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24 25 years of IRS

Touching the skiesProf. Arup Dasgupta

Articles

50 Data policy

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56 Tendering process

Learning the ropesBhanu Rekha

60 Large Format Printers

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68 OGC Beat

The value of certificationLuis Bermudez

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Caught in a jamAnusuya Datta

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07 Editorial

08 News

22 Product Watch

70 TechKnow Buzz

72 Tenders

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32 Raymond O’ConnorPresident, Topcon Positioning Systems

‘Construction and farmingare the two largest manufacturing industries but the least automated’

Inside...

The edition contains 76 pages including cover

5Geospatial World | March 2013

Aida Opoku MensahDirector – ICT Division, UN Economic Commission for Africa

Barbara RyanSecretariat Director, Group on Earth Observations

Bryn FosburghSector Vice-President, Executive CommitteeMember,Trimble Navigation

Dorine BurmanjeChair-Executive Board, Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency (Ka-daster), The Netherlands

Greg BentleyCEO, Bentley Systems

Prof. Ian DowmanFirst Vice President,ISPRS

Dr. Hiroshi MurakamiDirector-General of Planning Department, Geospatial Information Authority of Japan

Juergen DoldPresidentHexagon Geosystems

Kamal K SinghChairman and CEO,Rolta Group

Lisa CampbellVice President, Engineering & Infrastructure, Autodesk

Mark ReichardtPresident and CEO,Open Geospatial Consortium

Matthew O’ConnellCEO, Adhoc Holdings

Mohd Al RajhiAsst Deputy Minister for Land & Surveying,Ministry of Municipal & Rural Affairs, Saudi Arabia

Ramon PastorVice-President and General Manager, Large Format Printing Business, Hewlett-Packard

Stephen LawlerChief Technology Officer, Bing Maps, Microsoft

Dr Swarna Subba RaoSurveyor General of India

Vanessa Lawrence Director General andChief Executive, Ordnance Survey, UK

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DisclaimerGeospatial World does not necessarily subscribe to the views expressed in the publication. All views expressed in this issue are those of the contributors. Geospatial World is not responsible for any loss to anyone due to the information provided.

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Prof. Josef StroblChair, Department of Geoinformatics, University of Salzburg, Austria

©2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, UltraCam, UltraMap and UltraCam Eagle are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Fly high with the Eagle f210.

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Taking mapping to new heights.


Miles to go… and explore the woods

Of late, India has been in the news for wrong reasons: falling growth rate, rising inflation, alleged fiscal im-proprieties, crime, etc. While these

factors grabbed media attention, the real growth story, a growth powered by the use of geospatial technology, has not made headlines. Even the news of the successful launch of PSLV-C20 and its feat of putting seven satellites into orbit, all in the presence of no less a person than the President of India merited a four inch column on page nine of India’s leading daily. The fact that with this launch PSLV has set an enviable record of 95% success rate, also went unnoticed. Successful technologies rarely make news and this is reflected in the scant attention paid to the successful operationalisation of g-tech in government departments.

25 years ago, when India took its first step into operational remote sensing and stalwarts like Satish Dhawan and M G K Menon dreamt of a space-based scientific and technological revolu-tion that would leapfrog India into a technologi-cally enabled society, it would have been difficult to imagine the progress made since then. Today, every major government project has a strong geospatially-enabled backbone. The going has not been easy. While scientists and engineers took to geospatial technology as duck to water, for the rest of India, it was all water off the duck’s back. Fear of technology, fear of transparency and a spirit of ‘if it isn’t broke don’t fix it’ ruled. The trouble was it was broke: cities bursting at the seams, land records not verified since Independence, horrendous power losses and environmental degradation - it was only a matter of time before the facts could not be denied any longer.

Some of the scientific and technical depart-ments soldiered on but for operational depart-ments, used to buying materials, it was a challenge to buy services. What were the deliverables? Is the lowest bidder the best bidder? These were the challenges which had to be met not only by the departments but also by the vendors. It was a learning process. Those who persevered came up trumps. It also helped that, thanks to the IT revolution, many Indian companies won overseas

contracts and this provided a learning opportu-nity. Professional societies also put in their bit through training courses, seminars and competi-tive awards. Today, states vie with each other to showcase their g-enabled status.

In the words of Robert Frost which impressed India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, ‘the woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep’. Pandit Nehru was a man who dreamt of a modern industrialised India and called the big projects of his times ‘temples of modern India’. Today, India’s IT industry and its geospatial com-ponent have become virtual temples. Yet, that is not enough. Those woods need to be explored. Re-search in geospatial technology is woefully lacking. Very few new ideas are emerging from academia and research institutions and the divide between academia and industry continues to remain un-bridged. Consequently, the full capability of geospatial technology has not been realised. While meteorology and climate change studies have progressed well in the area of geospatial model-ling, it is lacking in areas such as urban planning and environmental conservation.

Simon and Moody’s have upgraded India’s growth to 6.1 percent. How much of this upturn will be contributed by g-tech?

EditorSpeak

Prof Arup DasguptaManaging [email protected]

8 Geospatial World | March 2013

BUSINESS

Over $2mn GIS imagery grant to 24 firms

Esri and PCI Geomatics have selected 24 organisations to develop and apply innovative methods for using GIS to analyse imagery for land use man-agement. Through the Esri Natural Resources Imagery Grant Program, Esri and PCI Geomatics each will provide grant recipients with software and data valued at $100,000. Participants are required to improve efficiency, produc-tivity or accuracy for detecting and ana-lysing land-cover change using MDA’s synthetic aper-ture radar (SAR) imagery fromRADARSAT-2and 5 m multi-spectral imagery from RapidEye.They will use Esri and PCI software to process and analyse imagery.

EagleView, Pictometry create $100-mn company

EagleView Technologies and Pictometry International have entered into a merg-er agreement, which results in a single new company. EagleView and Pictom-ery are now wholly owned subsidiaries of the new entity. The former sharehold-ers of EagleView and Pictometry will each hold approximately 50% of the outstanding capital stock of the com-bined company on a fully-diluted basis. Combined, the two companies gener-ated about $100mn in revenue in 2012.The merger will create a global leader providing unparalleled geo-referenced

aerial imagery and analytical software solutions servicing both government and commercial customers.

$14-mn contract for geospatial solutions

Intermap has completed the final contracting requirements relating to the $14.5 million Letter of Award previously announced in January. Under the termsof the contract, Intermap will providedefined geospatial solutions to an inter-national customer, including elevationand imagery related information for identified areas in Southeast Asia. In-termap will use its proprietary airborne radar technology to collect and processthe 3D digital models of the selected areas. The project is scheduled to com-mence immediately and is expected to be complete prior to year-end 2013.

Alion to support US Army’s geospatial enterprise

To help build geospatial battlefield intelligence, Alion Science and Tech-nology will provide the US Army withgeospatial enterprise development, integration and evaluation under a $24million award. Alion, under a three-year contract will generate policy and stan-dards that will guide the use of geospa-tial data throughout the Army, develop geospatial data, support the testing of geospatial based systems and create geospatial policy documents.

$2.2-mn contract for GPS augmentation

ITT Exelis has won a $2.2 millioncontract from the Air Force Research

Laboratory for research in support of the current GPS programme. ITT Exelis will research the development of a small satellite navigation payload, known as the GPS Navigation Satel-lite (GPS NAVSAT) to augment this system. The GPS NAVSAT seeks to provide affordable capabilities to aid end-users located in difficult-to-access environments. The GPS NAVSAT will operate in a similar fashion to the cur-rent GPS system, but it will also aid the current system’s end-users in signal-constrained environments, be it urban or mountainous terrain.

APPLICATION

Phone’s existing sensors for indoor navigation

Communication and navigation tech-nologies have come a long way, but indoor navigation was a real challenge for mobile devices - at least until Movea came along. The technology solutions provider has unveiled a new app which uses a phone’s existing sensors to cal-culate indoor position. Movea’s indoor navigation system takes signals from a

$100kGIS imagery grant to 24 firms each

NEWSAmericasNEWSAmericas

Image Courtesy: popularmechanics.com


handset’s accelerometer, magnetome-ter, gyroscope, pressure sensor, GPS and Wi-Fi and matches them against known maps. To begin with, the app asks for the user’s height in order to estimate one’s step length. With every move the user makes, the phone’s accelerometer registers the step and the app detects the movement. The app further uses the phone’s magnetometer as a compass to determine which way the user is facing.

USAID, NGOs to track foreign aid via GIS

Every year, international aid donors al-locate around $150 billion to support hu-man and socio-economic developmentworldwide. However, it is becoming achallenge to monitor and track develop-ment aid as it goes to sub-national levelsmaking it difficult for the internationaldevelopment community and govern-ments to determine how funds are usedand whether they are achieving results. Asa response to the international devel-opment community’s call for greater

transparency in development assistance,AidData Centre for Development Policy was formed to improve the accessibility of aid information. “The centre will builda global network of geographers, healthscientists, economists, political scientists,computer scientists, and statisticians whoare committed to helping USAID andother development agencies reduce thecost and increase the impact of their aidprogrammes,” said AidData Co-executiveDirector Brad Parks.

NASA detects small changes in landscape

A new way of studying and visualising earth science data from a NASA andUS Geological Survey (USGS) satellite programme is resulting in, for the first time, the ability to see the small events that can cause big changes in an eco-system. The LandTrendr tool is able to find patterns previously buried withinvast amounts of scientific data. Withthe help of this tool for the first time in satellite imagery an obscured, slow-

moving decline and recovery of trees in Pacific Northwest forests can be seen. The tool uncovered an insect outbreak from space.

MISCELLANEOUS

‘US Navy should develop GIS map of the oceans’

The US Navy can offer a Google-type information service to the world by or-ganising its diverse data in a form that would serve individuals, businesses and people. This would place the Navy in the realm of GIS providers whose services are sweeping the globe, said John Smart, president of the Accelera-tion Studies Foundation. The service would be built around the concept of open, safe, lawful and sustainable seas for all people, Smart said. Accord-ing to John, the Navy would create a public GIS map of the oceans and populate it with vital information—all unclassified—that would be useful for anyone entering the maritime environment.

Months after map fiasco, Apple on a hiring spree

In a massive overhaul of its heavily lambasted mapping software, Apple has posted job ads for software engineers who will help in improving its map apps. Apple has started advertising for a large number of iOS Software Engineers whose specific focus will be on improving the Apple Maps app that is included with iOS 6. The company is advertising for ten new software engineer positions, all dedicated to working on various aspects of the Maps Im

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Land managed by the USFS in Washington, Oregon, California


app. Apple’s mapping woes started in June last year, when it dropped Google and launched its own maps app - using licensed data and its own software. However, the new job postings renew CEO Tim Cook’s promise of improving its doomed app.

GPS on tiny objects may become a reality soon

Imagine having GPS navigation capabil-ity embedded on something as small as a hummingbird-size unmanned aerial vehicle. That day may be coming soon, thanks to ongoing research and success-ful testing completed by Rockwell Collins and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA’s Dynamics Enabled Frequency Sources (DEFYS) effort has created tiny electron-ic oscillators and Rockwell Collins has been testing the miniature clocks on GPS radios. The DEFYS effort has produced microscale oscillators that are nearly 30 times smaller than what is currently used on GPS receivers. They also consume 320 times less power.

Crowdsourcing tracks influenza outbreaks

A severe flu strain has hit the US and is spreading across the nation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has categorised the illness as "widespread" in 41 states and 7 other states are seeing regional activity. In tracking the flu, physicians and public health officials are using a host of new surveillance tools like crowdsourcing and social media. Such tools let them get a sense of the flu's reach in real-time rather than wait weeks for doctor's of-

Geospatial World | March 2013

fices and state health departments to re-port in. Influenza A H3N2 was the most commonly detected influenza subtype nationwide.

JAMAICA

Mapping natural hazards made easy

The island nation has launched its first Virtual Reference Station Network (VRS), gFIX.net, a tool for mapping natural hazards. Robert Pickersgill, Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change said that as natu-ral hazards become an increasingly regular feature of life for many people around the globe, “gFIX.net will be a useful addition to the tools we have available to map them.” It is an inte-grated system of GPS, which uses data from a network of fixed reference sta-tions to model errors near surveying

locations. This data is then relayed to a roving receiver and used to improve the accuracy of reading in a particular area. The gFIX.net comprises 13 high precision global navigation satellite systems, which are strategically placed across the island to facilitate the ac-curate collection of data.

BRAZIL

First monitoring station for GLONASS launched

The first overseas GLONASS ground station for differential correction and monitoring to improve the navigation system’s accuracy has been launched in Brazil. “This station will be the first point of correction in the western hemisphere and will significantly improve the accuracy of GLONASS navigation signals,” a spokesman for the Federal Space Agency said.

NEWSAmericas

NEW APPOINTEES

APPOINTMENT

13 MEMBERS APPOINTED TO NGACSecretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has appointed 13 professionals to serve as members of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC), which pro-vides recommendations on federal geospatial policy and management issues and advice on development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). “The NGAC’s inclusion of a broad range of perspectives, governmental, tribal, private sector, and academic, enables it to provide valuable advice to fed-eral agencies on the most pressing geospatial issues, and helps us make better progress toward our goal of seamless integration and accessibil-ity of geospatial data,” said Anne Castle, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science.


UK

Deal to make GPS free and open

The United States and United Kingdom have announced that the British gov-ernment would end efforts to obtain patent or intellectual property (IP) rights related to GPS. The two govern-ments affirmed their joint commit-ment to ensuring that GPS civil signals will remain perpetually free and openly available for users worldwide. As part of this effort, the UK is dedicat-ing all government-held patents and patent applications relating to US GPS civil signal designs and their broadcast from GPS and other global navigation satellite systems to the public domain.

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industry professionalsThe BIM 2050 group has been launched to enable young profes-sionals working in all sectors of the construction industry to have their say on the future of digital technolo-gies including building information modelling (BIM). Cabinet Office Parliamentary Secretary Chloe Smith said, “We are taking great strides to make government construction faster, cheaper and more innovative. We have already saved GBP 179 million for the taxpayer by stripping out waste and are trail-blazing the use of digital technol-ogies such as BIM, a pioneering UK-led ICT solution that shares building plans with multiple contractors working on a building project.”

Citizens to geo-reference library’s map collectionEnthusiasts are being asked to update arguably the greatest map collection in the world. The British Library wants on-line volunteers to add further insights to its vault of ancient terrains, using Google Earth and location tagging to work out where historic sites might lie today. The last time the library invited the public to help update its collection of more than 4.5 million maps, 708 new additions were made in a week. “This project brings together people’s passion for maps and history with the latest online crowdsourcing tools. It’s a fascinating way to explore the past while improving the information that underpins our digi-tised collections,” said Kimberly Kowal, the Lead Curator of Digital Mapping.


UK Space Agency gets new chief executiveDavid Parker has been appointed as the new chief executive of the UK Space Agency. Parker has been acting Chief Executive of the Agency since December 2012 and will take up the role with im-mediate effect. The Minister for Universi-ties and Science David Willetts said, “I’m delighted to welcome David Parker as the next Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency. He has been part of the agency since its creation and most recently played a leading role in securing GBP 1.2 billion of UK investment at the European Space Agency Ministerial meeting.”

Geofencing to enable new multi-billion markets by ‘17

With low-cost developer’s tools becom-ing available, geofencing is finally com-ing out of the shadows, moving beyond traditional location-based applications, to form the backbone of a host of new applications and services. Senior ana-lyst, Patrick Connolly said, “Collectively geofencing will enable whole new multi-billion dollar markets around these emerging areas. However, the provision of geofencing tools will be a market in its own right, forecast to reach almost $300 million in 2017. More developers are increasingly looking to pivot to enter-prise applications, where companies are happy to pay for services that provide RoI, geofencing will open the door.”

Glasgow to become UK’s first ‘smart city’

The Scottish city of Glasgow has won a £24 million grant from the UK’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB) to

become Britain’s first “smart city”. The money will be spent by the council on services for residents that will make the quality of living in the city better. Glasgow beat 30 other UK cities for the prize. Projects on the table include real-time traffic information, apps to check when buses and trains are ar-riving and a pothole reporting service. Facial analysis for the city’s CCTV network and energy use monitoring to make electricity and gas delivery more efficient are also mooted.

English Channel switches on GPS backup

In a bid to improve navigational safety in the world’s busiest shipping channel, ships in parts of the English Channel will now be able to access eLoran radio navigation technology as a backup to satellite navigation systems

like GPS and Galileo. The ground-based eLoran system provides alterna-tive position and timing signals for improved navigational safety. The Do-ver area, the world’s busiest shipping lane, is the first in the world to achieve this initial operational capability (IOC) for shipping companies operating both passenger and cargo services.

FRANCE

Galileo’s Cospas–Sarsat clears first space test

The first switch-on of a Galileo search and rescue package shows it to be working well. Its activation begins a major expansion of the space-based Cospas–Sarsat network, which brings help to air and sea vessels in distress. The second pair of Europe’s Gali-

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Cospas-Sarsat system overview

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13Geospatial World | March 2013Geospatial World | March 2013

leo navigation satellites – launched together on 12 October last year – are the first of the constellation to host SAR search and rescue repeaters. These can pick up UHF signals from emergency beacons aboard ships and aircraft or carried by individuals, then pass them on to local authorities for rescue.

operations

Commercial operations of SPOT 4 satellite have been terminated. The joint decision on stopping commercial operations of the satellite was made by the SPOT 4 owner - CNES (French Space Agency) and the satellite Opera-tor – Astrium GEO-Information Ser-vices. The satellite has been operating for almost 15 years (177 months) since its launch in March 1998. Over 6.8 million images of the earth have been acquired since then.

Envisat-Meris images available for free

The VITO image processing team in collaboration with ESA and Belgian Science Policy announced a new free

product in the world of low resolu-tion earth observation data, the global Envisat-MERIS 10-daily composites at 1 km resolution (EM10). The Envisat-Meris S10 or “EM10” are near-global, 10-daily composite images which are synthesised from the “best available” observations registered in the course of every “dekad” by the orbiting earth observation system Envisat-Meris. The EM10 products are available free of charge for non-commercial use.

GERMANY

contract from ESA

The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded Astrium EUR 108 million worth of prime contractor agreements cover-

ing the development of the Ariane 6 and Ariane 5 ME launchers. The contracts follow on from the decisions reached at the ESA Ministerial Council meeting in Naples on 20-21 November 2012. Under these contracts, Astrium will launch the initial definition and feasibility studies for the future Ariane 6 European launch-er. Expected to run for six months, the study phase aims to identify the concept and architecture for Ariane 6 and will set out the new launcher’s main specifica-tions prior to its industrial development.

SPAIN

Agreement to promote exchange of geo-info

The Department of Municipal Affairs in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi signed an MoU with the Cartography Institute of Catalonia in Spain, a mapping agency specialised in the field of GIS and the necessary technological systems to build and manage the integrated geo-detic positioning systems and the main-tenance of the topographic data. This MoU comes in line with the economic growth and comprehensive develop-ment in the Emirate and will enhance geospatial services provided by the municipal system to the residents.

FINLAND

Nokia maps

Nokia has won another bout in its ev-erlasting battle with Google. Only this time the stage was not the smartphone platform but maps. In a major victory, automobile major Toyota has adopted Nokia’s HERE for its next-generation navigation system over Google’s Local Search in Europe. Nokia’s ‘Local Search for Automotive’ will be included as part of one of multiple in-dash touch-screen navigation options available in Toyota’s ‘Touch & Go’ information sys-tem. Nokia claims that Toyota drivers will have easy online access to high-quality industry mapping information and community-generated content fed directly into their cars by leveraging Nokia Local Search for Automotive.MERIS mosaic of Africa

The contracts enable:

NEWSEuropeNEWSEurope


The two-day National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) Users’ Meet 2013, held in Hyderabad, discussed issues regarding application of remote sensing in national development and making data available to the lowest rung of the users. Talking about mobile power, Professor Jayara-man said today’s mobile phones have more power than the computers Ameri-cans used to launch man on moon. He identified cloud as the next step and crowd sourcing, cloud computing and social networking as the new areas.

