trial NSDI portal for metadata was stalled in the lastmoment due to security concerns. Cut to 2012 and thecontrast could not have been more dramatic. Stateafter state spoke of their geospatial prowess. Somehad rolled out their own portals. Significantly thetheme of the meeting was State SDIs. Department ofSpace showcased Bhuvan and invited scientists toaccess the data. A very liberal remote sensing datapolicy and a burgeoning can-do attitude contributed todownplaying the security concerns. So is India on theverge of a geospatial renaissance?

TRYST WITH G-TECH

The Indian tryst with geospatial technology is not new.India boasts of institutions like the Survey of India, theGeological Survey of India, the Forest Survey of Indiaand the Departments of Land Records which have been around for a century and more. These organisa-tions have been updating their systems with new technologies, perhaps not as fast as one would haveliked it because legacy does tend to lock up processesand people. One can trace some of the points of inflection which mark the induction of new and disruptive geospatial technologies. The Pre-invest-ment Survey of Forest Resources conducted with ITC brought in remote sensing from aircraft and resulted in the establishment in 1966 of the Indian Photo-interpretation Institute, IPI, now known as the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS). The next inflection point came in 1969 when the first UNISPACE conference was held in Vienna. Dr Vikram Sarabhai noted in his report to the conference the importance of remote sensing for developing countries like India (see box 1).

O


Cover Story

INDIA’S TRAJECTORY IN

GEOSPATIAL SPACE HAS

BEEN AND CONTINUES TO

OFFER HUGE OPPORTUNITY.

HOWEVER, CONSIDERABLE

EFFORTS ARE NEEDED TO

REALISE THE PROMISE.

PROF ARUP DASGUPTA,

MANAGING EDITOR,

GIVES A LOWDOWN

The Indian foray into remote sensing began with par-ticipation in the analysis of Landsat data in 1975, the set-ting up of the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA)and its Landsat Data Reception Station in 1975 at thelaunch of INSAT 1A and 1B in 1982-83 with a very highresolution radiometer onboard for meteorological appli-cations and in 1988 India entered the age of operationalland remote sensing from space with the launch of IRS-1A carrying 70m and 35m resolution CCD cameras.

The two departments which have played key rolesin the evolution of geospatial technology inIndia are the Departments of Space andScience and Technology. Thetwo have always worked in syncto introduce and promote newtechnologies. TheIRS programme wasconceptu-alised andlaunched in

1981. Simultaneously the then Chairman of ISRO, ProfSatish Dhawan coordinated with the then Secretary ofScience and Technology, Prof MGK Menon to launch aprogramme called the National Natural Resources Man-agement System (NNRMS) that would prepare the Indianscientific departments to use the data from IRS. NNRMSwas established in 1983 by the Planning Commission andhad participation from all the government departmentsand ministries. One of the activities was the assessmentof the forest cover of India in 1984. Using Landsat data,the Department of Space released a figure of 17 percent,a far cry from the 33 percent claimed by the Forest Sur-vey of India (FSI). There was a hue and cry and the num-ber was ultimately revised upward after much discussionbut the 33 percent claim was put to rest. The outcomewas that FSI began to use remote sensing for periodicallyassessing the forest cover of India. The NNRMS pro-gramme resulted in many new initiatives, mapping ofpotential groundwater zones, wastelands, grasslands,water bodies and coastal zones to name a few.

ENTRY OF GIS

All these efforts were in the nature of inventories andsoon the question began to be asked - what next? Thequestion was sought to be answeredwith a programme called the Inte-grated Mission for Sus-tainable Developmentwhich sought to useremote sens-ing to plan for


"When we came to Vienna, we thought that the areas ofmost immediate practical applications would be communi-cations, meteorology and navigation, in that order. But oneof the most striking things to emerge has been appreciationof the great potentiality of remote sensing devices, capableof providing large-scale practical benefits. One of the groupdiscussions considered the cost effectiveness of these tech-niques, and it was pointed out that there is a high cost-ben-efit ratio, which, for example, in cartography, can be asmuch as 1:18. The time has come to interest meteorologists,hydrologists, surveyors, agricultural specialists and othergroups in such programmes. The Chairman of the thematicsession summarised the consensus that aircraft could ini-tially be used because of their comparatively low cost. Thereis need, to begin with, to understand problems of interpreta-tion. Remote sensing cannot replace man on ground, butcan direct man's efforts on ground to be more efficient."

- Dr. Vikram Sarabhai"Summary of the conference and recommendationfor initiatives", the First UN Conference on PeacefulUses of Outer Space at Vienna in 1969

India realises potential of remote sensing

Major milestones in India’s tryst with g-tech

better management of land and water was started in1986. This programme and another one on ScientificSource Finding for the Drinking Water Mission in 1985brought out an important fact that remote sensing byitself was not enough. It needed information from manyother sources and the planning activity had to take intoaccount the aspirations and expectations of the peoplewho were the ultimate beneficiaries of the programmes.There was, at this juncture, a standoff between theremote sensing purists who refused to countenance anyother data source and data management system and theplanners who needed tools for evolving decision supportalternatives. This laid the ground for the entry of Geo-graphical Information Systems (GIS).

Experimentation with GIS began almost in conjunc-tion with IRS and by 1989 GIS had found its way into DOS,DST, Survey of India, FSI and other major departments.Two major projects under the NNRMS, the NaturalResources Data Management System (NRDMS) of DSTand National Resources Information System (NRIS) ofDOS spearheaded these efforts. Survey of India set up itsDigital Mapping Centre and Modern Mapping Centre tocater to the upcoming requirement of digital base mapsfor GIS. A major exercise to define a digital vector datastandard was undertaken as well as a national spatialdata exchange standard for vector and raster data. Mean-while Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) beganto revolutionise position location and the use of GlobalPositioning Systems (GPS) for precise location, surveyand mapping became common. The removal of selectiveavailability gave a great fillip to these activities.

The growth of these activities also saw a parallelgrowth in Indian industry. Many MNCs began to tie upwith Indian firms to market their geospatial products inIndia. The IT industry which expanded in the 1990s alsobegan to address the geospatial market. DOS activelypromoted the growth of geospatial entrepreneurs andmany professionals took voluntary retirement to opengeospatial service companies and even manufacturingunits for image analysis systems. Large mapping projectswere outsourced by the government which encouragedthe growth of the service sector. A large part of thisgrowth was also the result of the defence requirementsand many companies had special units which cateredexclusively to the needs of the Army, Navy and Air Force.The IRS programme went international in 1994 with thesigning of an agreement with EOSAT to market IRS data

globally. In turn Indian users also got access, albeit limit-ed, to the metre and sub-metre resolution data from pri-vate satellite operators.

INDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT -

DETERRING FACTORS

As can be seen from this rather concise history, thegeospatial activities in India are almost wholly govern-ment driven. Private sector has a role to play in support-ing these activities. However, the use of geospatial tech-nology by and for industry is rather limited. There are afew examples like Hindustan Lever who use geospatialtechnology for supply chain management, HindustanConstruction Company who used GIS for managing theirmega urban project Lavasa and the use of GIS byReliance Power and Reliance Communications. What arethe deterring factors?

The key feature of geospatial data is geo-referencingand thus it encompasses maps, imagery and point infor-mation generated by GPS as well as other means of dataacquisition. The right to generate data is wholly with the


The two departments which haveplayed key roles in the evolution ofgeospatial technology in India arrethe Departments of Space and Sci-ence and Technology. The two havealways worked in sync to introoduceand promote new technologies

Aerial surveying is regulated by the government and subject to stringent control, deterring the role of private sector in supportinggeospatial activities in India

government. Space data is generatedand distributed by DOS alone and topo-graphic data is the responsibility of Sur-vey of India. Aerial surveys are also regu-lated by the government and subject tostringent controls. Because of the spa-tially referenced context, such data isalso considered to be strategic andtherefore its generation and access iscontrolled by the State. This control is byway of established policies. The Map Pol-icy regulates access to maps created bySurvey of India. The Open Series ofmaps, OSM, available to general users issubject to several licences. Maps ofcoastal and international boundaries are secret in theOSM series. No height data is included in the OSM series.Third party value addition to OSM maps becomes theintellectual property of SoI. A new map policy is in theprocess of being released which will reduce but notremove these restrictions.

Remote sensing is controlled by two policies. Aerialsurveys are controlled by various laws and require clear-ance by the Home and Defence ministries. Department ofSpace operates a Space Remote Sensing Policy that reg-ulates access to data having resolution better than 1metre. Data better than 1 metre (Cartosat 2A and 2B andforeign panchromatic data) is subject to screening. Thegroup of government users who are eligible to use suchdata without further clearance are spelt out in detail. Thiswas an area of ambiguity in the earlier policy and createdproblems for many projects like R-APDRP which werebeing executed by public sector units.

Antrix, which handles access of foreignentities to IRS data, can also enter intoagreement with foreign data suppliers formarketing their data in India, in addition toNRSC which continues to be the sole datadistributor and as such a single point ofchoking of data supply. Private users willneed a government certificate stating thatthe data is for development purposes inIndia before getting access to sub-metredata from all satellites. Otherwise therequest will be referred to the High Reso-lution Data Committee for approval.

These policies effectively control andregulate the use of Indian data by Indian

users but are ineffective in controlling the legal or illegaluse by foreign entities. Indian map data is available offthe shelf and on the Internet. High resolution data overIndia from foreign remote sensing satellites is also avail-able over the Internet on payment and freely on applica-tions like Google Maps. Stereo imaging data from foreignsatellites can be used in a standard digital photogram-metry workstation to obtain accurate height information.GPS is now available commercially on mobile phones andcar navigation systems.

IMPETUS FROM

NATIONAL

DEVELOPMENT

PROJECTS

However policyrestrictionshave


Nationaldevelopmentprojects like

RAPDRP are makinggeospatial systemsan integral part of

the ITT infrastructureand providing

impetus to geospa-tial activities in

the country

not slowed down the geospatial activities of the govern-ment. According to a market research by GeospatialWorld in September 2010, the budgetary allocation in the11th Five Year Plan (2007-12) for major geospatial nation-al development projects like the Restructured Accelerat-ed Power Development and Reforms Programme (RAP-DRP), the National Land Records Modernisation Pro-gramme (NLRMP), Forest Information Management andResource Assessment, and others, together is nearly INR65624.7 million. These numbers do require a leap of faithbecause work has been slow but is picking up at a steadypace. The interesting fact about these programmes is theway geospatial technology is being ingested into the systems.

If the initial phase consisted of managing geospatialdata by way of mapping and inventorying, the currentphase is one of managing data geospatially by makinggeospatial systems an integral part of the IT infrastruc-ture of the programme. Thus the GIS component of RAP-DRP is a part of the overall IT strategy for making powerdistribution efficient and reducing losses. Similarly thegeospatial component of the NLRMP seeks ways to usethe technology to rapidly map the land holdings andupdate all the record of rights and make these availablethrough an IT infrastructure. The process of updatingland records is well established and the geospatial and ITcomponents have been woven into this process. TheJNNURM is however a different story. While it doesrecognise the importance of geospatial technology formapping and updating maps at regular intervals, itseems to restrict the usage to taxes and building permis-sions alone. Little wonder then that of the 63 cities initial-ly picked up for the mission not one has effectively inte-grated geospatial systems into the IT infrastructure.However, this too will change as geospatial activities arepicking up slowly.

Other major sectors of significant activity are defenceand homeland security. The Directorate General of Infor-mation Systems of the Ministry of Defence has a majorprogramme for induction of geospatial systems intoC4ISR activities. The National Technical Research Organ-isation (NTRO) is similarly inducting latest technologiesinto its activities for homeland security. Both these sec-tors provide huge opportunities for the Indian geospatialindustry. Like everything else in India, geospatial systemsand applications is a huge market, a huge promise ofbusiness and employment, but there are equally huge

issues and hurdles. The biggest hurdle is that of datasharing followed by data policies and lack of trainedhuman resources.

OF PROMISES AND CHALLENGES

Indians tend to be very data secretive. As a result, samedata is collected over and over again by different depart-ments and often by different teams from the samedepartment.

Spatial data infrastructureTwo major projects, NRDMS and NRIS attempted to cre-ate structured geodatabases on the basis of the Indianadministrative structure. From this it was a short step tocreating a spatial data infrastructure which could beshared by different departments and provide data for aca-


"Geographic Information Science (GI Science) is the basicresearch field that seeks to redefine geographic conceptsand their use in the context of geographic informationsystems. GI Science also examines the impacts of GIS onindividuals and society and the influences of society onGIS. GI Science re-examines some of the most fundamen-tal themes in traditional spatially oriented fields such asgeography, cartography and geodesy, while incorporatingmore recent developments in cognitive and informationscience. It also overlaps with and draws from more spe-cialised research fields such as computer science, statistics,mathematics and psychology, and contributes to progressin those fields. It supports research in political science andanthropology and draws on those fields in studies of geo-graphic information and society."

