Zooming in on the potential of India’s geospatial region

The date of February 15, 2021 will be considered as a crucial moment when the new guidelines to fully regulate the geospatial area for Indians came into effect. As we celebrate the first anniversary of this moment, it is time to look back and assess its impact and identify constraints so that the full potential of the geospatial region can be realized.

not much

India has a strong ecosystem in geospatial, which includes Survey of India (SOI), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC), and especially the National Informatics Center (NIC) and all ministries Huh. Departments, in general, using geospatial technology. However, the full benefits have not yet reached the public; Nor does it contribute much to the country’s GDP.

Since the announcement of the guidelines, there has been a lot of hype and hoax about the geospatial area. The Prime Minister’s speech during Independence Day and the mention of geospatial in the Union Budget have created much needed buzz. The media also published several articles projecting the market to be around ₹1 lakh crore with a 13% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) by the year 2029. As a result, there is renewed interest in the geospatial sector, which was once considered taboo by investors.

The past year has also seen some activity on the ground. Most notable was the increased subscription to MapmyIndia’s initial public offering. Another noteworthy activity was the launch of a city mapping program in India by Genesis International. Such aggressive investors’ approach to geospatial was not seen in the earlier regime; It is certain that the new guidelines have played a role. Today, there is a positive mood in the private industry, which is not as apprehensive and conservative as in previous years.

While the government has done its job and the industry is buzzing, questions remain: is there full potential to exploit geospatial? Or are there still constraints even though the enabling policy is in place? These are important questions and should be dealt with.

important issues

One of the major constraints is the absence of a large geospatial market in India. There is no demand for geospatial services and products on a scale associated with India’s capacity and size. This is mainly due to the lack of awareness among the potential users in government and private. The second obstacle has been the paucity of skilled manpower throughout the pyramid. The unavailability of foundation data, especially at high-resolution, is also a constraint. The lack of clarity on data sharing and collaboration prevents co-creation and maximizing assets. Finally, barring a few cases, there are still no ready-to-use solutions designed specifically to solve India’s problems.

Unless these issues are addressed, policy alone will not suffice. Of course, it can be argued that the restrictive data policy of the past was the root cause of many of these limiting factors. However, the experience has been that even after a year has passed since the new guidelines were implemented, users are still not fully aware of things. This is true in all government departments, and confusion persists in private industry.

have a protocol in place

It is understood that these issues cannot be resolved overnight and formulation of guidelines alone is not sufficient. It will be difficult to overcome the inertia and mentality due to decades of restrictions. However, India needs to be aggressive to leapfrog; Therefore, as far as this area is concerned, special attention is required. First and foremost it is important that the entire policy document be published and made public and private users aware of things. The data available with government departments should be unlocked, and data sharing should be encouraged and facilitated. This would only be possible through an open data sharing protocol. The government needs to invest in developing standards and order adoption of standards. A geo-portal needs to be set up to make all public-funded data accessible through a data as a service model, without any fees or nominal charges. Most important is to inculcate a culture of data sharing, collaboration and co-creation.

While different types of data will be produced on a project-to-project basis, there is a need to generate foundation data across India. This should include the Indian National Digital Elevation Model (InDEM), data levels for cities and data on natural resources. Solution developers and start-ups should be engaged to create solution templates for various business processes across departments. Local technology and solutions should be promoted and competition should be encouraged for quality production. As the new guidelines prevent high-accuracy data from being stored in foreign clouds, there is a need to develop a geospatial data cloud locally and facilitate the solution as a service. For example, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change can host a full suite of Geographic Information System (GIS) applications such as action plans, wildlife corridor mapping, social forestry, etc. National organizations like SOI and ISRO should be entrusted with the responsibility. Projects related to regulation and security and scientific importance of the nation. These organizations should not compete with the entrepreneurs for government business as the latter remain in a disadvantageous position.

an academic program

While there are many in India who are trained in geospatial, this is mostly either through master’s level programs or on the job training. Unlike the West, India lacks core professionals who understand geospatial to the end. India should also introduce graduate programs in geospatial at the Indian Institutes of Technology and National Institutes of Technology. In addition, there should be a dedicated geospatial university. Such programs will promote research and development efforts that are critical to the development of technologies and solutions at the local level.

The geospatial sector in the country is well positioned for investment. However, clarity on the issues discussed and creation of an enabling ecosystem is essential. By the time we celebrate the 10th anniversary, we should achieve the projected market volume and make Indian entrepreneurs stand on the international stage.

Bharat Lohani is Professor at IIT Kanpur and Founder-Director of Geoco India Pvt Ltd. Rajesh Mathur is an advisor to ESRI India Technologies Limited.