Experts hailed the Indian space programme as unique because it addressed all the national developmental issues. “The way we

have named the satellites – Resourcesat, Cartosat , Oceansat etc — only tells how we have taken consideration of each social segment. We have been looking at natural resources, social programmes, mapping for use by various ministries, contributing towards development and disaster management,” PG Diwakar, Director, Earth Observation Systems said. The meet also discussed how data is no longer an issue today. The IRS data prices have come down by more than 100% as compared to the last

Five Year Plan. Lastly, the user meet urged for

better R&D from academia and participation of the private sector to make such events a success.

NRSC meet discusses national development, calls for more user participation

NEWSAsia

INDIA

‘Geo services enabling Indian economy to grow’

The Indian geo services industry generated $ 3 billion in revenue in 2011 alone while accounting for approximately 1,35,000 jobs, accord-ing to a BCG report commissioned by Google. More significantly, the impact of the geo services industry is valued at approximately 15 times its own size. In India, geo services help Indian businesses drive $ 40-45 billion in revenue, save $ 70-75 billion in costs and affect 8-9 million jobs in India. The report also revealed that Indian consumers are also willing to pay $ 1.5-2 billion more than they currently do for geospatial services such as online maps, navigation sys-

tems and local searches. The Indian geo services industry is comprised of companies that process the loca-tion data, companies that produce geo-enabled software and expert industries that use geospatial data to generate insights.

SDI portal

To promote the sharing and use of geo-spatial information among state agen-cies, Kerala has launched its own spatial data infrastructure portal. The Kerala spatial data infrastructure geoportal (KSDI Geoportal) allows users to share and access geo-referenced information related to political and administrative boundaries, state geography, demogra-phy, agro and socio economy, resources and infrastructure facilities with their

attributes. It serves as a common plat-form for geospatial information shared across state agencies, the academy, NGOs and other stakeholders.

Geological Survey of India

Geological Survey of India (GSI) will soon have a new state-of-the-art research vessel to carry out coastal survey. GSI deputy director general and head, natural energy resources, NR Ramesh said that the new vessel worth Rs 500 crore will have all mod-ern gadgets to carry out research. “The vessel will have all facilities to go deep waters and conduct survey. It will find out polymetallic nodules and many other things. The work of vessel is progressing in Korea and it will arrive within six months,” Ramesh said.

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Former NRSC chief Prof V. Jayaraman lights the lamp to inaugurate the NRSC Users’ Meet 2013,

Foreign satellites launched

Image Courtesy: ISRO

NEWSAsia

six other satellitesIndo-French satellite ‘SARAL’, along with six foreign mini and micro satel-lites, was launched using ISRO’s work-kkhorse rocket PSLV from the spaceport of Sriharikota. The ISRO-built SARAL is a 410-kg satellite with payloads - Argos and Altika - from French space agency CNES for study of ocean parameters towards enhancing the understanding of the ocean state conditions which are otherwise not covered by the in-situ measurements. Speaking to Geospa-tial World, Devi Prasad Karnik, ISRO spokesperson said this launch has not only strengthened the Indo-French space cooperation but has also boost-ed ISRO’s capabilities as a commercial launcher. “So far, ISRO has launched 35 overseas aircrafts, including six satel-

launches, however nothing has beenfinalised yet,” Karnik added.

MALAYSIA

completed

The Department of Survey andMapping (JUPEM) in Malaysia hascompleted its biggest project called

lites launched on February 25. ISROwill carry out more such commercial


eKadaster in support of the nation’s vision of becoming a developed country by 2020, said Ahmad Fauzi Nordin, Deputy Director General of JUPEM. eKadaster project integrates various systems such as the Land Office’s eTanah, the Land Surveyor’s Board’s eLJT and JUPEM’s Geoportal and MaCGDI (Malaysia Geospatial Data Infrastructure). The project aims to facilitate the sharing of geospatial information and resources between government agencies re-sponsible for land administration.

BANGLADESH

Election commission to digitise database

To eliminate complexities over gathering relevant statistics ahead of the general elections, the Election Commission (EC) will strive to digitise database of all polling centres through-out the country. The EC will enrich its database by inserting geographical locations, photos and other relevant information of all polling stations into a map using the GIS process. Directives have been issued to immediately start work with Dhaka Metropolitan that houses almost 2,000 centres as part of the primary experimental installations.

UAE

Deal to promote geospatial data cooperation

National Center of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS), part of the Min-

istry of Presidential Affairs, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bayanat for Mapping and Surveying Services. Under the MoU, Bayanat will provide the NCMS with a package of services including digital aerial survey, data gathering, geodesy and field surveying, sea-bed profiling and geospatial data visualisation and cartography.

Satellite data to monitor infra development

The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST), as part of its mandate to conduct research using satellite data, has successfully utilised DubaiSat-1 images to moni-tor the construction of Concourse 3 at Dubai International Airport. The UAE’s first satellite has been mapping the progress of the project from its early stages and will continue to track it until its expected completion early this year. “DubaiSat-1 plays a vital role in the infrastructure development process in the UAE. The analysis of the Concourse 3 project highlights EIAST’s capabilities to monitor key developments and pro-vide useful information towards project planning and environment protection,” said Salem Al Marri, Head of Marketing and International Affairs at EIAST.

CHINA

compulsory in vehicles

Major transportation vehicles in parts of China are now required to use homegrown Beidou Naviga-

tion Satellite System (BDS). All tour coaches, long-distance scheduled buses and vehicles for transporting dangerous articles, should install the BDS service when they renew mobile navigation terminals, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Transport. The Ministry aims to have 80% of vehicles in these categories installed with the BDS service by the end of March.

New maps highlight South China Sea islands

China has inked, for the first time, South China Sea islands on its new of-ficial maps in equal scale to that of the Chinese mainland. The new vertical-format maps of China, published by Sinomaps Press, include more than 130 islands and islets in the South Chi-na Sea, most of which have not been featured on previous maps of China. The maps will be very significant in enhancing Chinese people’s aware-ness of national territory, safeguarding China’s marine rights and interests and manifesting China’s political dip-lomatic stance, said Xu Gencai, chief editor of Sinomaps Press.

NEWSAsia

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RUSSIA

‘Ailing space industry to double output by 2020’

An ongoing reform of Russia’s ailing space industry should double its out-put by 2020, according to a new state programme. The increase should give Russia a 16% share in the space tech-nology market by 2020, up from the current 10.7%, said the pro-gramme. Goals outlined in the programme also include creation of the new Angara launch vehicle, development of the Vostochny space port in the Russian Far East and improvements to the Glonass satel-lite navigation system. Russia’s space programme saw a slew of setbacks in recent years, most of them blamed on faulty hardware.

TURKEY

‘17 satellites by 2020’

As per the ambitious road map forthe country’s multiple satellite pro-grammes through 2020, a total of 17Turkish satellites will come into orbit by 2020. A space industry expert based inTurkey said the next five years’ satellitecontracts would amount to $2 billion.According to the road map, Turkey will this year launch the Göktürk II,an electro optical reconnaissance andobservation satellite. Göktürk I as wellas Türksat 4A, a communications satel-

lite, will be launched in 2013. Türksat 4B will be launched in 2014 and Türksat 4R in 2015 along with the Göktürk III, a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) recon-naissance and observation satellite.

JAPAN

Common grid system for disaster response

The Self-Defense Forces, police and the Japan Coast Guard’s regional office in central Japan will use a common coor-dinate system to speed up the dispatch of relief units in emergencies. The SDF, police and Coast Guard in other regions have yet to adopt a common coordinate system, but a Geospatial Information Authority official said the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid is likely to become the national standard in disaster response and prevention activities.

PHILIPPINES

management

Topographic maps generated by LiDAR will be used in flood modeling for disaster risk areas in the Davao region in Philippines. The LiDAR-generated maps will have high resolution of 1:2,500 scale, more detailed than the 1:10,000 geohaz-ard maps of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau. The topographic maps will show elevations up to barangay level. The maps will help in estimating the damage cost of a disaster, including the number of houses that will be affected.

SOUTH KOREA

First observation satellite put into orbit

South Korea has successfully launcheda satellite into space from its own soilfor the first time, weeks after archrivalNorth Korea accomplished a similarfeat, to the surprise of the world. The satellite launched by Seoul is designedto analyse weather data, measureradiation in space, gauges distanceson earth and test how effectively South Korea-made devices installed on thesatellite operate in space. The launchis a culmination of years of effortsby South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largesteconomy, to advance its space pro-gramme and cement its standing as a technology powerhouse.

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ALGERIA

Surveillance satellite to monitor terrorist activities

Alarmed at the emergence of a jihad-ist sanctuary in northern Mali, US in-telligence is considering providing the military heavyweight in North Africa, with a surveillance satellite to monitor al-Qaida operations in the Sahara re-gion. Algeria has for some months re-fused US requests that UAVs deployed in Burkina Faso and in the southern desert of Morocco be allowed to use Algerian airspace to track the jihad-ists. Providing Algeria with spy satel-lites may turn out to be the short end of the stick for the Americans, who say al-Qaida is extending its operations across Africa.

NIGERIA

Computerised cadastre system established

To strengthen property rights and se-curity of land titles within the mining sector, the Nigerian Mining Cadastre Office (MCO), with assistance from GAF AG, has implemented its new mining cadastre system, which takes into account recent amendments in the country’s mining regulations. The efficient and reliable management of mining titles is considered to be a key element in increasing invest-ment in the mining sector in Nigeria. The new system allows MCO to grant, manage and cancel mining titles in an effective manner, thus strengthen-ing the property rights and security of

tenures within the mining sector, as well as improving the transparency of the mineral licensing process and the government’s regulatory capacity.

SOUTH SUDAN

Disease mapping to guide treatment

Rapid mapping to quickly determine precise distribution and prevalence of major neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) such as schistosomiasis and lymphatic filariasis can help guide evidence-based interventions, a study reveals. “Rapid mapping is very

important to help gather information for interventions into NTDs and for national policymaking,” said Simon Brooker, one of the report authors.

The study provided evidence that rapid mapping to target preventive drug treatment is important in public health due to the marked spatial variation of the diseases and the resulting need for evidence-based targeting of treatments.

SOUTH AFRICA

Satellite-based radar to monitor seas

The Council for Scientific and In-dustrial Research’s (CSIR) Meraka Institute is developing a prototype maritime domain awareness system based on imagery from satellite-mounted synthetic aperture radars (SARs). Such a system would allow the country to monitor shipping in its exclusive economic zone and adjacent oceans, enhancing safety and making it easier to detect illegal activities. “SAR allows the detection of ships not using their transpon-ders,” said Dr Brian Salmon, senior researcher, CSIR Meraka Institute. “Add that to the location of the vessel and its activity pattern and that can alert the authorities to possible illegal activities, such as illegal fishing and smuggling,” he added.

Demand for digital mapping services grows

South African companies are embrac-ing digital mapping and plan to invest more money in these services, ac-cording to research released by World Wide Worx. The research revealed that 76% of companies and 38% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) spent more than 2% of their information technology budgets on mapping services — and two-thirds of companies planned to increase their spending. Digital mapping services are primarily used for asset tracking, fleet management and vehicle recovery and navigation.

Image Courtesy: Plos One


GHANA

GIS for national product traceability system

As the country hopes to rake in about USD 3.3 billion from its exports this year, the Ghana Export Promotion Authority has rolled out geographical mapping of companies to create a database for a national product traceability system. A data base for exporters in food and agro processing products will be developed which will enable Ghana to avoid the risk of having its exports to the European Union markets reduced. The EU Commission’s decree on the General Food Law requires all exports be documented so that their history and location could be verified to remove dangerous products from the market. The GIS project involves unique identification of products and raw materials from sources in originating countries and maintenance of accurate records on geographic location of firms, farms, factories, movements and

utilisation of products at all stages of the value chain.

UGANDA

GIS-based addressing system unveiled

The National Postcode & Addressing System, the Entebbe Pilot Project for the country has been announced by mapIT in collaboration with SatNav East Africa. This project will ensure a unique ‘ad-dress’ to every property and will enhance the performance of service providers. The project involves digitalisation of Entebbe maps for the implementation of national postcode and addressing system. This includes the GIS solution with five layers; the implementation of a National Property Identifier using SatCodes to provide address codes for “turn-by-turn” navigation; the place-ment of address placards on all houses in Entebbe as well as a marketing campaign to demonstrate and educate service

providers on the benefits. The system will provide detailed and dynamic addressing information to support the operations of a wide range of users such as Posta Uganda, Entebbe Municipal Council, utility companies and other related service providers.

CONGO

Forest cover map to be developed

The GEOFORAFRI Programme has awarded a contract to GAF AG to com-plete the 2010 forest cover mapping of the Republic of Congo for REDD+. The GEOFORAFRI programme aims to facil-itate the adoption of earth observation techniques and ensure the methodolog-ical and technological know-how within Central and Western African countries, enabling local institutions to carry out forest cover monitoring according to the international guidelines required to participate and benefit from the REDD+

NEWSAfrica


AUSTRALIA

Soaring temperatures alter face of country’s heat map

The country’s record-breaking heat-wave has resulted in one unexpected consequence – Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology had to add new colours to its weather map. Now, parts of Australia that touch temperatures above 122ºF (50ºC) — temperatures that were, until recently, literally off the scale — will be marked in deep purple and terrifying hot pink. “In order to better understand what temperatures we might see, we introduced two new colours,” said Aaron Coutts-Smith, manager of climate services at the Bureau of Meteorology.

Augmented reality apps boon for property sector

True ‘augmented reality’ apps that reveal highly detailed property intel-ligence with just the scan of a smart-phone are now within reach of the

nation’s real estate sector, following the release of a new data source. The new offering, released by MapData, is one of the most detailed and accurate sources

of information on Australian proper-ties ever assembled. Cassandra Barker, General Manager, MapData Services said the data could also be used to cre-ate highly vivid virtual property worlds – meaning a user could become intimate-

ly familiar with a property without ever having to leave their office.

Galileo, GPS technologies integrated

Researchers from Curtin University have discovered how to integrate GPS technology with Galileo. Australian Space Research Programme funded the research. “The integration of mul-tiple systems will enable much more reliable data, particularly where signals from one system may be blocked, such as in open-pit mines or by skyscrap-ers,” said Professor Peter Teunissen from the Western Australian School of Mines.

Fires increase Sentinel satellite demand

As bushfires continue to rage in the country, demand for the national Senti-nel Bushfire Monitoring System, hosted by Geoscience Australia, is at its highest. Hits to the Sentinel Hotspots monitor-

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$2.1 bnworth GIS industry in Australia

ing service on the Geoscience Australiawwebsite have increased from around60,000 a day during December 2012 tomore than 2.5 mn. The Sentinel systemprovides timely and readily accessiblespatial information to emergency ser-vvice managers and fire controllers acrossAAustralia to help identify the locations of hotspots, or fire fronts with a potentialrisk to communities and property.

Mapping technology saves millions

Cutting-edge mapping technology saved more than US$3 million from the bottom line of Australia’s largest ever roadworks. Stretching six kilome-tres the AirportlinkM7 tunnel rivals those of the great Snowy Mountains scheme. David Jaunay, GIS manager for engineering firm Thiess, said that the company’s GIS-centric approach made the job easier for staff members. “The simple layering capability and vvisual nature of GIS technology facili-tates better decision-making,” Jaunay said. “Once Thiess’s staff became familiar with its advantages, usage wwent through the roof, with the central WWeb-based viewer receiving up to 350 vvisits each day,” he added.

Data to help in mineral exploration

Geoscience Australia’s Onshore Energy Security Program has released the final seismic, gravity and magnetotelluric processed data. “Overall, Geoscience AAustralia gathered more than 6500 kilometres of deep crustal seismic data during the Onshore Energy Secu-

y g prity Program and much has proved

invaluable to the minerals and energy exploration industry already,” said Tristan Kemp,Geoscience Australia geophysicist.

Local governments tie up to create interactive maps

Local governments across Australia have come together to participate in a ground breaking new research project that will finally plot out how they collectively use GIS technology to create intelligent and interactive maps based on council land and property records. Esri Australia and the spatial sector’s peak body, the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI) will conduct the research which has been initiated because of the lack of “readily acces-sible” knowledge about how councils implement GIS technology.

New bathymetry dataset offers easier access

A new multibeam bathymetry data-set has been released that provides improved understanding about the topography and nature of the seafloor of offshore Australia, an area which for the most part remains poorly mapped. “As national co-custodian of this extensive multibeam dataset, we hope this new accessibility will facilitate the use of bathymetry data in the wider mapping community,” said Dr Bruce Goleby, Group Leader of Innovation and Specialists Services at Geoscience Australia.

NEW ZEALAND

in schools

Land Information New Zealand(LINZ) has partnered with COREEducation and its LEARNZ projectto develop an interactive learning experience for school students focus-ing on ‘How Geospatial Information issupporting the Canterbury Recovery’.Through the use of multi-media andweb technologies the students get tointeract with inaccessible places andpeople via a Virtual Field Trip (VFT).The VFT is an engaging curriculum,rich e-learning opportunity for stu-dents where the real world comes tothe classroom. During the field trip thestudents stay at school but visit placesthey would never otherwise go to andinteract with people they would neverotherwise meet. The participation of students is enabled using live audio-conferencing, web board and diaries,images and video clips.

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Product WATCH

Energy Mapper now with SDK

Broadcom Corp’s GNSS chip BCM47521

is exclusively designed for the commu-

nications industry.

Key features:

The chip enables ‘geofencing’ capa-

bility which preserves battery life.

It supports GPS, GLONASS, QZSS

and SBAS.

For indoor navigation, it uses Wi-Fi,

GNSS chipfor communications

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), NFC and

handset inertial sensor data.

It notifies when a user enters or

exits a virtual perimeter.

Broadcom Corp, known for semi-

conductor solutions for wired and wire-

less communications, claims the ‘geo-

fence’ technology is a breakthrough in

virtual perimeter awareness.

Location platform forbig dataTerraGo Location Intelligence

Platform is the enterprise-level

software, exclusively designed for

the big data market.

Key features:

It gathers information from

social media.

It integrates geospatial intelli-

gence and delivers situational

awareness.

It works online and also in

bandwidth-restricted environ-

ments.

With the new platform, TerraGo

aims to harness the power of ‘Big

Data’ in geographic context to

build actionable location intel-

ligence. In addition, to reflect the

fusion of innovative discovery,

integration and collaboration

capabilities, TerraGo unveiled new

company branding and logo.

Global Energy Mapper 14.1 along

with software development kit

(SDK), from Blue Marble, is now

available.

Key features:

The new mapper processes

hundreds of millions of LiDAR

point cloud data.

It provides preview of data be-

fore creating a gridded surface

model.

It provides access to detailed

statistical breakdown of the

point cloud.

It makes seismic survey cover-

age easier.

It enables users to create a site

pad for a non-level surface.


Raytheon’s One Force Mobile Collabora-

tion is a mobile app for first responders.

Key features:

It integrates voice, maps, drawing

tools, chat, real-time position track-

ing with GPS, streaming video and

image sharing.

It uses existing hardware and infra-

structure on networks.

It supports 2G, 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi.

It performs equally well over low-

data rate radio and tactical radio

networks.

It has heterogeneous

network capabilities

among responders.

With One Force,

Raytheon aims to

provide reliable and

secure real-time com-

munications, situational

awareness and a suite

of robust collaboration

capabilities for groups of users on

smartphones, tablets and mobile data

computers.

British GIS software developer

Cadcorp has released Web Map Lay-

ers for the insurance sector.

Key features:

It brings together location of assets

and hazards into GIS.

It provides location intelligence to

support multiple business activities.

It includes several tools for data

interrogation and analysis.

The browser-based application com-

bines base map data of users’ choice

with the organisation’s own business

data and helps in sales, underwriting,

customer service and claims investiga-

tion. It also calculates the accumulated

exposure to risk for a specified area,

and inform an underwriter when a pre-

defined level has been reached.

Green Street’s GeoBrand, a new

Web-based graphics-branding

tool, can create custom GIS

maps that reflect a logistics

company’s brand, assets and

processes. Now, users can up-

load custom icons, add unlim-

ited text and colours to countries

using a corporate branded

colour palette. Infographic

maps helps users understand

complex business solutions,

illustrate business data such as

supply chain operations, ware-

house or inventory locations to

customers.