- University Consortium of GIS, 1999

GI Science defined

The effort at creating a spatial datainfrastructure was originally calledNational Geospatial Data Infra-structure (NGDI) in 2001 and laterrenamed as National Spatial DataInfrastructure (NSDI) in 2002


demia and industry. This effort, originally christened asNational Geospatial Data Infrastructure (NGDI) and laterrenamed as National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI),was launched in 2001 by DOS and DST. After severalmeetings, the Task Group on NSDI submitted its report inMay 2006 and on 02 June 2006, the Cabinet approved cre-ation of NSDI and constituted a National Spatial DataCommittee and an Executive Committee with a secretari-at to assist the two committees. An NSDI Geoportal wasestablished on 22 December 2008. However, the populat-ing of this geoportal with metadata of the data holdings ofdifferent departments is still ongoing. Meanwhile, thereare individual portals set up by different departments andStates. NSDI is now promoting state portals and linkingto central government portals. Other useful efforts of theNSDI are the establishment of the core metadata stan-dards and GML schemas. Thematic standards are alsounder preparation.

Meanwhile, the Planning Commission is proposing toestablish a National GIS which will do all that NSDI wassupposed to do and in addition provide DSS for all thedepartments. Something similar was attempted inthe 1970s by the National Informatics Centre(NIC) with rather patchy results. Appar-ently the lessons of this exercise and ofthe NSDI are not fully comprehended.Instead of rediscovering the wheel, thePlanning Commission could acceler-ate the establishment of the NSDI byremoving the obstructions that arehampering the NSDI. The main drawbackas has been pointed out is the unwill-ingness to share data. By makingdata sharing mandatory, this couldbe achieved. For example the R-APDRP and JNNURM will requirebase data which could be suppliedby the NSDI through the state por-tals. This would require standardi-sation of data at the structural levelas well as at the thematic level. NSDIhas standardised on GML for the structureand this schema could be adopted. Thematicstandards have been prepared from time totime by different projects. These need to bevetted and adopted as national standards toensure semantic interoperability.

Data policyThe second problem is that of data policy. There is a needto see that the proposed geospatial data policy is realisticand addresses the needs of bonafide Indian users in thegovernment, industry, education and NGO sectors. It isnecessary to revisit the several separate policies andevolve a unified geodata policy which will satisfy develop-ment and civilian applications while at the same timeaddress the national security concerns. The followingrecommendations are made with this in mind:

• Make the Open Series Maps completely unrestricted. Theydo not have heights or any vital areas and vital bases.

Continue to register the map users as is being donenow under the Map Policy. OSM maps should not be

used for legal purposes like boundary delin-eation. For this the restricted Survey of India

maps are to be used. Make available prod-ucts like slope maps which are derivedfrom height information but cannot be usedto recalculate the height contours. Chargeroyalty on map reuse through value additionbut do not demand IP rights. Create a newseries derived from the OSM but which havepositional accuracies matched to satelliteremotely sensed data. These will be usefulfor thematic mapping and can be madepublic and available freely or at nominalcost. All digital data must be supplied inGML 3.0 or higher.

• Deregulate all high resolution satel-lite imagery older than two years andaerial photographs more than five

years old. Such data has no missioncritical value. Data from non-photo-

graphic imaging sensors like syntheticaperture radar and LiDAR should be com-

pletely deregulated for Indian users. Foreignsatellite data up to one metre resolution should

be directly available from suppliers. For databetter than one metre, the requirement of a gov-

ernment certificate should be removed. Instead,such data should be made available through Antrix

Corporation who will maintain a database of thesupplies and the intended usage.

There is a need to ensure that theproposed geospatial data policy isrealistic and addresses the needsof bonafide Indian users in thegovernment, industry, educationand NGO sectors

SHARE

1/9/2011/9/201


• All digital data must conform to international standards asspecified by ISO or OGC or by independent standards devel-oped in India. Data ordering should be automated and includeonline browsing, order placement, payment and delivery toreduce turnaround time. All transactions should be recordedand archived. This should include the IP address trace back.The security approach should consider calibrated access.Large volume users should be handled differently from lowvolume occasional users. Large volume users should only usedigital signatures. Users should need to register only once andnot for each transaction.

• All data should be unobtrusively watermarked usingadvanced steganographic techniques to be approved by a gov-ernment security agency. Legal liabilities associated with eachdata must be listed out including disclaimers for improper useand penalties for misuse and illegal distribution. The policyshould be reviewed every six months by an empowered com-

mittee consisting of represen-tatives from all sectors.

Trained human resourcesIf and when all these stepsare completed, the biggesthurdle remaining will bethat of trained humanresources. Geospatial dataacquisition, processing,management and applica-tion require a mix of skillsnot available from any sin-gle stream. There are anumber of institutions inthe public and privatedomains which conferdegrees and diplomas ingeomatics, geoinformatics,remote sensing and GIS.Most of the students pass-ing out with these qualifica-tions do not find suitableemployment. One possiblereason is that they learn alittle bit about everythingand become Jacks of alltrades but Masters of none.While geospatial systemsare computer based, thegeneral idea that a degreein Computer Science orInformation Technology issufficient is fallacious. Astrong background in phys-

ical geography, engineering or science domain knowl-edge, mathematical and management skills are equallyimportant.

What is needed therefore are not separate coursesbut electives in existing courses in computer science, sta-tistics, mathematics, geography, physics, life sciences,engineering and management. Administrators in the gov-ernment and industry need to go through such coursesas well during their induction training. State academiesfor administrative training need to hold refresher coursesfrom time to time to update their staff capacities. Abeginning has been made to introduce geospatial sub-jects in school curricula by the Central Board of Sec-ondary Education (CBSE). This needs to be spread to all

other Boards so that the importance of geospatial appli-cations and technology is understood and becomes acareer option for the students entering college.

Cost effective solutionsThe relaxation of restrictions and the creation of geospa-tially enabled population will also help to promote volun-teered geographic information (VGI). For a country ofIndia's size and diversity, the acquisition of data is amajor task. VGI can provide a cost-effective solution. Theoperationalisation of NSDI should include processes toenable VGI and its vetting and ingest into the relevantdatabases. The government lays stress on government-to-citizen interface through IT enabled services. Thisshould include geospatial information to enable citizensto understand and perhaps even participate in the deci-sions that impact their lives and living spaces.

Public private partnershipsThe government is also keen on public private partner-ship. However, the scope is rarely defined in concreteterms and usually is reduced to contract services. Ifgeospatial enablement is to take off then the industryinvolvement has to move beyond supply of hardware andsoftware. For example, in JNNURM the problem is that ofan urban planning mindset which is tied to 'building per-missions' and 'tax collection'. Very few metropolitan cities

have planning departments and those that have arestaffed at best by eight to ten planners under an engineerwho are busy with building permissions rather than plan-ning because they are understaffed, under-budgeted andlack modern geospatial tools like GIS. The need is for 80to 100 planners for a large city and their domains ofexpertise should cover the various sectors of planning aswell as economics and architecture. Needless to say theyalso need to be able to handle modern geospatial tech-nology in their planning process. This technology goesmuch beyond a simple GIS and encompasses new dataacquisition systems, ERP and modelling.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the trajectory of India in geospatial space hasbeen and continues to be very promising. However, considerable efforts are needed to realise these promis-es. So far India has been very enterprising and hasworked around obstacles because the Indian ethos is oneof compromise and improvisation. With new projects onthe horizon, development of geospatial systems hasbecome an urgent necessity. The government, industryand academia need to pull together to make the next fiveyears exciting.