App for secure communications

Cadcorp eyes insurance sector Custom GIS maps for logistic firms


n April 26, 2012 PSLV C-19 roared into the skies from SHAR on the eastern shores of India carrying RISAT-1, the biggest of the Indian Remote Sens-ing Satellite Series (IRS) weighing in at nearly 2 tonnes and carrying a state-of-the-art Synthetic Aperture Radar. It represented a major milestone in the overall Indian Remote Sensing Satellite Programme. Planning for the IRS Programme had begun in the late 1970s and the first satellite of the IRS series, IRS 1A, a 1-tonne satellite carrying two CCD cam-eras, was launched from Baikanur, onboard a Rus-sian Vostok launcher on March 17, 1988. As the Programme completes 25 years, it is worthwhile to recount the IRS Story, the story of one of the most successful programmes of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The genesis The story begins in 1969. Vikram Sarabhai, the father of Space Technology and Applications in India, clearly saw the need for a remote sensing programme for an agricultural society like India. This is what he said in his presentation of the “summary of the conference and recommenda-tion for initiatives” at the First UN Conference on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space at Vienna in 1969:

“When we came to Vienna, we thought that the areas of most immediate practical applica-tions would be communications, meteorology and navigation, in that order. But one of the most striking things to emerge has been appreciation of the great potentiality of remote sensing devices, capable of providing large-scale practical benefits. One of the group discussions considered the cost effectiveness of these techniques, and it was pointed

O

Special Feature | 25 Years of IRS

Touching the skiesTaking the daring step of breaking into the elitist league of space programmes 25 years ago, with a purely development-based agenda, India is firmly at the forefront of earth observation today. Let’s take a look at the remarkable journey

out that there is a high cost benefit ratio, which, for example, in cartography, can be as much as 18:1. The time has come to interest meteorologists, hydrologists, surveyors, agricultural specialists and other groups in such programmes. The chairman of the thematic session summarised the consensus that aircraft could initially be used because of their comparatively low cost. There is need, to begin with, to understand problems of interpretation. Remote sensing cannot replace man on ground, but can direct man’s efforts on ground to be more efficient.”

Sarabhai sowed the seed but did not live long enough to see the fruits as he passed away in 1971. His successors in the Indian Space Research Organisation took the idea forward through a series of steps which were to lead to the IRS Programme. These steps can be sum-marised into three categories. The first was a strategy to utilise opportunities that presented themselves which could add to capacity build-ing. In remote sensing, these included an opportunity to develop a thermal scanner with CNES, launch opportunities for the Bhaskara series of satellites offered by the erstwhile Soviet Space Agency and the offer to become a Prin-cipal Investigator in the Landsat Programme. The second strategy was to pace technology by applications. Thus, right from the first aerial re-mote sensing surveys and Landsat data analysis, ISRO always had end users as equal collabora-tive partners. This led to a third strategy in the form of specific utilisation programmes for its satellites – first Bhaskara and then IRS. This strategy gave a focus to technology developers and opportunity to the user community to own

IRS.indd 24 3/9/2013 7:53:39 PM


the programme by providing a forum where they could voice their needs.

Following a series of experimental satelliteslike the Bhaskara launch on Vostok and RS-D1and RS-D2 launched as experimental payloads onISROs nascent SLV launcher programme, a com-mittee was formed by the late Satish Dhawan, thethen Chairman ISRO, under the Chairmanshipof the late Dr T.A. Hariharan, a senior scientisthandpicked by Dr Sarabhai from the Woods HoleResearch Laboratory, to come up with a blueprintfor an operational Indian Remote Sensing satelliteseries. It included, among others, scientists likeGeorge Joseph, O.P.N. Calla, P.S. Goel and Y.S. Ra-jan who have since then become familiar namesin the Space community.

This committee, in its 1976 report ‘FutureIndian Earth Resources Satellites’, recommendedthat ISRO should build a remote sensing satellitethat could be launched with an Indian rocket.They felt that an optical Multi-spectral Scanner(MSS) similar to that carried by Landsat with aresolution of 100 metres would suffice for many Indian application needs. The committee alsosaid an experimental optical sensor using thenewly emerging Charge Coupled Devices (CCD)technology should also be flown as a back up tothe MSS payload. Microwave payloads were alsoconsidered as important in view of the cloud coverproblems during the major crop-growing season.The committee made a strong recommendationthat those critical technology activities in the areaof sensors, spacecraft subsystems, data processing and data products are undertaken expeditiously for a possible 1982 launch.

Detailed consultations among the scientificand technical professionals in ISRO and outside including the user community followed. Theexperience from Bhaskara and RS-D satellites andother ISRO programmes like the Apple Communi-cations Satellite proved valuable in the configura-tion of what was to become IRS-1. To get the endusers involved in the process, a programme calledthe Joint Experiments Programme was launchedin 1977 to develop a strong user community whocould contribute to the programme by way of ap-

along with six foreign mini and micro satellites, on February 25, 2013

plications development and inputs for the payloadselection and design. Using Landsat imagery and imagery from ISRO’s airborne multispectral scanner (an indigenous offshoot of the thermalscanner developed with CNES), applicationswere developed for various areas like agriculture, hydrology, geology, geomorphology, land use, soil mapping and so on.

The launchThe IRS Programme was launched in late 1981 and its first project IRS was firmed up as a threeaxis stabilised, sun synchronous satellite carrying two CCD cameras with resolutions of 70 m and35 m in four spectral bands covering the visible


and near IR parts of the spectrum. In 1982, the project was cleared by the government and India made an announcement at the second United Nations Conference on the availability of IRS data to the world community, especially the develop-ing countries. Dr K. Kasturirangan was designated the project director and Dr George Joseph was the director for the development of the two CCD pay-loads. There would be two satellites IRS-1A and 1B and an engineering model 1E. IRS-1A would carry three Linear Imaging Self Scanning Sensors; one was LISS 1 with a resolution of 72.5 m and two others were LISS-2A and B with resolution of 36.25 m. The decision to drop the multispectral scanner and commit to a new technology, the Charge Cou-pled Device, for the sensors was path breaking. The only other satellite to opt for this technology was the French SPOT satellite launched in 1986. IRS-1A and SPOT-1 were thus contemporaneous, both leading the switch to this new technology.

In 1983, the National Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS) was set up by the Departments of Space and Science and Technol-ogy. The NNRMS was the brainchild of Prof Satish Dhawan and Prof M.G.K. Menon to prepare vari-ous government departments as well as educa-tional institutions to make the fullest use of the IRS system. As part of this, three major efforts were launched in the areas of forestry, groundwater exploration and wasteland mapping. On March 17, 1988 IRS-1A took to the skies from Baikanur atop a Vostok rocket.

Early on the morning of March 18, the excite-ment of waiting for IRS-1A to ‘open its eyes’ was palpable at the Shadnagar earth station of the Na-tional Remote Sensing Agency. The satellite was controlled from the ISRO Tracking and Telemetry Station in Bangalore. Each event was relayed by voice from Bangalore to Shadnagar; acquisition of the spacecraft as it rose above the southern horizon and the series of operational commands followed by ‘payload on’. A big cheer went up as the first images of the southern peninsula of India came into view on the quick look display moni-tor. India had stepped into the age of operational remote sensing from space.

IRS-1B, incorporating improvements aris-ing from the analysis of the performance of 1A, was launched on August 29, 1991 again onboard Vostok from Baikanur. By this time, the PSLV launcher was ready for its first developmental flight. It was decided to make IRS-1E flight-worthy and launch it on the first developmental flight, PSLV-D1 from SHAR. The LISS 2 cameras were replaced by an experimental payload from the German Space Agency DLR, called the Monocular Electro-Optic Stereo Scanner. Unfortunately, the only PSLV flight to fail happened to be the D1 and IRS-1E failed to orbit.

Two remaining developmental flights of PSLV were used to launch experimental IRS satellites. PSLV-D2 put IRS-P2, carrying two LISS-2 cameras, into orbit on October 15, 1994. On March 21, 1996

The Russian Vostok launcher which carried the first satellite of the IRS series, IRS 1A, on March 17, 1988

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We took approximately 6 years to develop IRS-1A. In these 6 years, we were doing end-to-end experiment of Landsat data, but we were determined that we will develop everything indigenously. And see the progress. Before IRS-1A, Bhaskra 1 & 2 were launched in 1979 & 81. Bhaskra 1 had the capacity provide data at 100 kilo bit per second but with IRS-1A we achieved the data rate of 25 mb/second.

Dr V. Jayaraman,Satish Dhawan Professor

“


Thematic Mapper of Landsat (30m) and XS-HRV of SPOT (20m). It lacked the second short-wave IR band and thermal IR bands of the TM but scored over the three bands of XS-HRV. The LISS-3 is a versatile sensor and the workhorse for most applications. PAN was, till the launch of IKONOS in 1999, the highest resolution civil-ian camera.

Going globalThe failure of Landsat 6 and the upheaval in the international remote sensing scene caused by premature commercialisation of remote sens-ing data acquisition resulted in a situation where the global user community was left with very few options. They could depend on an ageing Landsat 5 satellite or an expensive French SPOT satellite. The commercial wing of the Depart-ment of Space, Antrix Corporation, addressed this vacuum and floated enquiries for global partners to receive and redistribute IRS data worldwide. An agreement with EOSAT was signed in 1994 and consultations began between EOSAT and ISRO engineers on the nitty gritty of data recep-tion. The first international IRS reception system was inaugurated in 1995 at Norman, Oklahoma in the US. Reception began with IRS-1B data and preparations were started for the simultane-ous commissioning of IRS-1C data reception at NRSA Hyderabad station and the EOSAT station at Norman. On December 28, 1995 IRS-1C took to the skies from Baikanur onboard the Molniya launcher. IRS-1D was launched on September 27, 1997 on board the first commercial flight of PSLV, PSLV-C1. From now on PSLV would be the workhorse launcher for IRS.

PSLV-D3 launched IRS-P3 which carried a Wide Field Sensor, WIFS. A two-band version of this was already launched on IRS-1C. The version on P3 had an additional shortwave IR band. WIFS was a low-resolution sensor with a very wide coverage resulting in repeat coverage every five days. This trade-off between and resolution and coverage was dictated by the need for enhanced repeat coverage to monitor situations like drought and flood and to be able to monitor crops over their growth stages. P3 also carried an experimental sensor called Modular Opto-electronic Scanner, MOS from DLR for remote sensing of the oceans. Thus while D2 established confidence in the PSLV launcher D3 was useful to try out experimental sensors. A word on the ISRO satellite naming convention: the P designation was applied to prototypes. Successful prototypes were renamed and started a new series like Oceansat, Cartosat and Resourcesat.

Meanwhile, the operational series contin-ued with the design of IRS-1C and 1D. LISS-1 was replaced with a two-band WIFS while LISS-2 was replaced by LISS-3 having a resolu-tion of 23m. LISS-3 also added a shortwave IR sensor at 70m. A new sensor called PAN was a steerable panchromatic high resolution sensor providing a resolution of 6m. An onboard re-corder was added to provide global data. These changes were the result of feedback from the Indian user community as well as the need to be competitive in the global market. Although not explicitly stated, IRS 1C was designed to be a global player. Its WIF camera was unique and later copied by SPOT in its SPOT 4 and 5 satellites. The LISS 3 was slotted between the

“

IRS 1 C and 1D was a saga where India really dominated remote sensing as an instrument of resource information across the world. We wanted to institutionalise this effort...There was considerable amount of skill, creativity and innovation that we have put in and there was a time when we are no longer worried whether we were the world’s best or not.

Dr K. Kasturirangan Former Chairman, ISRO

“

Indian space programme is

unique because it addresses

the national developmental

programmes. The way we

have named the satellites – Oceansat,

Cartosat, Resourcesat etc – only tells how

we have taken consideration of each social

segment

Dr P.G. Diwakar, Director, Earth

Observation System, ISRO


Ocean sensingThe IRS series, operational and experimental, concentrated more on land-based applications. This is to be expected as the major driving force for remote sensing applications were land applica-tions such as crop forecasting, forest manage-ment, land management and mineral exploration. A Department of Ocean Development was created in 1981 and soon attention turned to ocean sens-ing, perhaps catalysed by Dr A.E. Muthunayagam, Director of ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, who took over as the Secretary of the De-partment of Ocean Development in 1994.

The IRS programme responded with IRS-P4 which carried a new sensor called the Ocean Colour Monitor, OCM and a microwave sensor called the Multi-frequency Scanning Microwave Radiometer, MSMR. The OCM was used for studying the ocean colour to track ocean features like temperature, chlorophyll and pollution. The microwave sensors made a comeback at long last after the Satellite Microwave Radiometers, SAMIR on board Bhaskara 1 and 2; a hiatus of nearly 15 years. Also it is important to note that though the Hariharan Committee mentioned these sen-sors, it took time before an operational sensor emerged. IRS-P4 was launched on May 26, 1999. It was renamed Oceansat-1 and was followed by Oceansat-2 in September 23, 2009.

Tracing the terrainThe next area to be addressed by the IRS Pro-gramme was the third dimension in geography — the terrain. IRS-1C and D carried steerable PAN

cameras which could be used to image an area from different directions to create a stereo pair, which could then be used by a photogrammetric workstation to create a Digital Elevation Model of the terrain. However, these were not dedicated for this purpose. To meet this requirement, IRS-P5, renamed Cartosat-1, carried two 2.5m resolution PAN cameras pointed fore and aft along the flight track. This ensured a complete stereo coverage of the country enabling users to create 3D models of any part of India or even the world.

Another area covered by IRS is that of agile imaging at very high resolution. These are require-ments of the security establishment as well as agencies like infrastructure and urban planning departments. This technology was first tried out on a Technology Evaluation Satellite (TES), which had 1m resolution and could be commanded to image a specific area. TES was launched on October 22, 1999. TES was followed by Cartosat-2 in January 10, 2007, Cartosat 2A on April 28, 2008 and Cartosat 2B on July 12, 2010.

The successorsMeanwhile, IRS-1D was aging and required a

replacement. This came in the form of Resourc-esat. Resourcesat-1 was launched on October 17, 2003 and was a vast improvement beyond IRS-1C and D. In keeping with the ISRO naming policy, the first satellite was designated in the P category as IRS-P6. It carried an Advanced WIFS (AWIFS), which had a 740-km swath, 70m resolution and three bands, effectively bringing back LISS-1 resolution of IRS-1A and B with a very wide swath and therefore higher revisit. The workhorse sensor continued to be the LISS-3. Another new sensor was LISS-4, a multispectral upgrade of the PAN. Resourcesat-2 followed on April 20, 2011.

The latest in the series of IRS satellites is RI-SAT-1, which in a sense completes the programme envisaged by the Hariharan Committee in 1976 by adding a Synthetic Aperture Radar to the constel-lation of sensors in space on board IRS satellites. Providing all-weather, day and night capability, RISAT-1 represents the acme of technological achievement. No other country in the world has


Providing all-weather, day and night capability, RISAT-1 represents the acme of technological

achievement. No other country in the world has such a huge constellation of operational satellites carrying a wide variety of sensors from the visible

to microwaves and from 1m to 70m resolution

Postage stamps commemorating the achievements of the Indian space programme


such a huge constellation of operational satellites carrying a wide variety of sensors from the visible to microwaves and from 1m to 70m resolution.

Secret to successHow did ISRO manage this feat in 25 years? The three-pronged strategy has already been described earlier. The other key factors were or-ganisation and management. ISRO centres are self contained and represent a centre of excellence in their areas. In the case of IRS, ISRO Satellite Centre was responsible for the satellite bus and overall management; Space Applications Centre pro-vided the sensors, data processing software and applications; LPSC provided the control thrusters; VSSC provided the avionics; ISTRAC provided the satellite control and NRSC provided the data services. Inter-centre management teams coor-dinated the activities and a strong management office ensured budgets and schedules. Above all, it is the spirit of can-do, extension and enthusiasm of a young set of engineers and scientists who did not fear to venture into unexplored territories.

However, in brief four phases can be observed:The early pioneering phase, in which every-thing seems to revolve around late Dr Vikram

Sarabhai. The time frame is approximately from 1970 to 1974.The capability build-up phase under late Prof Satish Dhawan (1975-1982) in which large-scale projects are undertaken and competence established in the entire value chain of remote sensing technology. The ini-tiation of the IRS project and its associated programme elements marks the end of this phase. This was also the period characterised by innovations in technology as well as novel organisation structures and processes. The operational phase largely under the stewardship of U.R. Rao (1983-1992). This is the phase in which the first IRS satellites get launched and provide operational services. The decision to use the well-established CCD technology enables ISRO to become a world leader in remote sensing technology.The globalisation phase under Dr Kasturiran-gan (1993-2003), and carried forward by Dr Madhavan Nair (2003-2009) and now Dr Rad-hakrishnan in which ISRO is trying to leverage on its innovation and capabilities to become a player in the global scene.

This article is based on the personal experi-ence of the author and on two reports. One is ‘The Indian Remote Sensing Programme – A Case Study on the Management of High Technol-ogy’ authored by Kiran Karnik and the author, and presented at the National Convention on R&D Management, Bangalore, 1994. The other is a study for the UPIASI research project on The Context of Innovation in India: the Case of the Information Technology Industry entitled ‘Indigenous Innovation and IT-enabled Ex-ports: A Case Study of the Development of Data Processing Software for Indian Remote Sensing Satellites’, by S. Chandrashekar and the author, September 30, 2000

(Images courtesy ISRO)

Prof. Arup DasguptaManaging [email protected]


RISAT-1 undergoing prelaunch tests

Indian space programme has led to data democracy – downloadable data, down-loadable tools. All this has led to development even at the lowest levels like villages and panchayats

Dr Y.V.N. Krishna Murthy,Director, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing

“

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The geospatial industry as a whole is still in a stage of infancy, believes RaymondO’Connor, President , Topcon Positioning Systems. The number and scale of infrastructure projects going on all over the world only indicate the huge potential to be tapped. Further, he sees the whole sector moving towards being a solutions-oriented industry.

What are the advantages offered by machine control and what is the kind of acceptance among new customers?

r benefit of machine control is productivity gain. BeA major bit fine-grading in construction or sowing seeds or harvestt fineing in agriculture, cost savings accrued wavailable today can enable 30-40% increaa conservative estimate. In some cases, cudoubling of productivity. Machine controed in the US and European markets. Withfuel, labour and everything else going upon productivity improvements to make m

In new or emerging markets, projects kind of standardised cost structure as it hmature markets. When we introduce macin emerging markets, it is more difficult tovantages over the entire project. This is veneering efforts in mature markets a few dthe cost benefits are only in a quarter or oproject initially. Translating that to the ova little more complicated. In many cases,do not have the required tools to save moaspects of the project. And speeding up thjust one area doesn’t always give the samin the US or Europe.

Even in the mature markets we faced resistance initially from people handling machinery because they were concernedthe productivity tool will take over their jo

Corner Office | Raymond O’Connor

‘Construction and farmingare the two largest manufacturing industries but the least automated’


Though it is not always the case, but this kind of resistance slows down introduction and accep-tance of a new technology.

Which are the promising vertical industries in terms of machine control?The verticals benefitting from machine control areall very different from each other. We have beenvery successful in the mining industry but it has alimited size with a limited number of machines.The biggest and the fastest growing industry at themoment is agriculture. In 2000, the farm industry’suse of precision measurement equipment wasless than $100 million; last year, it was more thana billion dollars. The agriculture sector is adopt-ing advanced precise positioning technology much faster than any other business; it has beenadopted by equipment manufactures even faster.The trend started with John Deere in the 1990s,and it was based on the premise of precision farm-ing throughout the farming cycle. Agriculture isthe fastest growing segment of Topcon’s business

t the moment.However, the adoption of advanced technol-

gy in construction machinery is also moving ery fast. Construction and agriculture are the tworgest manufacturing industries in the world rep-

esenting between $8 to 10 trillion a year but arehe least automated. So, these two are the areas to

ok out for.

Is Topcon aiming to create and nurture new verticals?We are doing it, but I wouldn’t want to comment

n it due to competitive reasons. The core of ourusiness is the areas I have just mentioned. Tech-ology is being adopted and it is growing in both

mature and emerging markets.When I joined Topcon in 1993, the survey-

ing industry was doing a business of about$800 million a year globally; today it is a$5-billion business. So the opportunitieshave grown exponentially and in some areasthe growth has been tremendous — in con-

struction, civil engineering, mining, agricul-ture and mapping.

The industry as a whole is still in a stage of infancy. Look at the kind of projects going on allover the world — highways, infrastructure, build-ings, pipelines, mining — the cost of constructing all these is a fraction of the cost of maintaining the entire infrastructure for a lifetime. And untilrecently, we didn’t have a good way of capturing all this data, but now capturing, handling andmanaging this data throughout the life of the proj-ect has exploded into the marketplace.

What are the future business directions of Topcon?Till mid-1990s, Topcon was an optical surveying instrument company. Then we got into laser andmachine control; then came GPS, and finally the software side of the business. Obviously, thecore of our business remains surveying, civilengineering, construction and agriculture wherepositioning technologies are being adopted. Ourgoal is to be the top supplier in those industriesand we have two major competitors there. Thekey advantages lie in the area of technologicaladvances.

Customers are asking for solutions and not just products. What is Topcon’s strategy in such a solution-centric market?Our whole industry is focused on moving from aproduct-and-technology industry to a solutions-oriented one, where a company not only suppliesa product or a piece of hardware but also the sup-ply integrated solutions and the software. We havebeen working in that direction — with acquisi-tions as well as strong partnerships.

The solutions business is an absolute necessity in order to grow. But whether we will be buying orpartnering with another company depends on ourown strategic direction and how we want to evolvethe business. Everybody is trying to develop solu-tions, but how Topcon gets there will be differentfrom others.

Without providing the total solution, it is very tough to get into the emerging markets. Our goal isto provide total precise positioning and machinecontrol solutions to the global marketplace.


Corner Office | Raymond O’Connor

Topcon has been acquiring companies since 2008. How are you capitalising on the acquisi-tions?The acquisitions were done for different reasons. Sokkia was done with the focus on being the top supplier of optical surveying equipment in the world. The deal made us the largest global supplier of about 35-40% of optical instruments across the board. The Voxis acquisition was purely a technology purchase. In some geographical areas, our acquisitions have been done purely for tactical reasons. Topcon is not focused on being in the distribution business in certain areas of the world. Our acquisitions are for investment rea-sons, for gaining a foothold in a specific market or market niche and maintaining and enhancing that position.

Surveying is evolving as an integrated technol-ogy discipline but is surveying as a business facing a dead end?A lot of people are concerned about what machine control would mean to the surveying business. I can confirm that we sell a lot more total stations today than we have ever had. When GPS came into the market, a lot of people were concerned about the optical survey business. But again, the GPS and optical survey business evolved together and grew together.

There is a perception that surveyors do not have much surveying options because of all the sensors and machines available. However, we have found that in the mature machine control markets, surveyors sometimes are paid more than the actual dataset costs to mark the sites and produce the 3D data in order to get the machines work on the projects. In some cases, laborious

jobs like driving stakes into the ground and moni-toring areas has gone up. So there is a transition in responsibility but work hasn’t become less for the surveyor.

Obviously, everyone in the industry has to hear about why “we have to do it the old way.” But it is just a matter of time before everyone understands that these changes save time and thus contribute to the bottomline.

GIS was becoming more important than sur-veying about 10 years ago. But today, survey-ing, machine control and laser scanning have taken a leadership role and GIS is adding value to these in the overall workflow management. How do you look at the GIS industry? GIS is exactly like the workflow and management of data we had earlier — the limited sets of data. A popular technology today is mobile mapping. Last year’s InterGeo trade show witnessed the new trends in mobile mapping — helicopters, airplanes, UAVs — being deployed. Our ability to manage the huge amount of data, and to process it quickly, didn’t exist even five years ago. All that was developed when the Googles and Maptechs decided to map the world. This has led to a tre-mendous amount of development and growth in that area.

We now have the ability to go out and collect huge amounts of very accurate data. The whole GIS industry is moving to “in-house” workflow

“By cooperating in certain areas, we could do so much to educate the industry to use

the technology; that grows the business for everybody.”


and so we are going to feed all that data in the GIS model. It is natural to assume they will grow together.

Apart from the cost structure and workflow management, what are the other challenges in operating in emerging markets? There’s more money in educating those who make up the core markets because there are tremendous savings and environmental benefits involved. If a company can complete its work in half the time, it also means it is using only half the amount of fuel. But technology and the savings realised are not yet a priority in many areas, espe-cially in the emerging markets.

Trying to increase market share from a pio-neering standpoint is a very difficult undertaking. And manufacturers have to spend a lot of money to break into emerging markets. Companies have to work together to develop those markets. It is beneficial to the countries, beneficial to govern-ments from a cost perspective, beneficial for the environment and for all our businesses. We need to collaborate more to open up new markets.

Do you have any specific strategy for the emerg-ing surveying and positioning markets like the BRICS, Africa and Eastern Europe? In the BRICS, particularly in Russia, we have a strong distributor liaison and we have a very high

market share. It’s the same in Brazil. In China, we have invested in our own manufacturing and dis-tribution organisation and have grown the busi-ness exponentially over the last 10 years. Working with an in-country distribution partner typically works very well but where we can’t, we open up our own company. In India, we set up our own distribution company last year.

Your distributor in Latin America is the same as that of your competitor Trimble. How does it manage a balance? That’s a very unique situation and I think the distributor is doing a very good job being mar-ried to two wives! The reality is that the company was a very strong distributor for both Topcon and Trimble before we treaded into each other’s product territories. Trimble was a GPS company and Topcon was into optical instruments. Now, Trimble sells on its own the products that the joint distributor doesn’t sell and we do the same.

Positioning contributes to a little over 35% of the Topcon group’s revenues. What kind of growth are you visualising here?Our goal is to double the growth in the next five years. It is a very exciting time to be in this indus-try. The competition is fantastic and I am a big promoter of competition. But I would like to see our competitors also trying to help the market by doing more to educate it because there are a lot of things we can do to build the markets, expand them more rapidly in more areas, expand our networks, standardise data formats and educate the emerging markets. By cooperating in certain areas, we could do so much to educate the indus-try to use the technology; that grows the business for everybody.

Sometimes I think our competitors lose sight of the bigger picture and get focused on the day-to-day business rather than the long-term picture of the industry. But I prefer our approach of having a long-term view of the overall industry because not only it is a good and profitable busi-ness, but we also are doing something to really help the world.

36 | March 2013Geospatial WorldGeospatialWord

he India government’s annual Economic Survey for 2012-13 has called for ‘careful mapping,assigning of conclusive titles to facilitate land leas-ing, and creating a fair but speedy process of landacquisition for public purposes’.

Way back in 2001, a report by McKinsey GlobalInstitute had stated that land market distortions accounted for close to 1.3% of lost GDP a year inIndia. While many subsequent estimates put thisfigure at 2-3% of the GDP, even at 1.3% this is astraight loss of Rs 1.38 trillion or $25.29 billion ayear for the country at current values.

Geospatial technology is fundamental to land

T

The Indian growth story has suddenly hit the brakes. But geospatial technology could get it out of this mess. What is required is an integrated policy and enabling environment for the sector to give a push to India’s stagnant growth engine

Caught in a jam

records management. In other words, effectiveuse of geospatial and information technologies inIndia’s land records management could unlock $25.29 billion in the economy. The Indian GDP isestimated at Rs 106 trillion (around $1.94 trillion)at present.

This is but just one example and just a plau-sible scenario.

Twelve years and two Five Year Plans down,not much has changed on the ground. As theEconomic Survey highlights, the biggest hurdlein the Indian growth story in the last couple of years has been land. With a land acquisition Bill

Cover Story | India


pending tabling in Parliament and mega invest-ment projects stuck across the country for lack of clarity on land laws, India’s GDP which even beat the global slowdown in 2008 has really bitten the bullet in last couple of years. Even though the finance minister claims there is an upturn, figures released by the Central Statistical Organisation in February showed that GDP growth in the October-December period slipped to 4.5% — decade’s lowest quarterly growth — ringing an alarm bell for many major sectors like farming, mining and manufacturing. Investments worth more thanRs 5 trillion involving more than 500 projects were shelved during 2011-12.

G-tech to the rescueBut all this could change with effective planning. Given that the need for spatial data for planning is well recognised, g-tech could play a pivotal role in changing the way India charts its growth trajectory once again. “Geospatial technology plays a crucialrole in improving governance through betterplanning, decision making, effective and timely implementation and real-time analysis,” says Kau-shik Chakraborty, Vice President, Hexagon India. Understanding this, several states have initiated setting up state spatial data infrastructures.

Recognising the importance of spatial data and geospatial technology in boosting India’seconomic growth, the XI Plan (2007-12) had laid a great emphasis on this. While provisioning foraround Rs 66 billion in the use of various types of technologies under different ministries, it had also mandated the use of geospatial applicationsin some of the mission mode projects such as the National Land Records Management Programme (NLRMP), Restructured Accelerated Power De-velopment and Reform Programme (RAPDRP), Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), while actually acknowl-edging that “location-specific planning using geo-graphical information system ... helps in planning for sustainable development.”

However, as we enter the XII Five Year Plan in 2013, a realistic stocktaking would reveal that the

progress and implementation have been far from operational and sporadic to say the least.

After the euphoria of the XI Plan, the XII Plan draft is suddenly muted on g-tech. Other than Rs 25 billion provisioned for setting up of the Nation-al GIS and mapping of the entire country at 1:10k, there are but very little mention of its use and allocation. Of course, for the Department of Space, the provisions have been Rs 397.50 billion, but the Plan is more emphatic on the Mars and Moon missions. But Rajesh C. Mathur, Vice chairman,NIIT GIS, says, “some of the XI Plan projects will go into the XII Plan. NLRMP, Crime and Criminal Tracking and Network System, National e-Gover-nance Plan (NeGP) will all go beyond the XI Plan. Even JNNURM, which ended with the XI Plan, will be extended into the XII Plan.” The industry also thinks even though the XII Plan or Union Budget doesn’t specifically mention geospatial, the megadevelopment and infrastructure projects in it would ride on geospatial technology.

Required: An integrated policyThe geospatial services industry alone is estimatedat $3-billion in India as of 2011 and provides jobsto 135,000 people, says a study by Boston Consult-ing Globe. It is estimated to deliver an annualefficiency gain of $40-45 billion in revenue termsand $70-75 billion in cost savings. But despiteits contributions to various sectors in planning,empowering and enabling, the sector is yet to finda mention in the Union Budget or Five Year Plans. While several sectors such as e-commerce ($5billion) or animation ($1.68 billion) either already are or are in the process of being recognised as

2008

Data Source: CSO

GDP Growth

4

6

8

10

2010 2012

$3bnAnnual revenues of Indian geospatialservices industry

$40-45bnAnnual efficiency gainsfrom geo services

$70-75bnCost savings achieved by use of geo services

3.5-5%Revenues of IT, telecom,utilities from geo services

8-10%Savings in transport,warehousing, mining

10-15%Expected growth in impact of geospatial services in five years

Emerginggrowth booster

Source: BCG report on Indian geospatial services industry


ning, consumer indexing, load dispatch, checking pilferage or even infrastructure,” points out Arvind Thakur, CEO, NIIT Technologies.

Further, while there is a tremendous amount of cost savings and efficiency in a fully integrat-ed GIS, how can this return on investment be calculated when it is used for empowering and in-cluding people? A case in point is the investment by the National Informatics Centre in geospatial technology as part of the complete “systems and support” infrastructure established for e-gover-nance in the country.

Cadastre and land administrationThe basic economic problem that India is cur-rently facing is the allocation of the available but limited land among a growing number of users. While this requires a huge political will, on the execution front what is required is proper and effective technology-enabled policy that leads to proper land records and titling.

Although some form of cadastre exists in India, the information is often outdated with incomplete and poorly organised paper records making up for a large percentage of the database, says Charanjit Singh, Director, NLRMP. Lack of digitisation means information cannot be verified or shared, thus its real value is locked up. Land records man-agement is fragmented, with bits of information held by too many departments.

The department, which had launched the NLRMP in 2008 to develop a modern, compre-hensive and transparent land records manage-ment system with the ultimate aim to implement the conclusive land-titling system with title guar-antee, is targeting full digitisation, including GIS maps, and interconnectivity between land records and registration by the end of the XII Plan or 2018. Some states like Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have made con-siderable progress. Singh is particularly in praise for the integrated system of Bhoomi (land records) and Kaveri (registration) in Karnataka, which has cut out fraudulent deals. The Haryana govern-ment’s use of high resolution satellite imagery for speedier modernisation its records and the

sunrise sectors, geospatial is still recognised as a small cog in the bigger IT wheel.

“Given the way geospatial technology has been enabling national development, it should be recognised as a sunrise sector and get adequate tax breaks and incentives,” says Rajan Aiyer, MD, Trimble India. “But for that various industry bodies like AGI, Ficci and others have to work in unison to present the demands of the sector to the authorities.” Industry insiders believe the lack of a well-defined geospatial strategy and understand-ing of this niche technology among policymakers and a highly restrictive environment owing to security paranoia is holding back the sector from its realising its full potential.

“We are working with industry chambers like Nasscom, CII and Ficci to build a comprehensive, encompassing strategy for growth of the geospa-tial sector in India,” says Bharti Sinha, Executive Director, Association of Geospatial Industries (AGI). “Geospatial is not non-IT but it is new IT, and that is why it needs special focus — the right enabling environment, tax, sops and subsidies.”

Geo services have the ability to transform all aspects of life from business to government, says Prashant Agrawal, one of the BCG consultants who worked on report commissioned by Google. The study identifies easier access to data and clearer data sharing policies as some of areas that can boost this sector.

Currently, geo services represent 0.2% of India’s GDP. “However, there is tremendous room to grow this industry and create a competitive advantage for India,” emphasises Agrawal. The impact of geo services is expected to grow at an annual rate of 10-15% for the next five years. What is interesting is geospatial has a multiplier effect, which is expected to go up from 15 to as high as 20 or 30. The figures may sound astounding, but a close look at some of the projects that it has been part of only establishes the point.

Take for instance, the R-APDRP. The invest-ment in geospatial part of it is just 10-15%, but from planning to implementation, or operation, it is core to the project’s functioning. “APDRP’s code is GIS — the geospatial element is central to plan-

Cover Story | India

Given the way geospatial tech-nology has been enabling national development, it should be recog-nised as a sunrise sector and get ad-equate tax breaks and incentives

Rajan Aiyer, MD, Trimble India

“

“

Geospatial technologies play a crucial role in improving governance through better planning, decision making, effective and timely implementation and real-time analysis of the situation on the ground

Kaushik Chakraborty,Vice President, Hexagon India


Gujarat government’s pure grounded method are also commendable, he says.

However, since land is a state subject, the Centre can only give guidelines. Also, there is also great reluctance among the populace regarding land surveys, especially in a country like Indiawhere 70% of the population live in rural areas. Further, the line departments are not keen either on the high-end technology. “We have to convince people that proper land records management is for their benefit as it first establishes their right on the land and then increases the value, reduces dis-putes and encourages business,” says Bipin Bihari Srivastava, Secretary, DoLR.

Srivastava also thinks that the entire land records and management system in the country needs to be revisited, including some laws that have become archaic. The DoLR knows much is riding on this project and that is why it has kept a strict deadline – end of the XII Plan – for comple-tion. But it is also being realistic. “I think this will spill over to the next Plan,” admits Singh. “This is a huge and challenging programme. Land record is quite a sensitive issue and we should not hurry.”

InfrastructureLand that is well connected to markets is espe-cially scarce, and “lack of supporting infrastruc-ture causes greater cash burn and distraction of management from core business operations,” says the Economic Survey. The XII Plan has proposed $1-trillion investment for the infrastructure sec-tor, lining up a time-bound, ambitious plan for new roads, railway tracks, ports and airports and upgrade of existing infrastructure.

“G-tech is going to play a very valuable role in utilising these dollars to maximise the benefits for the citizens of the country and thus reflect in the economic growth of the country,” says Rajan Aiyer. However, construction of any big infrastructure project involves automated machines and these machines talk to each other on wireless. At pres-ent, the import duties are as high as 25-30% withrestrictions on import, operation and support of these systems with clearances required at every stage. “All this takes about six months, by that time

the project phase is complete,” says Aiyer. Further,all these licenses are not one-time and a company has to apply for them again for a different project.

Roads & highwaysIndia has the second largest road network in theworld with 3.3 million km but about two-thirds of it is unpaved or poor quality. India’s road network logistics and transportation bottlenecks hinder itsGDP growth by 1- 2%, finds a KPMG report.

Recognising this, the Budget has given a boostto dedicated industrial corridors connecting met-ros while contracts for 3,000 km of road projectswill be awarded in the first six months of 2013-14.The geospatial industry sees this as a big welcomepush for a new wave of industrialisation andurbanisation. From planning to construction andalignment of roads and tracks, to operation and maintenance,geospatial technology can play a big role. Significantly,the XII Plan puts a special thruston “progressive use of technologies for enabling real-time monitoring of projects,putting them inthe right direction,and fast decision making”.

The government’s target of building 20 km of national highways per day under the XII Plan willrequire the use of state-of-the-art construction au-tomation technologies, admits Atul Kumar, Chief General Manager, NHAI. “The creation of massivehighway assets with four /six laning of over 20,000km of national highways in the last few years hasled to the challenging requirement of timely andeffective monitoring of their construction, quality maintenance and efficiency,” he says. ICT along with satellite imaging, surveying and latest gadgets

Integration and computerisation of land records not only protects them, but makes indexing possible for access by various departments. This can help to detect owner-ship conflicts and track usage agreements attached to parcels. Within a GIS, a parcel’s title chain can be traced, thus eliminating a risk for financial investors and making it easier to establish the property’s capital value. This cadastral data can then be linked to other land attributes as well such as spatial information on topog-raphy, environmental conditions, land use and natural resources to give graphical depictions of real property. Some states like Gujarat have not only established a complete cadastre, but the land information system has as many as 20 layers.

UNLOCKING THE REAL VALUE

“

L&T uses g-tech in construction

projects like roads, airports,

large townships and shipyards.

It saves our time and

effort, making the whole

process very smooth. This

has been very instrumental in significant

upgrade of manufacturing

technologies

Director & President,Larsen & Toubro


provide the much-needed financial breather for the cash-strapped Railways in the long run. Railways, the largest owner of land in the country, has not been able to monetise this resource due to deficiencies in its land administration and maintenance of land records. The expert group on modernisation of railways headed by Sam Pitroda had estimated that monetisation of surplus land and airspace could mobilise Rs 500 billion. Calling for GIS mapping of land resources, digitisation of records and perfection of titling at the earliest, the panel had said “for long-term lease and licensing by Railways, land rights must belong to them”.

Further, the Railways is yet to fully exploit the benefits of g-tech in operations and safety. Two years back, the Railway Budget had announced to cover all its eight zones with anti-collision devices. The project, which uses GPS and sensors to de-termine train location, speed, course of travel and time, has been implemented only on around 2,700 km of track of the 65,000 km route.

The success of Delhi Metro has led to more metro projects for Indian cities. “This can happen with the Indian Railways too,” feels Aiyer. India’s size, population and the rising middle class is ideal for use of high-speed trains as mass trans-port. “A number of countries, including China, have done it so effectively,” he says

The XII Plan lists out a number of construc-tion projects — dedicated fright corridors, high capacity rolling stock, last-mile rail linkages and port connectivity, and development of logistics parks — areas where geospatial could play a key role. There are also opportunities for surveying and construction automation in the process of track building and improving quality. Enhancing project execution capabilities would be critical for the railways in improving returns on investments.

AviationThe civil aviation sector in the country has ex-panded rapidly with the opening up of domestic skies and airports to private players. At present, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is upgrad-ing and modernising 35 non-metro airports at an estimated cost of around Rs 45 billion while 15

The GIS-based data system will provide information about the life-cycle of a coach, wagon, locomotive, building, signalling system and other assets while making decision making faster in crisis-like situations. Once integrated, the disaster management system will give location and accessibility of accident sites, availability of resources for rescue operation, location of medical relief facilities etc. The railways had started a real-time train tracking project – SIMRAN – as a pilot project along with IIT-Kanpur. The pilot was scrapped in November 2012, which was followed with a similar RailRadar. However, this is not a real-time GPS tracking. The trains are yet to be tagged with GPS.

like GPS-enabled cameras and video logging, sensor-based monitoring is giving results, he feels.