Prof. Arup DasguptaManaging Editor, [email protected]

For a country of India’s size and diversity where the acquisition of data is a major task, volunteered geographic information and public participation canprove to be a cost-effective solution


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INTERVIEW

KK SinghChairman & Managing DirChairman & Managing DirectorectorRoltRolta India Limited a India Limited

'An open p o

geospatial m

'An open p o

geospatial m


Rolta is increasingly becomingsolution-centric. What are thelatest developments in thisdirectioon?

In a way, Rolta has always been solution-centric and has been delivering the ulti-mate user experience. While this processinvolved third party products earlier, wehave now realised that the priorities for ourcustomers in India are very endemic anddifferent from customers in other parts ofthe world. In being dependent on globalsoftware, we cannot fully address theneeds of our customers in India. This reali-sation was the beginning of the journeythat has transformed Rolta. Today, we haveintellectual property rights (IPRs) notbecause we can own an IPR but becausewe can use it in a more focussed mannerto address the needs of the Indian cus-tomer. We have expanded horizontally, interms of creating IPRs, we have expandedvertically in terms of focussing on certainsegments of the industry and we have builtup the IPRs for those segments.

In the backdrop of slowingeconomic scenario globally, wesee a moderation of growth inIndia. Infllationary trends andfalling rupee are adding fuel tothe fire. How, according to you,are these facttors affectinggeospatial industry in India?

These factors surely affect the geospatialindustry, since they impact the budget. Cer-tain parameters of projections for thebudget are unlikely to be met this year. Thisimplies pressure on the government andtherefore lower spending by the govern-ment. This can defer some projects andless number of new projects coming up.

The growth projection for the country whichwas earlier put at an optimistic 8.5 percentfor this year has gone down to 7 percent.For the next year (2012-13), it is projected

to be lower than 7 percent. So obviouslythere are a lot of challenges in the domes-tic market. These challenges are beingfaced by all concerned - the geospatialindustry faces the same constraints aseveryone else.

In such a scenario, what wouldbe the growth prospects for Roltathis year?

At Rolta, we are looking at a growth of 12-14 percent for our fiscal year endingJune 2012, covering both the domesticand international markets. Homeland secu-rity and defence, our key sectors on thedomestic front, are less affected by the factors mentioned earlier as they have theirown priorities and budgets. We are bullishabout this target despite the prevailing conditions.

A section of the media attributesslowdown to the 'poli-cy paralysis' withinthe country. Do youthhink geospatial sec-tor has beenaffected with this?

I fully agree with that.There are policy paralyseson many fronts. Considerthe example of FDI. Inspite of the good inten-tions of the government,where the governmentacted proactively andintroduced a comprehen-sive, forward looking FDIpolicy in retail, there wastremendous opposition. Such thingsbecome inevitable in a democratic set upwhere there are always opposing views.

What according to you are the topthree policy initiatives that would

accelerate geospatial industryy inthe country?

A simple analogy is that of real estate mar-ket where the top three criteria are loca-tion, location, location. For geospatial indus-try, it would be a comprehensive and opengeospatial policy. That is the 1,2,3 of it. Thiswill open up the sector like nothing else.We have seen the impact of policies on thetelecom sector. The telecom sector openedup due to the government bringing outenabling policies. Conversely, the sectorsuffered when these policies got paralyseddue to various controversies. Coming backto the geospatial industry, there should bean open geospatial policy with minimalrestrictions in terms of creating and usingmaps and related data. Such things arehardly an issue in the geospatial industryglobally. This is what will make the differ-ence. We are one of the largest nations inthe world. In the geospatial arena, we aremuch below the developed world, onlybecause we don't have enabling, open poli-

cies while all other ingre-dients are in place includ-ing technology, manpow-er, will and investment.

The size of the Indianmarket will change expo-nentially if the geospatialpolicies encourage cre-ation of data and use bya common person in afree manner, as is hap-pening in the rest of theworld. Take the exampleof automobile navigation.India has the second orthird largest number ofcars in the world butthere are no navigation

systems in cars here. Majority of cars arebeing manufactured here but the naviga-tion case is blank. How is navigation possi-ble without maps? And how would mapscome unless somebody is allowed to createthem? This doesn't need investment, it justneeds permission and policy.

39

p olicy will grow the

market exponentially'

p olicy will grow the

market exponentially'

The size of theIndian geospatialmarket will changeexponentially if thepolicies encouragecreatioon of dataand use by acommon person ina free manner, asis happening in therest of the world


You have recently said thatabout 68 % of Rolta's focus is onthe domestic front. What are thesecttors that hold promise forRolta in the next 2-3 years?

Our key sectors are defence and homelandsecurity. In the last 8-10 years, defence hasopened up significantly as a sector due topolicies. It is undertaking a large strategicprogramme called Make India Programme.Under the programme, only Indian compa-nies that fulfill certain criteria are allowed toparticipate in various projects, though theyare allowed to have technology partners oftheir choice. These partners will supply theirproducts and technologies to the local com-panies who in turn will make value addi-tions. Those value additions - localised, cus-tomised, Indianised, will then be with thegovernment.

In the process, the dependence of thecountry on a foreign technology reduces.This arrangement can be beneficial in timesof war when a situation can become prob-lematic if the country owning the technolo-gy bars us from using it. Doing away withthis kind of dependence is therefore ofparamount importance. A nation can't affordstrategic programmes to be hampered intimes of war just because a particular coun-try has the power to do it since they dohave the authority to put certain restrictionsin certain circumstances in their supply con-tracts.

Strategic programmes are thereforebecoming Make India programmes, and

these are very large programmes. The tacti-cal communications system is a USD 4-5billion (or INR 20-30 thousand crore) pro-gramme; battlefield management system isan INR 30-40 thousand crore programmeand another programme for soldier systemsis an INR 30-40 thousand crore pro-gramme. What we have is a market worthUSD 20-30 billion over the next ten years.And as I mentioned earlier, only select Indi-an companies that meet the stringent crite-ria can be a part of these programmes. Sowe see this as a sector with tremendousopportunity and growth.

How is Rolta planning to capturethis opportunity?