“Currently the highway department follows the kilometre-based referencing system on road, but we had taken up a pilot on GIS-based National Highways Information System. We hope to take up GIS-based referencing system soon,” says C. Kandasamy, Director General, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. NHAI’s GIS-based road information system is being populated with data, and there are plans to integrate it with a traffic management system for dissemination of information such as fleet management, incident response, toll, vehicle regulation etc. This can also be used for giving information to travellers.

RailwaysThe Indian Railways is running late in the geo-spatial track and has just about woken up to its benefits. While so far it had talked about only GPS tracking of trains for passenger benefits and stray projects like night-tracking and fog safety services, the Railways has finally embarked on an ambi-tious project of creating a GIS-based database of its network and assets, including, track, station and signals to make the operation system efficient.

Under the Rs 300-million plan, an inventory of the entire railway network including land will be created through GIS, says S.S. Mathur, General Manager, Centre for Railway Information Systems. In January, the Railways placed a six-figure order with GeoEye for stereo imagery to use in planning and designing of freight corridors and even two high-speed transportation corridors.

Significantly, GIS mapping is expected to

Cover Story | India

FINALLY ON TRACK

Geospatial technology is essential for all areas of road development – from survey and planning to construction and maintenance. A pilot on GIS-based road referencing system will also be in place soon

C. Kandasamy, Director General (Road Development), Ministry of Road Transport & Highways

“


Gagan, the Indian satellite-based augmentation system, is a projecttaken by AAI and ISRO. Gagan is designed to provide additional accuracability, and integrity necessary to enable users to rely on GPS for all phases of flight, form en route through approach. A possible certification by 2014 will propel India as the only fourth country to have this facility in the world. According to US defence giant Raytheon, which has provided the ground segment technology for the project, Gagan-equipped aircraft is estimated to save as much as 20% on fuel.

greenfield airports have got in-principle nod. The airports sector is estimated to require an

investment of about Rs 675 billion during 2013-18. The plan to propel India among the top five civil aviation markets could be provided with access to safe, secure and affordable air services through an appropriate regulatory framework and by devel-oping world-class infrastructure facilities.

World-class infrastructure comes with geospa-tial solutions such as 3D indoor mapping and GPS for fleet, vehicle and asset monitoring. “We are seeing companies invest in efficiency-related tools that GIS can provide — fleet management solu-tions, vehicle tracking and software,” says Rohan Verma, Director, MapmyIndia.

Power India’s energy sector is increasingly under pres-sure to deliver a secure supply of energy amid growing demand and fuel imports, notes a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). India currently has a power generation capacity of 211,766 MW of electricity, which meets only 90% of the demand. The XII Plan recognises “unreli-able and inadequate power supply” to be a seriousimpediment in India. What makes matters worseis the high aggregate technical and commercial losses suffered by power utilities, estimated to beequivalent to 1.5% of GDP. The IEA report says the nationwide AT&C losses were 31% in FY 2010-11, compared to developing economies such as Brazil (17%), China (5%) and Indonesia (10%) in 2009.

A major initiative of the XI Plan was R-APDRP which aimed at “actual, demonstrable performance in terms of AT&C loss reduction”. Launched in 2008 with an allocation of Rs 515.77billion, the programme covers state utilities inurban areas. The project, which mandated GIS-based consumer indexing and extensive network mapping, has seen significant progress in the first part in almost all eligible towns. The secondphase has also been launched in some states, with Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh leading the pack. “The benefitswill be realised only when they go through energy audit,” says Rajesh Mathur. “Last 3-4 years have

been the project phase and we should see the benefits in the coming year.”

However, data updation is a very worrying aspect about R-APDRP since there is no provision in it for that. “Whatever data was generated was done two years back, so updation and recollection is a major problem,” says Pankaj Gupta, Head, GIS Data Collection, Trimble. The industry claims this was brought to the government’s attention but the Power Finance Corporation, the nodal agency for the project, says it is the responsibility of the electricity boards. The power boards in turn say they do not have the funds.

Some of the key recommendations of XII Plan to bring distribution system on track include R&Din advanced metering, distribution automation, utility automation covering SCADA, mapping and GIS, outage management system — areas where g-tech can play a crucial role. The core of build-ing a smart grid, which is the ultimate goal for the power sector, is again geospatial technology.

Power capacity addition target for the XII Plan has been fixed at 88,537 MW. The share of nuclear power is expected to rise from 3% in 2012 to 5% in 2017, another area which is likely to give a fillip to this industry. From identifying uranium/thoriumdeposits to site selection for plants and disposal of nuclear waste, remote sensing plays a vital role in nuclear power generation, explains A.K.Chaturvedi of the Department of Atomic Energy,who believes nuclear power is India’s answer to clean energy.

MiningMuch of the power sector’s woes has been causeddue to shortage of coal owing to a drop in produc-

FLYING HIGH WITH GAGAN

“

GIS ties together all the pieces of the

electric distribution system for

improved customer service, better

management of assets and outages,

and increased accuracy of data

Harsh Sharma,Vice President, BSES

Yamuna Power


tion and transportation However, production is likely to rise by 2016-17, thanks to mining giantCoal India Ltd, which aims at taking up around 70 expansion/new projects during the XII Plan.

To achieve these targets, Coal India, whichsupplies 81% of the coal used in the country, is planning extensive use of geospatial technology,says Chairman Narsing Rao. It already uses g-tech for real-time trip counting system at opencastmines, truck movement monitoring system atweighbridges and coal handling plants mines. “From the pre-mining phase to surveying, explo-ration, determining baseline data of environmen-tal situation and land use pattern, we are using a lot of these technologies,” emphasises Rao.

Mining, as is known, has huge potential for g-tech and the XII Plan opens up further avenues. It has said a database of mineral resources needs tobe developed besides calling for a National Geo-physical Data Repository and National Drill CoreLibrary. It has also talked about a National Tene-ment Registry and integrating it with the cadastralmaps being digitised under the NLRMP.

ICTMission mode projects are building blocks of the National e-Goverance Programme (NeGP), which is the key driver for integrating all e-governanceinitiatives. The ICT structure is poised for growth, as the XII Plan seeks to take NeGP to the next level.“The next phase of NeGP will focus on improving the delivery of public services using the informa-tion databases of the mission mode programmes,” explains Hexagon’s Chakraborty, while pointing out “geospatial technologies need to become the

key driver ... to form the backbone with regard tothe processes of governance, decision-making,planning and nation-building.”

In addition, ICT is becoming ubiquitous and intrinsic part of people’s behaviours as well as of business practices, government activities and service provision. Promotion of use of ICT by domestic industry will enhance productiv-ity in priority sectors like agriculture, health, education, retail and automotive. “Information is there in the verticals and we need horizon-tal exchanges of information. Time is now to integrate all this and GIS is known to be a great integrator and enabler of information,” says Dr Vandana Sharma, Deputy Director, NIC.

TelecommunicationThe telecom sector has been the most visible in-dicator and catalyst to economic growth for Indiain last few years with teledensity increasing from18.31% to 78.66% during 2007-12. The telecomsector and geospatial go a long way in ensuring sufficient allocation of resources, infrastructureand asset management and customer servicing.Private telecom players in India such as Reli-ance and Bharti have long been using geospatialtechnology for these purposes. Now, the govern-ment has also recognised the benefits as it calls fora national-level effort to harmonise the policies of various authorities to address issues related to land allocation, power supply, towers erection –all of which needs extensive use of g-tech.

With the successful rollout of 3G services, thecountry is moving to 4G rollout now. A key thrustarea for the XII Plan is to connect all villages withpopulation more than 500 on the National OpticalFibre Network. The NIC and Department of Tele-com’s joint vision, the Rs 350-billion Bharat Broad-band Nigam Ltd, seeks to realise ‘broadband ondemand’ by laying down optical fibre network connecting about 250,000 village panchayats.

The XII Plan recognises the need to provideincentives to encourage the uptake of broadbandin sectors like education, healthcare, public safety,government operations, and so on. While this sureopens up new vistas, it will also boost the value-

Cover Story | India

Changing Structure of Fuel for Power Generation

Nuclear

Renewables

Hydro

Gas

Coal

2012 2017 2030

70 69 58

12

11

12

9

165

5

3

7

14

63

From pre-mining phase to surveying, exploration, determining baseline data of environmental situation and land use pattern, we are using a lot of these technologies. We are open to the emerging ones too

Narsing Rao,Chairman & MD,Coal India

“


geo services industry expected to ride on the mo-bile market, telecom sure is a hotbed of activities.

Urban developmentAs more and more of rural population moves to urban India in search of employment, the infrastructure of our cities will be further strained. As per 2011 Census, 31.15% of India’s population live in cities while contributing to more than 60% of GDP. The Ministry of Urban Development had launched the National Urban Information System in 2006 to develop GIS databases for 152 towns/cities in the country in two scales — 1:10,000 and 1:2,000. Utility mapping at 1:1000 scale was also to be undertaken for 24 towns. The project is in advanced stages.

Significantly, a working group on Urban Strategic Planning has also called for a combina-tion of spatial with socio-economic and financial planning, and transportation with land use and environmental planning. It has also identified lack of enabling tools such as GIS and GIS-enabled management information as one of the major impediments. There is recommendation for a Na-tional Spatial Strategy covering national transpor-tation grids and national priority cities, establish-

Cover Story | India

For several of the national develop-ment projects to be success, geospa-

tial technology has to penetrate into the society and government departments. However, lack of awareness among policymakers and officials often creates great hurdles in the integration of geoin-formation into the system. There is also reluctance among line officers to shift to a technology.

Amiya Kumar Mahapatra of Orissa State Application Centre (ORSAC) realised this much to his dismay when the ORSAC started creating maps under NLRMP. “We were told by state officials that RoR was sacrosanct and nothing could come over that.” It took ORSAC

years before the state Assembly passed a special Act only last year which provides legal coverage for conducting survey and resurvey with modern technology in the state.

Besides the typical change man-agement problem, there is a genuine lacuna in understanding among people, often even at the highest level. “Officials are not able to understand the tech-niques. We have conducted training programmes with the decision makers but still they are not able to understand,” says S. Sudhakar, Director of the North Eastern Space Applications Centre.

Andhra Pradesh IT secretary Sanjay Jaju thinks this whole exercise of GIS has

not been put into a particular depart-ment, which is complicating the issue further. “Many of these activities have been relegated to planning departments who have no expertise in this subject.” Also, state officials often are reluctant to take specialised training and be part of a GIS cell in various departments since they feel they are sidelined from the mainstream. Jaju thinks shifting/integrating these responsibilities to the IT department will help.

Lack of skilled resource is a great problem in India, with the demand seen at anything between 20,000 to 70,000 over the next five years. “SoI as a na-tional mapping agency is itself in such a

LACK OF AWARENESS & TRAINED CAPACITIES

added services market. GPS and navigation have almost become ubiquitous in mobile phones now. “Mobile is driving the LBS space. Every major handset manufacturer now provides a built-in GPS chips in smartphones,” says Verma, recol-lecting how the Apple iO6 fiasco last year boosted download of MapmyIndia services. Recognising the potential, even state-owned telecom enti-ties BSNL and MTNL have tied up with Russia’s Glonass for satellite-based navigation services.

The BCG study sees geospatial playing a huge role in telecom — its impact is expected to grow at 15 to 20 times in the next five years. Already, about 3.5 to 5% of revenues in telecommunications can be ascribed to it. With the rapid growth in Indian

The JNNURM programme, as the first national flagship programme for urbanisation, envisages a total investment of over $20 billion over seven years and has been widely accepted as being effective in renewing focus on the urban sector across the country. Rajiv Awas Yojana under JNNURM, which aims to provide affordable housing for the urban poor, extensively uses GIS and has even laid down a set of guidelines on ‘GIS mapping, MIS development and integration of GIS with MIS’. The Union Budget has allocated Rs 85 billion ($1,547 million) for urban development for 2013-14 withJNNURM getting Rs 550 million.

ON DEVELOPMENT ROAD


ment of an institutional ownership for GIS data in state urban information systems and integrated land use and transport planning.

The Delhi State Spatial Data Infrastructure, which has integrated all databases for develop-ment purposes, is a good example towards this end and the next step would be moving towards a spatially enabled urban planning for the national capital. While several states are putting in place SDIs, some departments are using geospatial technology in planning for housing, transport, sanitation etc. A number of local bodies, which have successfully used GIS and related technolo-gies are now reaping the benefits by way of effec-tive e-governance and increase in property taxes.

Rural developmentClearly, the road to India’s development goes through its villages, which houses nearly 70% of the population. In keeping with its policy of inclusive growth, India government has been using geospa-tial technology in connecting with village people and panchayats in a systematic manner. A great part of ISRO’s mission and work by its state-level space application centres have revolved around catering to empowering panchayats with latest

technologies such as crop forecasting, information on irrigation, drinking water, sanitation and educa-tion through village resource centres.

The Union Budget has allocated Rs 801.94 bil-lion for 2013-14 fiscal towards rural development. However, the departrment also faced flak for its failure to spend on some schemes. “A major prob-lem with rural development is there are too many schemes doing the same things. Geoinformatics can help us connect all this,” thinks M.V. Rao, Di-rector National Institute of Rural Development.

With mega welfare schemes like MNREGA, National Livelihoods Mission and Bharat Nirman, the XIth Plan saw an unprecedented injection of funds in rural development. The XII Plan aims to take these further, as it promotes use of remote sensing, GPS and GIS to prevent social exclusion.

Rural development schemes have been dogged by largescale corruption issues and Rao thinks remote sensing and satellite imagery can monitor some of these works. The draft guideline for MNRGEA has also called for use of GIS as a decision support system. It seeks latitude and longitude information of all works in Web-GIS (Gujarat Model) or in Google Maps to enable real-time progress monitoring.

crisis; private agencies are in worse state perhaps,” says Surveyor General of India Dr S. Subba Rao. The industry is facing lack of trained manpower even for the ongoing projects. During R-APDRP there was so much of dearth of manpower that people were actually poaching on each other’s resources.

There is no proper system in place to churn new talent. Either we produce graduates in conventional geography or scientists in satellite and remote sensing technology. “But we need more engineers. We need formal educational programmes like B.Tech/M.Tech in geo-spatial technology,” says Arvind Thakur, CEO, NIIT Technologies.

The sector has developed to an extent that it can be an exciting career oppor-tunity but people do not know about them. Already some universities like Anna University, JNTU, Symbiosis, NIIT and a host of engineering colleges have courses in geomatics but there are few takers. From academic year beginning April 1, the Central Board of Secondary Education will start geospatial technol-ogy as a vocational elective in Class XI and XII to create basic awareness about the emerging technologies.

Subba Rao thinks we should have GIS courses at ITIs and government universi-ties. “The government is talking about it and there has been some move by the

education ministry. But things are mov-ing very slow.” But then he points to lack of trained faculty in the country. “Most government engineering colleges do not have enough qualified and trained faculty. Who is there to teach GIS!”

A lot of industry people, including the government and private sector, think the private education sector should come forward and start these courses. That is also not a foolproof formula though. As Subba Rao says, most of the passouts from private colleges leave India after a year so for better prospects abroad. “This skillset shortage is not only in India; it’s a problem worldover because it’s an upcoming sector.”

“

A major problem with rural

development is there are too many schemes

doing the same things.

Geoinformatics can help us

connect all this

M.V. Rao,Director, National

Institute of Rural Development


GIS is part of our overall execution methodology. From telecom to retail to distribution of petroleum products, we are probably the first one in the country to be doing this on such a scale

Sanjay Mashruwala,President, Projects, Reliance Industries

We have successfully incorporated geospatial technology in our orgnisation’s day-to-day activities. We had to be quicker than the competition

Ramamurthy Kolluri,Vice President, Networks, Bharti Airtel

A number of initiatives taken by ISRO, the Min-istry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Earth Sciences in the recent times have been towards sustainable development while improv-ing the scope and quality of both climate data and other remote sensing applications.

The flagship Integrated Coastal Zone Man-agement project is an ambitious programme to build national capacity for comprehensive coastal management approach in the country. The $285.67-million World Bank-funded project was part of the XI Plan and is implemented by the Survey of India to map the 7,500-km coastline. Launched in 2010, the project is in its first stage now and is working on mapping, delineation and demarcation of the hazard lines, and delineation of coastal sediment cells.

Under the XII Plan, a dedicated satellite for monitoring forest cover, NTFP resource, biodi-versity on periodical basis along with change monitoring is also on the anvil.

On the climate side, a number of initiatives and coordination among ISRO and the India Meteo-rological Department have improved the climate data quality in recent times. Since groundwater accounts for nearly two-thirds of India’s irrigation and 80% of domestic water needs, a new pro-gramme of aquifer mapping at a scale of 1:50,000 aims at sustainable management of groundwater. Significantly, the government envisions trans-forming the MNREGA into India’s largest water-shed and groundwater recharge programme.

Disaster managementIndia with its geographical and climatic diversities is one of the most disaster prone countries in the world. Growing political unrest and inadequate infrastructure add to threat of man-made disasters too. While we have taken huge strides in disaster management since the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, a 2011 UNDP report estimates India still loses about 2% of GDP to natural disasters. Estimates suggest about 60% of the landmass is prone to earth-quakes, 40 million hectares prone to floods, 8% area prone to cyclones and 68% is susceptible to drought. The loss in terms of human lives, private,

AgricultureRapid urbanisation is progressively reducing the availability of most productive lands for agricul-ture. With water becoming a scarce resource, In-dia’s heavily monsoon-dependent agriculture has been reduced to contributing only about 14% of the GDP in recent times. Scarcity of cultivable land coupled with a growing population are demand-ing increased yield per acre to ensure the govern-ment’s food security programme. The XII Plan has recognised that an important aspect of land is its degradation, which is threatening the sector’s growth rate. With over 120 million hectares having been declared degraded or problem soils, the Plan has recommended remote sensing and GPS-based support system for rejuvenation.

Even the Union Budget has underlined the need for a “technological innovation” to revamp the sector and allocated Rs 5 billion for crop diversification. The XII Plan wants pilot studies for perfecting remote sensing techniques and GIS/GPS to develop reliable estimates of area under agro-forestry area under crop production, land-use planning and precision farming. However, Indian farmers are unable to exploit the full poten-tial of GNSS technology due to restrictions.

Rajan Aiyer agrees that is a big problem.However, since agriculture is a state subject, there has been some relief in certain states. Also, given that India typically has small-size farms, precision farming hasn’t been able to take off. “But preci-sion farming can be used in cooperative farming for opitmising use of fertiliser, insecticides etc.”

Forests & environmentIndia needs raw materials for fuelling its growth. However, its ecological assets are also as impor-tant. Further, there are people — tribals to use the layman’s term — who are also dependent on forests. Sustainable development is possible by striking a balance between economic and ecologi-cal goals, feels A.K. Wahal, Director General, For-est Survey of India. “Effective mapping of forests and other biodiversity resources go a long way in securing our environment and biodiversity, and also helps in planning and policy making,” he says.

Cover Story | India

“

“


community and public assets has been colossal over the years.

The XII Plan has envisioned a rapidly deploy-able multi-protocol wireless communication system, interoperable across all the services engaged in disaster management. It has also said digital elevation models along major river systems will be prepared for all river basins while ISRO’s Disaster Management Support Programme will be expanded to include more river basins. The Plan is emphatic on the use of geospatial tools, flood mapping, use of NRSC’s flood hazard zonation maps among others. The ISRO programme provides near-real-time disaster management support. However, what is required is an integration of this with local authorities for ground-level implementation. Also, there are only three disaster forecasting systems in place as of now — flood, cyclone and tsunami. “We need to work towards developing forewarnings for other emergencies like earth-quakes and on disaster alert systems,” says Dr V. Bhanumurthy of ISRO.

ConclusionRising inflation, slowing growth, constrain-ing budgets and an uncertain global economy are all pointers to a gloomy future. Neverthe-less, this slowdown is an opportunity in itself because that is when geospatial as an enabling technology can establish its real value. The industry feels in times of crisis, businesses look to save costs and they look for tools that help towards this. “Besides projects enablement, ac-curate real-time data helps in quick, transparent and objective decision making. It also empow-ers the field workers and effective communica-tion with them always saves time, effort and costs,” says Rajan Aiyer.

The recent trend in India clearly indicates the value of geospatial technologies for all nation-al-level projects. Hexagon’s Chakraborty sees the sector becoming a key driver for employment. And he is not wrong. The BCG study has shown that the sector already employees 135,000 people while touching 2% of our workforce.

“People have begun to realise that geospa-tial-enabled services are beneficial for their work – be it people, government or busi-nesses,” says Agrawal of BCG. The report also points to an encouraging trend — increas-ing public demand and use of geo-enabled services. Consumers are now placing consid-erable value on geospatial services such as Web-enabled map applications and the value of this consumer surplus is estimated at about $1.5-2 billion.

The industry thinks India is ready for us-er-based services now. “When we talk about geospatial in India, it becomes very data-cen-tric,” says Rajesh Mathur. “But look at what us-ers want, so the whole data policy and strategy becomes demand/consumer driven.”

Agrees former NRSC chief Dr V. Jayaraman. “Data is no more an issue. We must focus on de-livery of applications and services,” he says while identifying crowd sourcing, cloud computing and social networking as the new areas.

The taxation issue, among other things, has to be competitive for global players to come in and make it a viable business, emphasises Ai-yer. The sector also requires product innovation for advanced, cost-effective and better geospa-tial solutions. Also, the current solutions are “data hungry”; to maximise the results from the business requirements, periodic data updates are required to be undertaken in a pro-active manner.

Despite the constraints, the industry is op-timistic about the future. As Chakraborty says, “We can make rapid progress with adequate support and encouragement by way of timely policies, incentives and initiatives.” A clearer, holistic and timely geospatial policy, further investments and easier access to data will surely help India realise its vision of becoming a highly industrialised and technology-driven economy while catering to its fundamental policy of inclusive growth.

Anusuya Datta, Deputy Executive [email protected]

“

Geospatial technology

enables us to understand

problems better because

it presents issues visually,

in a more understandable

format. Our aim should be to see

how e-governance programmes can

get a geospatial layer and turn

into g-governance

Arvind Thakur, CEO,

NIIT Technologies


Do you integrate GIS with other technologies like SCADA,MIS, ERP etc?

2 Do you get right guidance from the industry?

1GIS brings measurable improvement in terms of:

No

Yes

Yes

No

5 Has the use of g-tech openedup new business avenue for the company?

7%

93%

How do geospatial technology users in India rate it in terms of benefits accrued?

SurveyUsers

25% no 75% yes

4 How easy/difficult is it to procure spatial data for your need?

24%

Easy

33%

Difficult

33%

SomewhatEasy/Difficult

3

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Customer Service

Efficiency

Safety

Productivity

Return on Investment (ROI)

Source: Geospatial World survey of users in India, a majority from the public sector.

85%

15%

Cover Story | India


1 Which are the top 3 promising verticals in India for the next 3 years?

2 Should India have a unified geospatial policy?

4 What according to you are entry and operating barriers for the industry to thrive in India?

3 Will a national geospatial repository spur industry growth in India?

What does the geospatial industry think about the Indian market? How big are the opportunities?

Tax structures

Policy

Other

SurveyIndustry

0

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Others

Land reforms and administration

Urban planning

Utilities

Infrastructure

55%

64%

27%

Yes 100%

Source: Geospatial World survey of geospatial companies in India.


sound policy framework that facilitates the availability and accessibility of geoinformation is crucial in exploiting the full potential of geospatial data as an enabling tool in mission mode projects, governance, businesses and everyday lives of citizens. Coming out of the military domain, the first de-restriction of topographic maps in India started around 1967. In the last 47 years, it has come a long way, opening up several core yet independent geospatial information organisa-tions for topography, remote sensing information as well as thematic mapping organisations for forestry, census, archaeology, soil and land use.

With such a wide variety of data generating organisations, a laudable space programme and a thriving services sector, data should have been the last issue in the country. Unfortunately, while there is an abundance of geospatial data, the Indian data environment is still fraught with nu-merous challenges in the absence of an integrated national geospatial strategy, clear-cut data-sharing

policy and easy access to high-resolution data.

Security paranoia?The National Map Policy (NMP) was estab-lished in 2005 with an aim to promote the use of geospatial knowledge and intelligence by all sections of the society. With the NMP, two series of topographic maps became available — one for defence forces and another for civilian purposes as Open Series Maps (OSM). The Remote Sensing Data Policy 2011 was announced while taking into consideration “the availability of very high-resolu-tion images, from foreign and commercial remote sensing satellites, and noting the need for proper and better management of the data acquisition/ distribution from these satellites in India”. As a result, all satellite data of resolutions up to 1 metre was free of any restriction for distribution on a nondiscriminatory and “as requested basis”.

It won’t be breaking news to say both these policies are underlined by security concerns. The

A

India | Data Policy

As geospatial technology becomes part of growth and development, it’s time India takes a look at and revamps the existing data policies to help the sector realise its full potential

Image Courtesy: Lostman Project

The missing link


NMP 2005 states that “SoI has been mandated to take a leadership role in liberalising access of spatial data to user groups without jeopardising national security”, and each of these OSMs (in both hard copy and digital form) will become “unrestricted” after obtaining a one-time clear-ance of the Ministry of Defence. It adds and “SoI will ensure that no civil and military Vulnerable Areas and Vulnerable Points are shown on OSMs”. Similarly, the Remote Sensing Policy 2011 rec-ognises that “national interest is paramount, and that security consideration of the country needs to be given utmost importance”.

While the government opened up the data for various applications recognising the significance of geospatial data, observers feel the security concerns still prevail upon even the “open” data. A report, Perspectives for a National GI Policy, by the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), observes that soon after the NMP was announced, it dawned that the digital Open Series Map is only a “red herring” and that the security concern would still prevail.

The government, however, believes the restric-tions are not a great hurdle to development. Dr V.K. Dadhwal, Director, National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), is emphatic that the high-quality imaging environment is not restrictive in India. “Yes, higher spatial resolutions than 1 metre have a set of guidelines. But geospatial sector is much more than imaging. NRSC believes in open data and that is why all satellite data is available for purchase by users,” he claims while adding open data should not be confused as free data. NRSC officials also point out that data prices have come down by over 100% in the last few years, which only point to the fact that the sector is opening up.

Further, use of high resolution data is allowed in special cases, points out Dr S. Sudhakar, Direc-tor, North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), who in fact believes 2.5 metre resolu-tion is more than sufficient to handle most of the development-related works. Surveyor General Dr S. Subba Rao says the Survey of India, the nodal agency for maps, has just begun mapping the country at 1:10,000 scale and once completed, it

will take care about 90% of development projects in the country. He is also of the opinion that “the remote sensing policy that opened up imagery of up to 1 metre is absolutely fine. Beyond that I don’t think many people need it.”

The Indian Railways recently placed a six-figure order with GeoEye for stereo imagery with spatial resolution of 50 cm. However, it may take months before the images actually land with the Railways after the clearances from NRSC, which is again the sole custodian to acquire and dissemi-nate all foreign remote sensing data entering In-dia. Procurement of foreign imagery is not so easy, especially for the private sector, but NRSC officials claim the delay is due to the normal procedures.

The industry acknowledges the security con-cerns but wants the government to be judicious in its approach owing to development needs. With the private geospatial sector getting more and more involved in national development projects, there is a genuine need for access to data. “Imag-ine using data with error margin of 50 feet for cadastral mapping where people are possessive about every inch,” says Rajan Aiyer, MD, Trimble India. “Even for pipelines, underground utilities, fibre optics, aligning roads, we need millimetre or centimetre-level accuracy.”

And this opens another pandora’s box. This kind of accuracy can come with use of GPS for positioning or Virtual Reference System (VRS), use of which is restricted in India. “The govern-ment is apprehensive that it can be used by people for nefarious activities. But even smartphones can be used for that. We have to remove this fear,

“

Once the 1:10,000 scale mapping of the country is complete, it will take care of about 90%

of development projects. Also, the

remote sensing policy that clears release of images

of up to 1 metre is absolutely fine

Dr. S. Subba Rao,Surveyor General

of India

A national geographic information system (NGIS) has been envisaged in the XII Five Year Plan to map information, assets and data accurately, which will assist in policy and works planning and improve delivery of services in urban and rural areas. The Plan has approved Rs 25 billion for the project to be implemented by the Survey of India. National GIS envisions a well maintained collection of geo-spatial datasets to allow national use, published via standard web services so that government and private sector entities and citizens have the same national view of GIS data. The National GIS can be envisioned as a GIS Systems of Systems, to enable mechanisms by which GIS can bring in full-scale support to governance and embed GIS in all aspects of planning.

VISION FOR A NATIONAL GIS


uncertainty and doubt,” says Aiyer.As a result, many users, including government

departments, are increasingly using sources like Google Maps. For instance, the Railways is using Google Maps for preparing its GIS basemap. “It is just that Google is available easier,” says S.S. Mathur, General Manager, Centre for Railway Information Systems. Agrees Sanjay Jaju, IT Secre-tary, Andhra Pradesh, who says the state govern-ment has started collaboration with Google since it is available in such a user-friendly open format.

“When you have Google and others, holding government data is not going to make any differ-ence to you. Private companies who work in India and abroad understand this but the government has a problem,” says Pankaj Gupta, Head – GIS Collection Data Collection, Trimble India. Gupta points out that China has every district mapped on VRS. “Even Bangladesh allows VRS. SoI has started talking about its own 50 receivers because they want to create a VRS system in India.”

Data sharingIf security is a laid-down issue, the lack of laws or policy regarding data-sharing further complicates the problem. Data custodians are often reluctant to share their data. “People think data is power; if

you share, you lose the power,” says Subba Rao. Maj Gen Dr R. Siva Kumar, CEO of National

Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) agrees that reluctance to share the data, in addition to other factors like lack of metadata, data in analogue form, non-interoperability and policy, has been a reason why users have traditionally not been able to use and add value to this asset (spatial data). NSDI was set up in 2006 as a national infrastruc-ture for the availability of and access to organised spatial data, with the objective of developing and maintaining standard digital collection of data and developing common solutions for discov-ery, access and use of spatial data in response to the needs of diverse user groups. Over the years, Kumar says NSDI has been able to develop consensus amongst 17 mapping agencies to come together and commit for sharing geospatial data but a lot remains to be done.

However, many within and outside the gov-ernment think even though NSDI was launched with much fanfare, it hasn’t been able to achieve much. Industry insiders concede that data sharing is a mindset problem. Sudhakar of NESAC feels there is an inherent reluctance among govern-ment departments in sharing data. Voicing similar sentiments, Ganesan Kumar of the Tamil Nadu Highways department says, “For our work, it was a challenge to get SoI maps with information about boundaries of MLA/MP constituencies.” Harsh Sharma, Vice President (NMG,EA and IT), BSES Yamuna Power Limited, says that the procure-ment of images from government departments is major challenge faced during preparation and updation of base maps.

The National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy, cleared by the Cabinet in early 2012, is expected to be in force in a few months. The policy makes it mandatory for every department to share data — spatial and otherwise — thus helping in ef-fective framing of national policies and planning. All governmental data-holding organisations will have to prepare a negative list of non-shareable sensitive data, weighing the need to restrict public access due to security or privacy, against the obligation to share it with civil society and

NRSC believes in open data and that is why all satellite data is available for purchase by users. Open data should not be confused as free data

V.K. Dadhwal, Director, NRSC

“

KeyChallenges

DataSharing

DataDuplication

NationalSecurity

Standard

India | Data Policy


the scientific community. “Once this happens, everyone will fall in line,” says Subba Rao. The government has also launched a data portal (data.gov.in) to make data accessible and available to all government ministries and departments, which is a great initiative on paper. But even then there are issues. For instance, the NICMaps prepared by the National Informatics Centre (National Informatics Centre) are awaiting clearance from Ministry of Defence before it can be made accessible.

Data duplicationOften, there are multiple agencies involved in data generation, activities or data pertaining to the same geographic location. And this data is collect-ed by these agencies independently. As a result, the authenticity of data is often lost, impacting the decisions it supports. For instance, Varsha Joshi, Director, Census Operations Delhi, shares that her department had to face numerous problems while conducting census operations in 2009 over the au-thenticity of maps due to multiplicity of sources. In such a situation, users also lack clarity on whom to approach for the most authentic information.

Any metropolitan city in India typically has a municipal authority, an urban development authority, a public works department, the water board, and even power, gas and telecom utilities. All these bodies produce their own data, often resulting in duplication. Subba Rao points out that the Delhi State Spatial Data Infrastructure (DSSDI) was envisaged to address this issue and created one database for the Delhi Government. He, however, concedes that this is a difficult and time-consuming task and the Delhi Government had to bring in legislation to mandate this.

Further, a lot of corporate data exists in the geospatial data space. Geospatial solutions and services companies require different kinds of geospatial data for their activities and meet project requirement. While some of it is procured from the government agencies, companies also acquire their own data. Dr Aniruddha Roy, Vice President, Navayuga, says the company acquires primar-ily the SoI base data and imagery products from NRSC. Datasets required in addition to these are

normally developed afresh based on the project requirements. He adds that there is often a lack of clarity regarding the processes involved in acquiring datasets from government agencies. Turnaround times can also be a constraint as the companies need to meet project deadlines.

A private player, on the condition of anonym-ity, shares that the company generates its own data to deliver its projects efficiently. Similarly, there are a lot of individual surveying and map-ping projects undertaken by various government departments for specific purposes. All these activities generate a lot of geospatial data and information which does not find its way back into some central system from where it can be picked up by other users for their activities. The employee of a public sector organisation undertaking a large surveying exercise agrees that such data, which will otherwise remain within the project itself, is a national resource and should be available for use by other organisations.

One way to address this, as Roy suggests, is that all government-sponsored projects should have a common repository. A project like R-APDRP should have a common GIS repository, which in this case can be with the Power Finance Cor-poration and the Ministry of Power. They can store the data in central repository which can be shared through distributed environment, he says. However, the basic facts need to be kept in mind — that the base line data in terms of boundary etc should match with the SoI basemaps.

Standards Data comes in various standards. GIS experts in India have repeatedly raised concerns about the interoperability issues and the different versions of maps and data created by various government departments in India. Multiple standards and lack

“

All government-sponsored

projects should have a

common central repository for

data which can then be

shared through distributed

environment

Dr Aniruddha Roy,Vice President,

Navayuga

The Delhi State Spatial Data Infrastructure has created one database for the Delhi govt and all depts are mandated to share and use this data


of interoperability not only hampers its effectiveusage, but can also be a roadblock in addressing problems like inter-state issues.

SoI, which is implementing the government’sambitious National GIS project that aims to haveone database across the country, also plans toaddress the issue of uniformity of standards.Subba Rao explains that SoI will soon formalisethe methodologies — standards to be adopted,format in which the data will flow in, kind of datatransaction etc. As a one-shot solution, SoI istrying to make sure all data that goes into NGIS isOGC-compliant. As for standardising data fromother departments, as of now, SoI plans to acceptwhatever format data comes in and convert it forNGIs. “At a later date, when NGIS is launched andthey all become part of it, they will automatically migrate to a uniform format and this will gradually become a standard. Today, if I tell them to use acertain standard, it may come across as an imposi-tion,” says Subba Rao.

Way forward The underlining problems are primarily because there is no ownership of geospatial as a sector among any government department or ministry. With the major data-generating organisations in India spread over various departments (see box: Data Custodians), no one official or minister has the onus of getting deep into the problems to cre-ate a conducive policy environment. Also, several efforts to facilitate cooperation and collaboration among these agencies have not achieved the desired level of results primarily because each of these agencies have a very distinct mandate and is administered by different ministries.

Industry experts believe that initiatives like NSDI no doubt work to facilitate collaboration among various spatial data organisations, but this works only to promote the sharing of information without the necessary mandate to encourage the creation, management, maintenance and the utilisation of geospatial information.

Further, these data custodians served certain well-defined purposes which were relevant at the time of their creation. Today surveying and mapping has evolved into integrated geospatial fac-ulty which offers much greater degree of utility and contribution to socio-eco-nomic development of the country and its people. Therefore, feel experts, there is a need to amend the scope and man-date of these organisations in order to make them more meaningful and relevant to serve the country to their fullest potential. Take for instance the Geological Survey of India (GSI). GSI is administered by the Ministry of Mines, which has no interest in strengthening the institution beyond using it for min-ing and exploration activities within the government sector. However, if modernised and mandated, GSI can play a much larger role in national development through contribution to commercial mining and exploration industry. Recognising these lacunae,

Data custodians The data generating agencies in India come under various departments

Agency Department

Dept. of Space

Dept. of Science & Technology

Ministry of Environment & Forests

Dept. of Science & Technology

Ministry of Home Affairs

Ministry of Environment & Forests

Ministry of Water Resources

Ministry of Water Resources

Ministry of Mines

Ministry of Earth Sciences

Indian Navy, Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Agriculture

Ministry of Communications & IT

National Remote Sensing Centre

Survey of India

Forest Survey of India

National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation

Office of Registrar General of India

Central Pollution Control Board

Central Water Commission

Central Ground Water Board

Geological Survey of India

Indian Meteorological Department

National Hydrographic Office

National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning

National Informatics Centre

India | Data Policy


the XII Plan seeks to position GSI so as to empha-sise on geospatial and multi-disciplinary work for the benefit of science, society and the nation.

One way forward is setting up of an agency that will be an integration/merger of core geospatial data organisations, including topographical, geo-logical, remote sensing, land registry and others in the country. An encouraging development in this direction is the recommendation put forward by Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Communications and IT, to set up a national geospatial information agency/authority. He asserts that data should be housed in one national agency. A number of coun-tries such as Japan, Canada, Indonesia are working in this direction.

To address the issues, the Indian government has envisaged creation of a National GIS system which aims to have one database for the entire country for all geospatial data that is integrated and from all government agencies. The XII Plan has approved Rs 25 billion for the programme. SoI, which is mandated to set up the NGIS and make it functional, is targeting to launch it by October with its present set of 1:50,000 maps of the country. It plans to update it gradually with 1:10,000 maps as they are created as well as with data from other departments and states.

The government believes that NGIS will go a long way into solving a lot of these issues. While ironing out the challenges of sharing, standards and duplication, it will also be a repository of all government geospatial data in the country. However, while there is a lot of euphoria about this, the industry is trying to stay cautious since it believes NSDI was also launched with such hype, but several years down the line, data sharing is still a challenge. Some like Rajesh C. Mathur, Vice Chairman, NIIT-GIS, believe NGIS is at a very high level and the real issue is penetration to the state and district levels. For, while policies are made at the national level, actual development work hap-pens at the state level. “NGIS is like a banyan tree which has a lot of other offshoots. It’s not an end in itself. For NGIS to be truly successful you need state GIS,” he says. “Towards that end, a state GIS only can integrate various departments of the state

governments and become part of the National GIS in a federative manner.”

Some experts, however, say centralising every-thing could be a total formula for disaster. “The world is talking of distributed GIS and cloud, and we are still talking of centralising,” says an insider.

Further, the NGIS also fails to address the issue of data generated by private organisations. The recent report by Boston Consulting Globe on the state of geospatial services sector in India had called on exploring PPP initiatives for building a geospatial capital. “In building out infrastructure and collecting data, companies often replicate each other’s work. They can reduce costs and save time by building mechanisms for exchanging the data they have already gathered,” it said.

ConclusionThe NGIS vision document recognises that for National GIS to be successful, it is imperative to have a National Geographical Information Policy. Dr K. Kasturirangan, Member (Science), Planning Commission, had also recently talked about the need for a national geospatial policy to address issues like data sharing and formatting.

The NIAS report on the National GI Policy, created on the behest of the Department of Sci-ence and Technology, further widens the scope, underlining that any such policy also must define how activities of GIS data usage and applications can be undertaken “while addressing issues of national strategic relevance, technological su-premacy in GI, wide-spread usage of GI in society, address privacy, data quality, intellectual property rights and national security issues — all of which are yet to be well-defined and to be made clear”.