We have made tremendous investments inthe last five years. We have acquired tech-nologies and also developed the requisitetechnologies. Any technology is like rawmaterial. One needs to make additions ontop of it based on customer requirements.This is our approach - customising technol-ogy based on requirements of customers inIndia. So whether they are geospatial tech-nologies, homeland security technologies ordefence technologies, we have acquired allkinds of technologies and invested in takingthem to the next level. Our investmentshave been towards strengthening our capa-bilities to take part in the programmes that Iearlier mentioned. We have already startedparticipating in these programmes since weare one of the shortlisted companies. Weare bullish on being part of more such pro-grammes.

Till recently, we were just focussed on thevery specific geospatial aspect of thedefence market, catering to a market size ofINR 200-400 crore. Now with the expan-sion of our focus and capabilities, we areplaying into a field where we are seeingopportunities worth USD 20 billion in thenext ten years. In this market, even if we areplaying with four other players, everybodystands to gain at least 15-20 percent of themarket.

Homeland security market is also witness-ing similar trend. This market has alsoopened up significantly. There is a tremen-dous need to upgrade our homeland securi-ty systems which includes modernisation ofpolice force. Government is carefully putting

in place programmes for this purpose. Let'stake an example from Mumbai, India. Mum-bai police uses emergency dispatch solu-tions. But these have been land-basedemergency dispatch solutions which arequite different from that of coastline securi-ty. There are different companies develop-ing these solutions. We offer a blendedsolution. We acquired two different tech-nologies - one for land-based homelandsecurity solutions and one for the coastline.We integrated the technologies so that wenow offer an integrated solution where landand coast systems can work in synergy witheach other.

In this market, we are at the forefront inproviding all kinds of solutions. These solu-tions are based on technologies developedby us - solutions for police modernisation,maritime security, critical infrastructure andborder security. These markets themselvesare worth billions of dollars over the nextten years. Even if there are ten players inthis market including us, there is stillenough business for everybody.

Rolta has a unique businessmodel in acquiring intellectualproperty rights of cutting edgetechnollogies. How has been theexperience? How are these beingleveraged with the existingcapabilities off Rolta?

When we started strengthening our solution-centric model four-five years ago, it was very impractical and imprudentto build it from a scratch to meet customer demands quickly. Therefore we identified the software we required and acquired them from the source level to serve us.

One of the USPs of Rolta is that we understand the customer needs very well.We have people driving the technology notfrom a technologist point of view, though ofcourse it would be great to add that feature,but from a very focussed user and workflowpoint of view. Earlier, our services involvedother software where we added value andcustomised, now we are starting from rawmaterial all the way up. Of course we douse third party software as and when thereis a need for it.

We have made tremendousinvestments in the lastfive years to strengthenour capabilities to takeppart in the strategicdefence programmes.We have acquired varioustechnologies and aretaking themm to the nextlevel

41

Rolta has been quite selectivein acquiring companies andintellectual property. What is theguidiing principal for Rolta forthese acquisitions?

Here, I would like to draw on two aspects.The first is our strong focus on defence andhomeland security. We have been offeringsolutions in this vertical for the last twentyyears and are aware of what the gaps are interms of technology. We strengthened our-selves and filled in these gaps by acquiringthose technologies and making the invest-ments that I earlier mentioned.

The other aspect is, we as a company areclassified into an IT company. But we arenot into mainstream IT. We were main-stream geospatial, engineering, etc, using ITas a technology. So we decided that we willventure into mainstream IT as well. Thismarket holds huge potential as about USD100 billion worth of outsourcing is takingplace from India. To venture into this market,we required front-end companies withexperience, track record, customers andmanpower. Having these companies asfront-end would allow us to interface withthe customer and get us the market so thatwe are able to create the back-end whichwill bring value to the customer. For thispurpose, we needed to acquire companiesthat would give us that kind of track recordand that kind of positioning. This has beenour philosophy.

So is Rolta also positioning itselfas a front-end IT company throughacquisitions?

We are positioning ourselves as a main-stream IT company through these acquisi-tions. This is evident from the fact that wehave also specialised in business intelli-gence. We have developed our business

intelligence suite of software for operationalexcellence in various sectors includingchemicals, fertilisers, petrochemicals, oil,gas, refinery and power. Traditionally, thesecompanies have already invested in Oracleor SAP for business processing. But theydon't have the intelligence, KPIs or the datamodels to tell them what they need, quickly,so that they can make informed decisions.So we have built comprehensive data mod-els and KPIs on the same platforms.

Apart from India, what are thecountries/regions of interest forRolta?

Our main focus has been US, given ouracquisitions there. We also have presencein Europe and the Middle East. In the lattertwo, we have gone the organic way forgrowth, while US has been inorganicgrowth.

Are you also looking at the BRICcountries other than India?

BRICS countries do not offer the kind of ITopportunities that are in our domain. Forexample, there is not much scope for IToutsourcing business in Brazil. BRIC com-panies also have tremendous labour advan-tage, so it won't be prudent to establish IToutsourcing business in these countries. Ofcourse where geospatial business is con-cerned, these countries do offer possibili-

ties. But we want to tap the tremendousopportunities that are around us first. Webelieve that India is the last frontier forgeospatial and will open up tremendously.We are positioning ourselves to take advan-tage of it. We have made tremendousinvestments which are, to some extent, veryhigh in respect to the size of our company.We believe that as we move forward, we will

get benefits and dividends out of thatinvestment.

India has a vast pool of talent. IsRolta looking at harnessing thispool of talent or creating moreeresearch facilities in India?

In 2008, we started building our product

development division and engaged peo-

ple who had worked on product develop-

ment - not services, not customisation,

not implementation. From 2008 to now,

we have witnessed a tremendous maturi-

ty in that team. Our product development

team in based not only in Mumbai but we

also have R&D offices in Gurgaon and

Hyderabad. Through these offices, we

endeavour to tap into talent that is pres-

ent across the country. I feel there is a

need for much more innovation in India

because of the talent here. India has

been a services hub but not really a prod-

uct hub. This is what makes product

development exciting at Rolta.


We want to tap the tremen-dous opportunities that arearound us first. We believethat India is thee last frontierfor geospatial and will openup tremendously. We arepositioning ourselves totake addvantage of it

GeospatialWorld I February 201242

Transforming India's

transport sector

MOBILE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

n most countries around the globe, the use of GPSis synonymous with in-vehicle navigation systemsto give driving directions and other related infor-mation such as street maps and points of interest..In India, the most common way to find directions

to an unknown destination may be to roll down the carwindow and ask the guy on the sidewalk. However, asroads become well documented, even this is cchangingrapidly to mirror the trends in developed countries.