There is no dearth of geospatial data in the country. However, if geospatial data has to become the backbone of mission mode proj-ects, become part of governance and business endeavours and become a key enabler to advance the economy, it has to be credible, available and usable. It is important to address the gaps in the data landscape to ensure this criteria is met.

Team Geospatial World

“

NGIS is like a banyan tree

which has a lot of other offshoots.

It’s not an end in itself. For

NGIS to be truly successful you need state GIS

Rajesh C. Mathur,Vice Chairman,

NIIT-GIS


R

Learning the ropes

iding the crest of high GDP growth, India an-nounced several mission mode projects of national importance during the XI Five Year Plan (2007-2012) mandating the use of geo-spatial technology in some. After the initial euphoria, government departments, which spearheaded these projects, found themselves caught unawares. As several big-ticket projects mandated the use of geospatial technology for the first time in the country, there was no pre-cedence in adapting to the technology. Survey of India (SoI), the official in-charge of surveying and mapping in the country, was wrest with the responsibility of implementing several projects. With exponential increase in demand for sur-veying and mapping activities, outsourcing be-came inevitable as SoI could no longer deliver all the tasks independently. An industry, which

The past few years have been a learning experience for the industry and government departments in tendering and bidding for major mission mode projects in the country as they now mature towards floating RFPs

India | Tendering Process

was content with delivering services to the rest of the world thus far, was suddenly flush with domestic projects.

One of the options exercised universally to execute a project is to get a price specification and go for the lowest priced vendor (L1). This is used in majority of cases in India but unfortu-nately is not the right fit for buying technology and technical services. As the procurement processes in the geospatial domain have not ma-tured yet, several challenges arose in tendering and procurement. These included defining the objectives of the project clearly, establishing the technical and financial entitlement of vendors, defining the responsibility matrix and setting realistic timelines, to just name a few. It “felt almost like an exercise in conflict management,” says a government source.


The experience of Delhi State Spatial Data Infrastructure project (DSSDI, the first major project in the country, worth Rs 1.25 billion) has taught several lessons. Subsequent projects, like the Rs 1.25-billion Integrated Coastal Zone Management saw maturity at various levels. Procurement manuals were created as the proj-ect involved several procurements. Ambiguity regarding the responsibility matrix, technical re-quirements and type of tendering to opt for were resolved. Even at the start and during the project, quick decisions were enabled and the projects incorporated a lot of flexibility. However, the lessons learnt are not uniform across the projects and several challenges still abound.

Setting expectationsOften, the expectations of the users/vendees of projects are not enumerated with clarity in the Request for Proposal. Lack of precedents, limited understanding of technology and experience of utilising the same has posed a challenge. The clas-sic case is the National Land Records Modernisa-tion Programme (NLRMP). Some industry quar-ters believe that the government/stakeholders did not exactly know what the outcomes from the NLRMP programme should be. In some states, the objectives and the time period were not defined clearly, leading to confusion. There were instances where such ambiguity led to litigation.

“In about 90% of the projects, there are some loopholes and outcomes are not defined very well,” says Rajesh Alla, President & CEO, IIC Technologies. “The question is how far one can let that go on. It is often important to educate the gov-ernment users. The onus is on the industry and it requires commitment from the industry,” he says.

However, having learnt from the initial mis-takes, many projects subsequently ironed out such challenges. Enumerating how the Depart-ment of Land Resources (DoLR), the nodal agen-cy for the NLRMP programme, resolved the issue, Charanjit Singh, Director, says, “We have created a committee of senior officers who understand this field to help us in enumerating the objectives right.” The department decided to divide the work because one vendor cannot deliver all the tasks.

“We then studied all the RFPs, selected a few model RFPs and put them on the DoLR website for the benefit of all state governments,” he adds.

Another recommendation that has come forth is having a consultant who can guide the project team to the right technology specifica-tions. The Association of Geospatial Industries (AGI) is ready to take on such a role.

Of pilots and slicesSeveral mission mode projects that stipulate the use of geospatial technology are large, and the tendering process cumbersome. Often, the buyers know what they want but sometimes RFPs are a mix and match. “RFPs mix a lot of things. No one comes to concurrence and no one bids for it,” says Pankaj Gupta, Head-GIS Data Collection, TUFS&MCS, Business Devel-opment, Trimble India. According to him, the best approach is to do one or two pilots before the major project, assess and vet the technol-ogy. “It is good to have an empanelled set of companies, come up with a limited RFP instead of an open RFP,” he recommends.

A few programmes in the country have already taken that route. In the case of NL-RMP, some states have done pilots and moved on to floating RFPs for the larger part. “The programme is already in the fourth year. States have been successful in setting the practices. We have made very detailed guidelines for the implementation of the programme,” avers Singh. Almost all the projects currently underway in the country are massive in scale. For example, the ICZM covers 70,000 sq km of aerial flying. Since the government was of the opinion that no single vendor can deliver projects of this scale in stipulated time, they have been sliced. “This ensured that timelines are met and quality is not compromised,” says a Survey of India source.

Empanelled vendorsOne recommendation put forth by the industry to streamline the tendering process is to have a list of empanelled vendors. For example, NRSC has a list of empanelled vendors and they have a set price for each of the tasks. Based on this, NRSC

“

In about 90% of the projects, every contract

has some loopholes and outcomes are

not defined very well. The

question is how far one can let

that go on. It is often important

to educate the government

users. The onus is on the industry

and it requires commitment

from the industry.

Rajesh Alla,President & CEO, IIC Technologies


awards contracts. The R-APDRP project has taken a similar approach but it faced several challenges. Rajesh C Mathur, Vice Chairman, NIIT GIS says, “We started with the right approach of empanel-ling the vendors and making sure that only they are allowed to bid. However, there were many who should not have been empanelled and they started quoting crazy prices just to bag the deal. We need more stringent norms for companies to qualify for empanelment.”

A approach to save the projects from being bid by vendors with insufficient domain knowl-edge is to adopt weighted evaluation of bids. Of late, many projects are taking this route, giving weightage to technical competence, commer-cial aspects and based on these, arrive at the derived L1. “This way, a vendor may not be the cheapest, but value for money is ensured,” says Mathur. Voicing similar sentiments, Alla says, “There is no one medicine for the problem. Each scenario needs a different approach. Qual-ity-based selection is very important; technical proficiency and price is another alternative.”

Unrealistic timelinesMany projects in India have unrealistic timelines. For example, a project stipulated mapping of the entire state in 15 months. Multi-crore projects like R-APDRP have been colossal failures because of such riders. This is because of the rigidity in terms of deliverables, pricing and as a result a few well known geospatial companies have almost gone bankrupt. “Projects need to have healthy clauses. Only then can the industry remain healthy and profitability maintained,” an industry insider says.

Partner for win-win situationFor mission-critical projects, only partnership process works and not L1, according to the spokes-

person of a leading geospatial services company. In this, the buyer considers the vendor as a partner with an obligation to fulfil the objectives of the project in the long run and share the returns/ben-efits. “RFP should stand for Request for Partner-ship and not Request for Proposal. This ensures a win-win situation in the long run”, he adds.

Charanjit Singh agrees that state govern-ments can’t accomplish the NLRMP project on their own. They have to go for either PPP mode or completely outsource the project. “Some rev-enue-sharing models need to be developed. For example, if a vendor computerises the existing land records, we need to evolve a revenue model where the vendor gets some money and some portion goes to the government. Such models can be worked out on a sustainable basis,” he adds.

Policy tangleThough the tendering process is maturing, several projects still face constraints vis-a-vis policy related to security. For example, there is no timeframe in India in which clearances for aerial flying will be given. Until the policy is crystal clear, there is an environment of uncer-tainty around geospatial projects. If security is a concern, every project needs to be cleared in the first stage itself so that there is no air of uncertainty and the timelines can be clearly set, say both industry and users.

ConclusionLearning from the experiences of tendering and bidding for major mission mode projects in the country in the past few years, the industry and the government departments are refining the tender-ing processes and are maturing in floating RFPs. However, a lot needs to be done to streamline the process and ensure that geospatial projects are completed in an environment of clarity and cer-tainty, contributing to the confidence and belief of the government users on the credibility and efficacy of geospatial technology.

Bhanu Rekha, Executive [email protected]

One approach to save the projects from being bid by vendors with insufficient domain knowledge is

to adopt weighted evaluation of bids

Some revenue-sharing models need to be developed. For example, if a vendor computerises the existing land records, we need to evolve a revenue model where the vendor gets some money and some portion goes to the government. Such models can be worked out on a sustainable basis

Charanjit Singh, Director, NLRMP, Department of Land Resources

“

India | Tendering Process


Feature | Large Format Printers

Putting high quality geospatial information literally in the hands of the users, large format printers are becoming integral in the changing geospatial work environment as it becomes more mobile and collaborative

Presenting the

BIG picture

G eospatial information is fast becoming ubiq-uitous and emerging as a key decision support system across a wide range of applications. Thevisual representation of this information allows users to see patterns, understand trends and make informed decisions based on scientific analysis. Technologies like GIS, remote sensing, photogrammetry and BIM are enabling effective analysis of the geographic information and are being adopted worldwide.

Visualisation and publishing of this geoinfor-mation is one of the key steps in exploiting the potential of the information. It is often essential to present complex spatial and design data in a simple, attractive and effective way. Effective printing solutions for geospatial information are available to users in the form of large format printers.

Quality matters Large format printers help produce high-quality prints of complex and detailed images like aerial or satellite imagery, and are an effective medium to get the big picture without missing out on details. Ramon Pastor, Vice President and Gen-eral Manager, Large Format Printing Business, Hewlett-Packard Company, elaborates that this working tool lets users see both the large picture and the details in the same print, allowing them to analyse, discuss and discover the meaning and information contained in the data, fostering cre-ativity and enabling collective decision making.

Large format printers enable fast and ac-curate geospatial information to support quick and accurate decisions, says Kazuto Akane, Senior Manager, WFP Product Marketing Department, Regional Wide Format Printer Products Division, Canon Singapore. When it comes to time and accuracy, large format printers such as those provided by Canon benefit geospatial industry professionals by providing highly accurate, precision imaging solution or print quality in large format size, he adds.


Technology developments are enabling integrated use of multiple data types like high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery, 3D data. Also, with the growing capabilities and sophis-tication of design software, geospatial files are increasingly getting larger and more complex. Large format printers allow for powerful file pro-cessing, fast speeds, increased flexibility and high quality colour that cannot be achieved with small format printers available in the market. HP’s PostScript Printer series, for example, effectively supports the GIS environment. By submitting many files at a time, directly to the printer, with-out having to wait to open an application, users can significantly cut down on time required to create a print, says Pastor. Featuring 8-ink print-ing system, users can also get accurate colours fast, easily and cost effectively, as the embedded spectrometer enables automatic calibration and profiling, minimising expensive trial-and-error printing. The system also enables processing of large files quickly and easily with a 160GB hard disk drive and users can achieve high-quality results on a wide range of applications with built-in PostScript support for PS/PDF files.

With a print speed of up to 46 seconds for A0-sized output and the ability to print technical documents with resolutions up to 2400 x 1200 dots-per-inch with precise lines, Canon’s image-PROGRAF series printers are suitable for profes-sionals who need speedy, precise and high-qual-ity print output, says Akane. Designed to handle high resolution and large-size files with complex images, these printers are also equipped with a 250GB hard drive, of which 32GB is dedicated solely to file processing memory, he adds. The increased hard drive capacity streamlines the workflow by bearing the processing workload on the printer to increase overall print processing times, significantly increasing user efficiency.

In tune with evolving work processesBeyond dots per inch (dpi), large format print-ers are emerging as crucial tools to support the evolving work processes in the geospatial community. Geospatial work environments are increasingly becoming distributed, mobile and collaborative. The need to share, view and print geospatial documents from multiple information hubs at distributed sites is growing. Increasingly, more and more users of geospatial information are non-GIS professionals. They need to view and share data at multiple locations via different

devices which can be a laptop, a tablet, or a smartphone.

Web-connected large format print-ers, such as HP’s ePrinters with ePrint and Share software solution, make large format printing an easy, intuitive experience, making it easy for non-GIS experts too to print large format documents. It’s direct, hassle-free printing directly from the laptop or

even straight from a USB drive, without the need for printer drivers, applications

or servers. With touchscreen navigation, users can have accurate previews before printing from the intuitive colour touchscreen. In case the users are away from office, they can print remotely too from a computer or a smartphone to a Web-connected printer, informs Pastor. One

“

Large format printers let users

see both the big picture and

the details in the same print,

allowing them to analyse, discuss

and discover the meaning and

information contained in the

data, enabling collectieve decision

making

RamonPastor,Vice President and General Manager,

Large Format Printing Business, Hewlett-

Packard Company


can also easily access, preview and share files and track the team’s access to project docu-ments. These printing solutions also let users save their content online to the cloud so that they can access, share, print and re-print their content when they need to. Canon’s in-built software fa-cilitates real-time sharing of geospatial informa-tion through cloud, enhancing users’ workflow, shares Akane.

Hosting information in the cloud and le-veraging on the ability of large format printing solutions to access, update and print geospatial documents in the field can yield significant benefits for companies. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Key users Segments with significant volume of geospatial data at the core of their activities are perceiving these benefits and incorporating this tool into their activities. The benefits of large format print-ers are highly relevant to the segments that rely most on geospatial information. Printer makers observe that users in areas like e-governance, disaster management, energy, military, mapping, municipalities, land records modernisation, construction and engineering, 3D visualisation, urban planning etc can share critical information from various locations for greater effi-ciency and quick decision making.

National mapping organisa-tions: The national mapping organisations (NMO) of various countries constitute a big user base of large format printers. As the NMO of South Africa, National Geo-spatial Information (NGI), prints maps and imagery, includ-ing topographical maps, aeronau-tical charts, thematic maps, ortho-photos and aerial imagery. Chief Director Dr Derek Clarke informs that in the past, all the maps were printed using lithographic off-set printing and the imagery using

Transport Department issues permits faster with LFP

Case Study

Engineer technician Thaddeus Stephenson at the District 1 Permits Office of the Nevada Department of Transportation

(NDOT), US, takes customer service seriously. His office is charged with reviewing and approving road construction permits, a job that requires him to work with engineers, contractors and vari-ous government agencies to ensure that each project follows state regulations. At peak times, his office receives 120 permit applica-tions per month.

When applicants bring their drawings to the office, Stephenson sits down with them and shows them where they need to make changes to comply with regulations. But out-of-state applicants usually can’t come to his office. In the past, this meant that Ste-phenson would receive plans by FedEx, mark them up, and mail them back. This process often included several rounds before the permit was approved, delaying the application by weeks. Stephen-son knew that, from a customer service standpoint, NDOT had to do better.

In 2011, Stephenson advised NDOT to purchase the HP Design-jet T2300 eMFP. The ability to quickly scan and print quality colour drawings and collaborate via HP ePrint & Share,1 plus additional user-friendly features, convinced Stephenson that the HP Designjet T2300 eMFP would provide good value for NDOT. A year later, that investment is still paying off.

Convenient colour printingBefore purchasing the HP Designjet T2300 eMFP from California Surveying & Drafting Supply, NDOT only had a black-and-white plotter. When it needed colour prints, NDOT outsourced the work or went through the cumbersome process of manually tracing the coloured lines with highlighters.

With the HP Designjet T2300 eMFP, NDOT can conveniently print quality colour drawings and aerial photos in resolutions up to 2400 x 1200 optimised dpi. At colour image speeds of up to 549 sq ft (51 m2)per hour, NDOT can get accurate colour prints in minutes. And when clients bring files in on a thumb drive, all Stephenson needs to do to print TIFF, JPEG, or PDF2 files is plug it into the printer’s USB port.

Saving time and moneyNDOT bought the HP Designjet T2300 eMFP not only for its ability to print high-quality colour drawings, but also for the ways HP


(Continues...)


“

When it comes to time and

accuracy, large format printers

benefit geospatial industry

professionals by providing highly

accurate, precision imaging solution

or print quality in large format size

Kazuto Akane,Senior Manager, WFP

Product Marketing Department, Regional

Wide Format Printer Products Division, Canon Singapore

photographic processes. With all these products now available in digital format, NGI has moved to using large format digital printers. Elaborating on the advantages, Clarke says the large format printers facilitate printing on demand and they require minimal set-up and are cost-effective for small print runs. With litho off-set printing, the process of making printing plates and the cost thereof, requires a minimum print run of 600 while the plate-making process is also time consuming. The large format printers provide the advantage of quicker turn-around in printing and are cheaper for smaller print runs, he adds.

For The Netherlands’ Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency (Kadaster), large format printers offer fast delivery time, quality, eco-nomical unit price, minimisation of paper waste and less use of ink, says A.A. Mohamedhoesein (Aslam), Ordercoördinator, Kadaster/Geo-informatie.

Malaysia’s Department of Survey and Map-ping (JUPEM) uses large format printer for proofing and map printing. In addition, it also serves the agency’s on-demand printing needs such as backdrop printing for departmental events, publication needs, and others. The fact

that it can be used for various purposes (and not only map printing), helps the department to save cost and time, according to the Map Printing Section of JUPEM.

Clarke concurs that when maps are stored in the cloud, they can be printed at any location where a large format printer is available. The map producer only needs to put the print-ready map in the cloud and it can be shared. Mohamedho-esein says Kadaster has integrated its HP printers into its workflow made possible by software developed by the printer company.

Energy: Energy companies often have projects spread out over geographies. A hydro power company finds large printouts of site maps and other drawings an effective com-munication tool between the central office and field office. While this ensures that the field office works on the latest version of the file, the field office is also able to make modifications to the files on the same printout based on ground situation, and the communication flows back to the central office. Prior to large format print-ers, the central office had to use smaller print sizes and attach them together. This not only was cumbersome and time taking, there was also the risk of the set of papers not reaching the field office in original shape. With large size printouts, the offices not only have overcome these inconveniences, but have also been able to enhance their work efficiency and decision making. Officials can view large amount of de-tails about the project in one document.

Oil and gas: Similarly in an oil and gas exploration and production, more than 80% information is geospatial information which is the starting point for almost all activities. Eko Darminto, GIS, Topo and Carto Engineer, New Ventures Division, Total E&P Indonesie, shares that geoscientists in the organisation are more comfortable working with large size paper print-outs to arrive at various decisions.

Architecture, engineering & construction (AEC): Typically, a construction site operates out of a set of maps that are hosted in multiple repositories. Effectiveness in the construction

Imag

e C

ourt

esy:

HP


industry means managing the inevitable changes on a building project, be it a commercial or resi-dential job, on a daily basis.

Charlie Byrd of Middleburg, Virginia-based construction firm IntelliStructures says construc-tion firms often have to quickly communicate, approve and enact design or blueprint changes with a variety of individuals and teams — from architects and engineers to subcontractors and clients. A Web-connected printer gives construc-tion firm owners control over exactly what and when they print. As a critical business tool, Byrd observes that a large format printer with such features enhances professional collaboration. He says he can print directly from his computer or USB drive without installing drivers, or use the colour touchscreen to print directly from the Web. He can share and access files among not only his own team, but with colleagues in the building in-dustry as well. The AEC segment can also benefit from a host of features developed by printer mak-ers for this segment. HP for example, offers inkjet printing at LED speed at breakthrough TCO (total cost of ownership) — saving time and expense. Users can enjoy high-speed, unattended print-ing, radically simplify and speed up their entire workflow, produce monochrome CAD drawings for the same paper cost as their current LED prints — and even use laser paper. They can even load different media on three different rolls. In addition, such a printing solution also seamlessly integrates with any IT environment.

Utilities: Similar benefits can be seen in other segments with highly mobile workforces, like public utilities. The field office can access the latest version of the file from the central office, using Web, scanner and printer, to ensure that the modifications they make, like those to water pipes, are accurate. They can also make changes, if any. Since these changes are in the cloud, the central office is up-to-date on any changes. This way the organisation can also identify if there were any errors in their plan or GIS system. Large format printers therefore not just provide the big picture but are also a low-cost tool for access to information in the field, says Pastor.