Although the use of GPS and personal navigationdevices (PNDs) for finding driving directions in India haspicked up only during the past 5-6 years, its use as a pro-ductivity tool has been in vogue in the enterprise worldfor nearly a decade. Before technology gave fleet owners

the freedom to track their vehicles in real time, driverscould make unwarranted pit stops, take extra long hoursfor eating/sleeping and still remain undetected.

GPS enabled on-board computers to track field vehi-cles and wirelessly communicate that information to asoftware service to deliver a host of business productivitytools emerged as an enterprise software category in theearly part of last decade under the broadly acceptedname of mobile resource management (MRM). This busi-ness value applied equally to everyone from owner oper-ated small businesses to large transportation and logis-tics companies. According to current estimates, the totalMRM revenue worldwide is estimated at a whopping USD3-4 bn. While MRM has tremendous utility for all organi-

I

sations that have mobile assets, acommon view is that it does deliver aclear return on investment (ROI) forthe business. A good case in pointhere is of a recent study by AberdeenGroup, a well known industry analystfirm, which concluded that business-es that implemented the right MRMsolution increased work order com-pletion per employee per day by over25 percent in two years.

MRM in commercial transportation

One industry that has made optimum use of MRM solu-tions in India is the commercial transport industry. Mostlarge auto manufacturers in the country use a network ofindependently owned transporters to move the vehiclesfrom their factory to dealers across the country. Thesetrips, ranging thousands of miles often take several daysand sometimes weeks to reach their destination. Theoperations manager for the car manufacturer has no visi-bility of the state of the load once it leaves the factoryuntil it reaches its intended destination and has to rely onthe driver's word or estimates based on past experience.This is where the utility of MRM comes in. GPS tracking,coupled with the back office software solution, can pro-vide up-to-the-minute visibility and business intelligencepertaining to the cargo and thus help the manufacturerand transporter to address their business needs.

With retail sector in the country witnessing a boom,increased competition and pressure from customers toprovide more value, businesses are looking to employultramodern tracking mechanisms that can offer in-tran-sit visibility of their cargo. At the same time, customersare looking for a dependable solution that can offeroptions like tracking of cargo from point of dispatch tillpoint of delivery, expected time of arrival, SMS alerts etc.

Despite its proven benefits, the Indian market hasbeen somewhat slow to adopt this trend, primarilybecause of the road conditions and lack of focus toimprove worker productivity. But, as the market goesthrough the impact of globalisation, Indian companies areincreasingly investing in MRM solutions for transporta-tion, logistics and field services to manage costs andincrease productivity. Sensing the market opportunity,companies like Trimble, based in Sunnyvale, California,with a global presence and operational footprint have

brought their tried and tested hard-ware platforms and domain expertiseto the Indian market and built solu-tions that are specific to local needsand vehicle/road conditions.

However, the process of imple-menting the technology has been farfrom a cakewalk and had to face sev-eral roadblocks like resistance fromdrivers, who initially mistook GPStracking as invasion of their privacy

and retorted to measures such as tampering with thedevice. "We faced a lot of problem of tampering initially.At times, the drivers would disconnect the battery orshort-circuit the device. However, we have been able toovercome this issue to a large extent by focusing on moti-vating and educating the drivers," says Rajinder SinghBhasin, Managing Director of Chennai-based JantaRoadways, which has been using Trimble solutions forthe past few years.

MRM in transportation: Benefits

While most companies start using GPS to simply trackand trace their vehicles and get better visibility of theirfield teams, MRM solutions can deliver a whole range ofother benefits such as increasing fuel efficiency of thefleet, minimising vehicle down time, on-time delivery ofgoods, monitoring driver behaviour and improving thesecurity of in-flight items.

Vehicle tracking technology has proved immensely

useful for perishable commodities or goods that requireconstant monitoring to help ensure optimal safety andprotection against theft. Describing how the use of Trim-ble's tracking solution has proved to be a boon for their

43GeospatialWorld I February 2012

According to a marketreport, businesses thatimplemented the right

MRM solution increasedwork ordeer completionper employee per dayby over 25 percent in

two years

A truck fitted with GPS-based tracking device

company, M Bhalerao, Sales & Logistics Manager atNagpur-based Solar says, "Using the technology hasserved the company's objective of fulfilling its dutytowards the nation with regards to secure and on-timedelivery of hazardous materials to the right destinations."

GPS tracking devices available in the market nowa-days are extremely affordable and allow transport andlogistics companies to save money in different areas,offering great return on investment (ROI). It can checkpilferage, track vehicles in case of theft and, most impor-tantly, earn the trust of the customer, which in turn,translates into future profits.

"We have invested in this system to offer better serv-ices to our customers. Thus, we do not measure it interms of return on investment. It helps us create a bondwith our customers and that is what matters the most,"says Rajinder Bhasin.

However, the technology is still in its nascent stage inIndia and there is a need to create awareness amongusers. "The focus of many transporters in India is to gowith an independent application for every different pur-pose. So there are a multitude of applications that do nottalk to each other.

The need is to have tighter integration of these appli-cations with back-end systems to offer greater benefitsacross the enterprise," says Tayeb Barodawala, Director,Aakit Technologies, Mumbai, which provides ERP integra-tion and IT consulting to enterprises of all sizes. The abil-ity to easily integrate its hosted MRM solution with otherenterprise systems is what Trimble's customers also findbeneficial beyond the basic track and trace of fieldassets.

Enterprise MRM

To make optimum utilisation of the systemand fulfil the customer's demand of havingvisibility of his goods at all times, it isimportant to create an integrated enterprisesystem that can take data gathered from theGPS system of the vehicles and the consign-ment data (such as lorry receipt number,invoice number, shipment details, dispatchtime etc.) from customer's ERP system tomake available real time location data for allstakeholders involved in the transport net-work. The system thus generated canseamlessly connect the consignor, con-signee and the logistics service provider by

effective flow of information on a real time basis.Highlighting the benefits of integrating on-field GPS

devices with a robust backend ERP system, Tayeb Baro-dawala says, "When the integration is achieved, it resultsin a lot of benefits. The analysis of the informationreceived will allow you to take real time decisions. In crit-ical times, especially, this results in improvement of effi-ciency in the entire chain."

Further, the system can be connected to the internet,which allows stakeholders to track their shipment bysimply entering any of the parameters associated withthat consignment. The interface can be convenientlyextended further to include any stakeholder as and whenrequired by making simple, application level integrations.The system should be capable of calculating the expectedtime of arrival (ETA) on the basis of data available on thecurrent location and the destination to be reached with anintelligent GIS-based routing engine.

Describing how vehicle tracking has been integratedwith ERP system in his organisation for the overall bene-fit of those concerned, Rajinder Bhasin says, "All the datafrom GPS devices mounted in our vehicles is fed into theERP system and is accessible to our inter-office team at

GeospatialWorld I February 201244

Integrating MRM with ERP

GPS tracking, coupled with back officesoftware solution, can provide

up-to-the-minute visibility aand businessintelligence pertaining to the cargo & thushelp the manufacturer and transporter to

adddress their business needs

GeospatialWorld I February 2012 45

Maruti Suzuki India Limited isthe country's largest passen-ger car company, accountingfor a majority of the domesticcar market. The company man-ufactures over one million carsper year at its huge manufac-turing facilities located at Gur-gaon and Manesar and distrib-utes the vehicles to its dealersacross the country through achain of partner transport com-panies. The transit time can beas long as 10-12 days in caseof far flung areas, in whichcase the challenge is to haveconstant information about thefleet and knowing the expect-ed time of arrival. "With suchlong journey

times, we would like to knowwhere the carrier has reachedand the expected time ofarrival, especially because thedealers have to make commit-ment to their customers," saysRam Suresh Akella, GeneralManager, SND & Logistics,Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.

To streamline the transportnetwork and ensure visibility ofits fleet at all times, the com-pany has deployed Trimble'sGPS-based tracking solution.The system has resulted inimproved efficiency of the net-work as compared to the previ-ously employed manual track-ing systems wherein some-

body would call up the drivereveryday for his location andthen manually update it intothe system. "It was a time con-suming and unreliable methodbecause there was no way toverify what the driver was say-ing," informs Ram SureshAkella.

Having started the process ofinstallation of GPS devices onits transport vehicles in Janu-ary 2011, the company hassuccessfully upgraded close to70 percent of its vehicles andhas been able to do away witha lot of problems that it facedearlier.

"Apart from giving us the loca-

tion of the carrier, it also givesus the opportunity to plan thefleet better. Also, the systemhas features like exceptionreporting, which gives overspeed alerts, stoppage reportsetc. A summarised report isgenerated at the end of eachtrip which gives a summary ofthe performance on that partic-ular trip and in turn helps thetransporters in giving post-tripcounselling to the drivers,"explain Ram Suresh Akella.The system is also integratedto the company's ERP system,which allows the dealers tokeep a track of the carsinvoiced to them and thusmake 'informed commitments'to their customers.

Maruti finds success with MRM

the click of a button. This offers numerous benefits suchas constant monitoring of the fleet, resource and moneysaving. We are now able to inform our customers aboutthe location of the consignment and the time of arrival."

M Bhalerao of Solar says, "The fleet managementsystem is integrated with our own ERP system andmakes it easy to view various kinds of information relatedto a particular consignment. All our customers have beenprovided with separate login IDs through which they canlog into the system and track their consignment."

Conclusion

When it comes to the use of GPS in transportation andlogistics, Indian market has witnessed a lot of companiesemerge with solutions ranging from completely home-grown to the ones adapted from the foreign market. Asthe market starts realising the benefits of these solu-tions, both sophistication and complexity are bound to

increase. It is no more a question of whether businessescan afford to operate efficiently without these technolo-gies but where to start and what type of solutions todeploy. As the focus shifts from visibility to optimisingevery step of the workflow, it is important that the MRMsolution is well designed to scale and delivers more andmore value. This ability to grow is what enterprises needto look for when picking the right kind of solution.

The transport sector is in urgent need to optimise itsoperations to meet delivery pressures. An enterprise onroad visibility application integrated with the vehicle loca-tion will provide a collaborative platform to the industry.This requires existing service providers to move beyondmere providing GPS-based vehicle tracking and developenterprise applications. Doing this will give the desiredboost to the nascent industry and a win-win propositionto everyone in transport and logistics value chain.

Vaibhav Arora, Assistant Editor, [email protected]

Defining the future of geoint Defining the future of geoint

CONFERENCE REPORT

mage exploitation and analysis ofhuge volume of geospatial datawas the focus of DGI 2012 that

was attended by more than 700 people.Experts from around the world gathered atthe event to discuss the challenges facingthe geoint community in today's world.There was also a two-day exhibition inwhich nearly 30 companies showcasedtheir offerings. The theme of this year'sconference was 'Empowering decisionsthrough online on-demand access to mul-ti-int knowledge and analysis.'

Big data and data

exploitation

The ability to analyse vast amounts of datagenerated by various sensors was recog-nised as one of the major challenges forthe geoint community in the future. Thetopic was also the most debated one atthe event.

"Data overload must be addressed.

Exploitation ofdata is a realitynow," said AirChief Marshal SirStuart William Peach, Commander JointForces Command, UK Ministry of Defence.

Maj Gen John M. Custer (retd), Director ofFederal Strategic Missions and Programs,EMC, highlighted the gravity of the prob-lem by citing examples of the kind of datathat will be available in future. "Do youknow that there are nearly 1.85 millionclosed-circuit cameras in UK today? Andby 2015, the world is going to produce

yottabytes (1024 bytes) of data," heinformed. "With a huge volume and thekind of data that is being generated today,the challenge is to move from networkcentricity to data centricity," he said.

"Intelligence operations have changed inthe last decade. We need technology thatis going to give us better insight andunderstanding of a situation and henceenhance our intelligence," said Lt. GenMichael Maples, US Army (retd), Chairmanof the Board, Intergraph GovernmentSolutions (IGS), adding, "Geospatial tech-

nology improves oursituational awarenessby providing us infor-mation about a partic-ular area. Fusion ofthis kind of informationis important. We needto exploit the technolo-gy further to better ourcapabilities."

His views were echoedby H. John Oechsle, Executive Vice Presi-dent Strategy, Product, DigitalGlobe, whosaw opportunities in this sector. "Rightnow, we have vast amounts of data frommultiple sources. Making sense of thisdata is a problem. But that's also anopportunity," he said, adding, "Tremendousnew opportunities are emerging with inte-grated visualisation of complex data sets.By studying the past trends, we can antici-pate future trends." He, however, said that

I


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there is a need to quicken the process ofdata analysis.

Predictive analysis

"What if you could stop a crime before ithappens? In other words, deny a criminal anopportunity to do the crime?" asked Cap-tain Sean Malinowski, Commanding Officer,Foothill Patrol Division, Los Angeles PoliceDepartment. Captain Malinowski has beguna 6-month trial programme to determine theeffectiveness of predictive analysis in hisarea of operation in the US. He describespredictive analysis as 'A place-basedapproach to crime analysis that utilisesalgorithm-driven crime forecasts to informdecision making to prevent crime'. In simplewords, it's crime forecasting.

Anti-piracy operations

Piracy is a major problem threatening themaritime community, especially in the Gulfof Aden. Experts discussed how remotesensing and geoint can aid in counter-pira-cy operations. Some of the challengesencountered in the process are maintainingaccurate real-time positions of the vessels,getting geospatial information about smallvessels and so on. Colonel Neil Thompson(retd), Managing Partner, WCGroup, high-lighted an interesting point when heshowed satellite images of how piracy hasled to economic development in Somalia.

Standards

Concerns were also raised about the needto build common geospatial standards formilitary forces around the world. "Stan-dards are what will enable us to processand utilise the multi-int capabilities better,"said Lt. Gen Michael Maples, US Army(retd), Chairman of the Board, IntergraphGovernment Solutions (IGS). "We need tobring together all the information in acoherent manner," he added.

Maps - the new apps

"Maps are becoming apps. Today, data is acommodity and apps must be readily avail-able to users; for users, nowadays, are techsavvy customers, collaborators, contributorsand creators," said Barry Barlow, Head ofAcquisitions, NGA. He informed that NGAis working towards building apps which willprovide online on-demand information to itssoldiers. It also intends to make geointavailable in the hands of its users by build-ing geospatial apps for phones. "We aretrying to change the face of geoint. It'sabout putting the power of geoint in yourhands," Barry said.

While many appeared excited with NGA'svision of enabling geoint in a soldier'shands by way of mobile technology, someexpressed apprehensions about so muchdependence on technology. "We have to

ensure that our soldiers look ahead andare not always glued to phone," said Lt.Gen Maples.

Cloud

"Is a cloud implementation right for you? Will a cloud solution improve youroperational effectiveness?" asked JohnDay, Director, Global Defence BusinessDevelopment, Esri, who spoke about cloud-enabled geoint during his presenta-tion. He advised the audience to ask thesekind of questions to themselves; and optfor these services only when they are convinced about its benefits. Talking about advantages of using cloud in today'senvironment, he said, "GIS capabilities arerapidly evolving in the cloud. GIS is foreveryone."

Conclusion

The event witnessed a healthy discussionamong experts who spoke about a numberof issues ranging from the advantages thatgeoint capabilities have bought in a war-zone to some of the challenges that needserious consideration.

Some of the advantages and capabilitieshighlighted were - insight and foresight (thepower to predict what might happen nextbased on facts gathered), threat manage-ment, providing decision and operationalsupport, and elements of intelligence (envi-ronmental, human analysis and insurgency).

The future of geoint was described best byLt. Gen Maples when he said, "What liesahead is greater, more complex threats anddifferent budgetary constraints. New chal-lenges will require enhanced multi-int,"adding, "We have to exploit technology insuch a way that right information is provid-ed to the right person and for right pur-pose."

Copyright © 2011 Esri. All rights reserved.

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FEBRUARY13 - 17 February 2012 Alaska Surveying &Mapping Conference

Anchorage, Alaska, UShttp://www.aksmc.org

22 - 24 February Esri Federal GIS Conference

Washington DC, UShttp://www.esri.com/events/fed-con/index.html

24 - 26 February SENSORNETS 2012

Rome, Italyhttp://www.sensornets.org/

24 - 28 February AAG Annual Meeting

New York, UShttp://goo.gl/vt2Wo

27 - 29 February Inspire 2012

Denver, UShttp://goo.gl/FSnbq

Feb 26 - March 1National States GeographicInformation Council Mid-YearMeeting

Annapolis, UShttp://goo.gl/0ElBq

MARCH

05 - 07 March 6th International Technology, Education andDevelopment Conference

Valencia, Spainhttp://www.iated.org/inted2012

12 - 15 March GIS/CAMA Technologies Conference

San Antonio, UShttp://www.urisa.org/confer-ences/2012gis_cama

14 - 17 March 6th Latin American

Geographic Colloqium "The New Latin AmericanRegional Settings from aGeographic Perspective"

Paraná, Argentinahttp://www.fhaycs-uader.edu.ar

16 March GI Zeitgeist 2012

Münster, Germanyhttp://gi-zeitgeist.uni-muen-ster.de/?p=1

19 - 23 March ASPRS 2012 Annual Conference

Sacramento, US

http://www.asprs.org

26 - 30 March Geotunis 2012

Tunis, Tunisiahttp://www.geotunis.org

APRIL02 - 04 AprilGISWORX 2012

Dubai, UAEhttp://www.gisworx.ae

02 - 04 AprilWhere Conference 2012

San Francisco, CAhttp://whereconf.com/where2012

03 - 04 AprilMiddle East GeospatialForum 2012

Doha, State of Qatarhttp://megf.org

22 - 27 April European Geosciences UnionGeneral Assembly

Vienna, Austria http://www.egu2012.eu

23 - 27 AprilGeospatial World Forum2012

Amsterdamhe Netherlandshttp://www.geospatialworldfo-rum.org/

30 April Esri Petroleum GIS Conference

Houston, Texas, UShttp://www.esri.com/events/petroleum-energy/index.html

MAY01 - 03 May Esri Forestry GIS Conference

Redlands, UShttp://goo.gl/t1B8k

14 - 17 MayGlobal Geospatial Conference 2012 (GSDI 13)

Quebec, Canadahttp://www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi13

15 - 17 MayBe Together: The BentleyUser Conference

Philadelphia, USAhttp://www.bentley.com/en-US/Community/BE+Conference

22 - 23 May Location Intelligence Conference/Oracle Spatial 2012

Washington DC, UShttp://goo.gl/tnY9o

29 - 31 MayMundoGEO Connect 2012

Sao Paulo, Brazilhttp://goo.gl/pn7li

JUNE04 - 07 JuneHexagon 2012

Las Vegas, Nevada, USAhttp://goo.gl/iI6gv

June 05 - 06South Africa GeospatialForum

Johannesburg, South Africahttp://www.sageospatialforum.org

21 - 23 JuneGeospatial EXPO 2012

Japanhttp://www.g-expo.jp/en/index.html

JULY03 - 06 JulyGI_Forum 2012

Salzburg, Austriahttp://www.gi-forum.org

23 - 27 JulyESRI User Conference

Sandiego, C.A, USAhttp://www.esri.com/events/user-conference/index.html

AUGUST05 - 10 August International Geological Congress

Brisbane, Australiahttp://www.34igc.org

14 - 17 AugustLatin America Geospatial Forum 2012

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.http://lagf.org

25 Aug - 01 Sept.ISPRS 2012

Melbourne, Australia http://www.isprs2012.org

SEPTEMBER

06 - 08 SeptemberState of the Map 2012

Tokyo, Japanhttp://stateofthemap.org

10 - 15 SeptemberFOSS4G 2012

Beijing, Chinahttp://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_2012

17 - 19 September Asia Geospatial Forum

Hanoi, Vietnamhttp://www.asiageospatialfo-rum.org


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