Case Study

ePrint & Share helps NDOT speed up the permitting process. With HP ePrint & Share, Stephenson can easily upload files and share them with applicants and colleagues. When he prints using HP ePrint & Share, a copy of the file is saved to the cloud, allowing him to access and track different versions of the same file.

Stephenson has begun encouraging out-of-state applicants to sign up for HP ePrint & Share, which provides up to 5 GB of cloud storage for free, because “it allows you to get what you need in real time.” With the HP Designjet T2300 eMFP, Stephenson is able to print technical drawings, consult with colleagues, mark up the plans and then scan them directly to HP ePrint & Share. Applicants can then re-view comments and make changes. At a time when state budgets are thin and small businesses are struggling, the time and shipping costs saved by NDOT and its business applicants are significant.

Stephenson is also discovering that HP technology is great for working on the go. He says that having the HP ePrint & Share app downloaded to his Android™ device allows him to go to work sites, where he can collect data and mark up drawings on his phone and then print the files at his office using the HP Designjet T2300 eMFP.

A good valueBefore NDOT purchased the HP Designjet T2300 eMFP, it rarely produced prints for other state agencies, other than occasionally helping the attorney general’s office with cases that involved state roadways. Now that it has a powerful new colour printer, NDOT is in high demand. Stephenson recalls one court case where the attorney general needed a letter-size aerial photograph blown up to 6 x 6 ft (1.8 x 1.8 m). Stephenson scanned the image, and, using editing software, he split the image in half. Then he printed each half and put the images together on foam board.

Stephenson recalls, “When she came to pick it up, she could read the arrows and the words painted on the street. She just couldn’t believe the resolution of the photo.”

Stephenson estimates that, over 5 years, his office spent nearly $100,000 leasing and operating its old black-and-white plotter and scanner. With the HP Designjet T2300 eMFP, NDOT adds colour printing, Web connectivity and features such as the intuitive colour touchscreen and the ability to print directly from a USB thumb drive—at a lower cost. According to Stephenson, “The HP Design-jet T2300 eMFP has already paid for itself.” That value is helping the Nevada state government become more efficient and is one more way Stephenson feels he is able to better serve his customers.

1 Internet connection to printer is required. 2 PDF files only available with Adobe® PostScript® accessory (optional accessory to be purchased separately) or by buying PostScript versions


(Continued...)

© 2013 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

The printingis under control.What’s next?The HP Designjet T7100 Printer can take the pressure, so you can

keep on delivering results. From simple CAD drawings to high-quality

colour documents, the high-speed T7100 gets on with the job even

comes next, you’ll be able to handle it.

Find out more at hp.com/go/DesignjetT7100


3D printing Geospatial users are also working with 3D data alot more than ever before. Advances in instrumen-tation and software are ensuring that there is agrowing ability to collect and present vast quanti-ties of 3D data. Using 3D landscape/cityscape models for education, situational analysis andcommunication requires the timely conversionof GIS data to physical form. Unfortunately, thetraditional processes for building models — hand-made, CNC, or molded — are slow and expensive.Turnaround can take weeks and the process canbe very expensive. Printers are coming at theforefront to address this issue as well. 3D printersenable users to output high-quality maps in hoursat very low cost, according to 3D Systems, makerof 3D printers. The technology is poised to fun-damentally improve the way people use GIS datato communicate, while enabling them to analysecritical elements with quick, inexpensive, and eas-ily reproducible 3D models. The advantages of 3Dprinters include quick sophisticated cartography at very low cost; taking hours instead of days orweeks; costs being limited to tens or hundreds of dollars instead of thousands and clearer com-munication with clients, co-workers and public audiences, informs the company.

Greater flexibility With such benefits, large format printing solu-tions are therefore aiding the geospatial work-kkforces by providing greater flexibility in to theirworkflow through the ability to access, updateand print geospatial documents as per theirrequirement and giving the quality of print they require. These solutions benefit not just any onecategory in the workforce chain various links.Akane elaborates that these solutions addresstechnical staff that requires accuracy as wellas management office that needs high-quality imaging solutions and printing in line drawing and colour. Offerings like Canon’s imagePrograf cloud solution aims to enhance their productiv-ity by shortening their workflows.

Large format printers are also designed to print on a number of materials like canvas andvinyl, an option that can be handy for geospatialusers. JUPEM, for example, often prints on dif-ffferent materials, specifically for banners, postersand backdrops. Eko too says that his organisa-tion at times prints on other media like canvassand plastic.

Challenges While these printers are finding their way as asignificant tool in the geospatial ecosystem, they still have to long way to go. For instance, usersfind that they could do with a bit more speed inprinting maps. Clarke says the printers his or-ganisation uses only have a production capacity of 10 prints per hour. There are also issues withcolours sometimes. Eko says when the colour onthe computer monitor is too complex or gradualcolour, the resultant printout is not the exactcolour as seen on the monitor even if the printeris an 8-ink one.

In printing high-resolution large formatmap mosaic, colour consistency for each sheet is extremely important. The Map Printing Sec-tion, JUPEM has experienced instances where certain large format printers do not have the‘colour management’ feature. This feature is very important to ensure the quality of prints of its documents.

HP’s digital sheetfed press prints four million colour pages per month with higher profitability

Large format printers facilitate printing on demand and they require minimal set-up and are cost-effective for small print runs.

Dr. Derek Clarke Chief Director National Geo-spatial InformationSouth Africa

“



Prospects ahead Geospatial information is increasingly get-ting democratised. While earlier it was mainly the governments that had access to geospatial information, there are a host of players now with access to this information. More and more SMEs (small & medium enterprises) are entering the fray with geospatial solutions and services. A widening base of GIS and geospatial solutions spell greater avenues for large format printers, observes Pastor.

Is increasing digitisation a threat to the paper world? He does not think so. The company’s management team was quite apprehensive with the evolution of digital technology, speculating what it would bring to their existence, he adds. However, a market research revealed that despite the digital technology, the customers were still using the print format in processes like represen-tation and discussion. A small construction proj-ect might get by with a small print, but for large infrastructure or GIS projects, all major discus-sions are based around a large print. Ramon says the company has not witnessed reduced demand because of these factors.

Printed information is still necessary during presentations or during discussion meetings while on-site, mobile meetings, says Akane. Ad-ditionally, quality print data on different types of media can suit users requirements compared to digital viewing of information.

To maximise gains from these opportunities, Pastor says the driving factors would be ease of use, mobility and affordability of the solu-tion. According to Akane, print industry would need to constantly provide quality innovative solutions for geospatial industry.

Some of these solutions would be to address the anticipations of users. Mohamedhoesein, for example, expects a higher rate per minute in terms of printing, more efficient use of full colour ink toners as well as higher lightfastness for full colour toners (longer endurance to daylight before discolouration) at reasonable cost. Clarke observes that connecting the printers to an intel-ligent map printing management system, which

then allocates a map for printing to the next avail-able printer, will increase the total print produc-tion of the grouped printers. In addition, he says that the inks used by the printers are also critical. Organisations like his need fast drying inks, that still meet all other requirements, to increase the production rate. JUPEM too would like to see large format printers with higher speed performance. Currently, printing 10 AO size maps take almost an hour. With the latest cutting-edge printing technology, printing time should also be reduced. JUPEM also looks forward to better image quality with improved light fastness for indoor/outdoor and enhanced sharpness.

The printing industry is putting forth a range of solutions that have potential to take an organisation’s business to the next level. HP, for example, offers Indigo Digital Press the SRA3+ format digital sheetfed press that prints four mil-lion colour pages per month with higher profit-ability. Using the Enhanced Productivity Mode, throughput increases 33% to 160 colour ppm, increasing volume significantly. Such options can be explored by organisations publishing large volumes of geospatial data, like mapping organisations.

Conclusion The power of physical form of maps and other geospatial information cannot be denied. Print-ing in geospatial applications can greatly impact a company’s efficiency in performing the job. Large format printers, with their ability to output this information in high quality, as well as their critical supporting role in enabling the increas-ingly mobility in the geospatial environment, are making their presence strongly felt in the geo-spatial ecosystem. Given the current low levels of penetration, along with growing awareness about benefits and a widening base of prospective users, opportunities are aplenty for large format printers.

Deepali RoySr. Assistant [email protected]

“

Geoscientists in our organisation

are more comfortable

working with large size paper

printouts to arrive at various

decisions

Eko Darminto,GIS, Topo and Carto

Engineer, New Ventures Division,

Total E&P Indonesie

“

Large format printers offer fast delivery

time, quality, economical unit

price, minimisation of paper waste and

less use of ink

A.A. Mohamedhoesein,Ordercoördinator,

Kadaster/Geo-informatie


Spatial Web services depend on agreed open interfaces and encoding standards from the OGC and ISO. Software buyers need to keep in mind, however, that the standards are not always implemented correctly. Here’s a look at a programme that certifies that software products have correctly implemented the standards

Software communication via the Web is based on services. A Web service is a set of operations,

based on Web protocols (such as http), that enable users to, for example: get a map on a browser after typing an address, make a purchase on a website, or check their electricity bill. Usually a user sees the result not of a single Web service, but a chain of Web services that communicate in an ad hoc fashion through agreed interfaces.

Spatial Web services depend on agreed open interfaces and encod-ing standards from the OGC and ISO. These standards are becoming estab-lished in many information domains such as aviation, weather, hydrol-ogy, defense and intelligence, earth observation and emergency and disaster management. They are at the heart of modern government spatial data infrastructure programmes that provide access to fundamental data layers such as elevation, transporta-tion, land use, soils, etc.

OGC facilitates an international process in which organisations work together to create open standards that enable systems and services to “speak the same language” when commu-nicating location or more complex geo-processing service requests. If the standards are correctly implemented,

those software systems can commu-nicate geospatially with thousands of other software systems around the world. Software buyers need to keep in mind, however, that the standards are not always implemented correctly.

The OGC Compliance Testing ProgrammeThe OGC Compliance Testing Program (CITE) provides resources, procedures and policies to certify that software products have correctly implemented one or more OGC standards – that is, to certify that those products are “compli-ant” with the standards.

The Compliance Testing Program serves both technology vendors and buyers. Through this programme, buyers can feel confident that an OGC compliant product will work with another compliant product based on the same OGC standard, regardless of which company devel-oped the product. Vendors can feel confident that they are providing a product that will be easier to inte-grate and easier to market.

Hundreds of tested ProductsOGC provides an online testing facility for vendors and solution providers to test their implementations. This facility can be used for free by anyone. OGC

also provides an online database of implementers that lists more than 700 products that claim to implement OGC Standards. The OGC also provides an online database of implementers that lists more than 190 products that are Certified OGC Compliant.

To have their software products certified as OGC compliant, software implementers are required to follow a simple process that requires submit-ting the test results to OGC and paying a license fee. Once OGC approves the test results and receives the license fee, the implementer can use the OGC cer-tified mark and claim that the product is “OGC Compliant”.

Geospatial software buyers should always review the registered and OGC certified products at the OGC Implementations page, but it is just as important that buyers communicate to vendors their interest in purchas-ing software that implements open standards. Open standards make open procurements possible. Open procure-ment language might be, for example, “Application shall implement a geocoding service that is accessible via the OpenGIS (OGC) Location Service Geocoder Interface Standard.” This offers geoprocessing software buyers a clear and easy way to specify function-al and interoperability requirements.

OGC Beat

The value of certification

Starting with this edition, we are introducing a regular column from Open Geospatial Consortium. This quarterly column will focus on various issues pertaining to standards, including implementation and benefits, policies and procedures


Procurements can thus include software from multiple vendors. Through open procurements, organisations buying software avoid getting locked into buying from a particular vendor solution over time and they have the freedom to buy different “best of breed” software for differ-ent purposes at different times.

This multi-vendor procurement process has been used successfully by numerous govern-ment organisations over the years. For example, the German Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) portal uses OGC CITE compliance testing and certification tools.

How an organisation can benefit OGC’s mission is “realisation of the full societal, economic and scientific benefits of integrating electronic location resources into commercial and institutional processes worldwide.” OGC membership has grown steadily since 1994. As the number of members increases, the number of opportunities for cost sharing increases. In almost everything the OGC does, members find common needs and then share the costs of meeting those needs.

OGC provides compliance tests for the most commonly used OGC standards. Some OGCcompliance tests are in beta and others have yet to been written. Members’ in-kind contri-

butions (hours of software development) and financial contributions will help speed the critical progress toward a more complete CITE offering.

The OGC is the Internet world’s hub for geospatial interoperability, and the value of OGC membership grows as this hub grows in connections, functions, and influence. We encourage organisations to look into the waysin which their organisation can benefit from membership.

Luis BermudezDirector, Interoperability CertificationOpen Geospatial Consortium (OGC)

!

ImplementingOrganisation

Promotecompliance

OGCStandard

TestsOGCOnlineTestingFacility

Implementing

SuccessMore contracts

Users find it beneficial to access diverse kind of information from different servers using standards

Unifying information


A camera without a lens!Technology always

surprises us by

making the impossible

possible. Did you ever

imagine a lensless

camera? Did you ever wish for

‘real-virtual’ world like

the ‘Matrix’?

Imagine a highly efficient camera, without lenses, which can see through materials like

clothes, wood, rain and dust; and provide al-ternative of expensive LiDAR system in map-ping. It is soon going to be a reality. Scientists at Duke University, North Carolina, US have devised a metamaterial that uses microwaves to image objects or scenes in real time.

Microwave imagerConventional imaging systems acquire information as pixels or vectors and perform software compression. But, metamaterials perform hardware compression during image acquisition. By leveraging metamaterials and compressive imaging, the researchers devel-oped a low-profile aperture capable of micro-wave imaging without lenses, moving parts, or phase shifters. The innovative aperture allows image compression to be performed on the physical hardware layer rather than in the postprocessing stage.

The researchers subsequently developed a device, using thousands of tiny apertures arranged in a strip 40 cm in length, which records images in 2D — one dimension across the strip and the other for depth. This device

illuminates objects with K-band microwave radiation (18.5 to 25 GHz). Image acquisition is accomplished with a 40:1 compression ratio.

Future imager Vs camerasConventional cameras contain chips that carry millions of silicon-based detectors. Each detector records the intensity of light hitting it, producing information corresponding to one pixel of the image. On the other hand, the future imager, built of metamaterial, is a strip of metal patterned with elements. It resonates at a specific frequency to steer radiation. The engineers placed the strip on top of a separate, plastic-covered metal sheet. The small metal strip replaces lenses, multi-pixel detectors and moving parts in a conventional millimetre- or microwave-imaging system.

Future applicationsThe technology is being tested in various ap-plications, eg: a smaller microwave aperture is being used in self-driving cars to see through fog and dust and sense obstacles in front of the vehicle. The findings of the research, supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, were reported Science journal.

techBuzz

know

(A) Conventional imaging (B) Imaging using a random mask and two lenses

Comparison of different kinds of imaging

(C) Imaging using microwave metamaterial imager

Sou

rce:

IE

EE

& S

cien

ce


Blurring the line between virtual & real world

Evolution of technology has changed the way we lead our lives, by bringing

abundance of readily available information at our fingertips. Whether we like or not, our computers, apps and the cyber world know us better than we would like to believe. Amid this evolution, technologies such as augment-ed reality are blurring the line between virtual and real world and Microsoft’s IllumiRoom is a great example of this.

IllumiRoom is an augmented reality, peripheral projection technology that could be one of the key features of the Xbox 720 or Kinect 2.0. By combining a Kinect camera and a projector, IllumiRoom augments the area around the television to increase immersion in the game or the movie. Kinect captures the appearance and geometry of the room and then this data is used to adapt the extra visuals that are projected against the wall and furniture around the TV.

IllumiRoom is a prototype system, which is based on Microsoft’s patent ‘immersive display experience’. The US Patent and Trademark Office granted this patent applica-tion in September 2012. The patent refers to ‘an immersive display experience within a display environment’ that includes a ‘pri-mary display’ (referring to television) and a ‘peripheral image’ that would seemingly be projected onto the environment around users. It also includes ‘a peripheral input configured to receive depth input from a depth camera’, referring to Kinect.

The company claims that user enjoyment of video games and related media experi-ences can be increased by making the gaming experience more realistic. Previous attempts to make the experience more realistic have included switching from two-dimensional to three-dimensional animation techniques, increasing the resolution of game graphics, producing improved sound effects, and creat-ing more natural game controllers.

In addition, the next Kinect sensor will be able to detect the dimensions of the room a player is in, including its depth. A new ‘camera component’ could ‘include a depth camera that may capture a depth image of a scene’ and use infrared light ‘to determine a physical distance from the capture device to a particular location on the targets or objects in the scene.’ In other words, Kinect will be able to identify the size of the room around users.

CompetitionMicrosoft isn’t the only company trying to stake out territory in the new world of aug-ment reality gaming technology. Oculus’s Rift, a virtual reality headset is gearing up to offer gamers a chance to immerse themselves in artificial worlds.

Though IllumiRoom’s design calls for external projection of computer-simulated images as opposed to a headset, the concept of inserting the gamer into the world as an active participant rather than an observer re-mains powerful. Enterprising visual technol-ogy like the Rift and IllumiRoom provide ways of mentally incorporating a more full-bodied interactive experience that crashes through the boundaries of boxed-in images.

The figure shows how the device could “project a peripheral image in a 360-degree field around [the] environmental display.

Courtesy: faqs.org


EUROPE

GIS ImplementationCategory: GISLocation: PolandClosing Date: April 10, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/2G67f

Enhancement of GIS SystemCategory: GISLocation: FranceClosing Date: April 9, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/DB1SP

Geological MappingCategory: MappingLocation: EstoniaClosing Date: April 8, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/mVORF

Orthophoto ProductionCategory: MiscLocation: DenmarkClosing Date: March 21, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/orzLy

Contract for Aerial PhotographyCategory: Aerial PhotographyLocation: HungaryClosing Date: March 29, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/sGK1y

APAC

Subscription of GIS SoftwareCategory: GISLocation: PhilippinesClosing Date: April 2, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/WPBJX

Operation of GIS PortalCategory: GISLocation: JapanClosing Date: March 25, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/hTW1r

Geospatial Information LibraryCategory: MiscLocation: JapanClosing Date: March 25, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/llvUb

Spatial Information Sharing PlatformCategory: MiscLocation: ChinaClosing Date: March 19, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/8skff

Aerial Surveillance ServiceCategory: Aerial PhotographyLocation: AustraliaClosing Date: March 18, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/9PJkk

AFRICA

GIS Based MappingCategory: GISLocation: KenyaClosing Date: March 21, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/lyJCq

Spatial Data WarehouseCategory: MiscLocation: South AfricaClosing Date: March 25, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/0eC4t

GIS Data Collection ServiceCategory: GISLocation: TanzaniaClosing Date: March 19, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/H8Ftn

Surveying of Bulk Water Supply InfrastructureCategory: SurveyingLocation: NamibiaClosing Date: April 2, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/CaIAe

AMERICAS

Aerial PhotographyCategory: Aerial PhotographyLocation: CanadaClosing Date: March 18, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/ntyKW

Land Surveying ServicesCategory: SurveyingLocation: United StatesClosing Date: March 21, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/5P8Yq

GIS Consultant ServicesCategory: GISLocation: United StatesClosing Date: March 27, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/upr45

Online Mapping PlatformCategory: MappingLocation: CanadaClosing Date: April 8, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/eKSfb

GPS ReceiverCategory: GPSLocation: United StatesClosing Date: April 11, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/z3wrP

Surveying Services in KentuckyCategory: SurveyingLocation: United StatesClosing Date: April 1, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/rwvkb

SOUTH ASIA

Procurement of GPSCategory: GPSLocation: IndiaClosing Date: March 26, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/JsSV4

Tender Alert

GIS Mapping of Hazardous Waste UnitsCategory: GISLocation: IndiaClosing Date: Oct 1, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/rh0yE

MIDDLE EAST

Supply of Tracking DevicesCategory: GPSLocation: United Arab EmiratesClosing Date: March 17, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/ztZQU

Supply of Aerial PhotographyCategory: Aerial PhotographyLocation: BahrainClosing Date: March 20, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/gAiSA

Develop GIS for MunicipalityCategory: GISLocation: Saudi ArabiaClosing Date: April 1, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/9XRPc

Installation and Operation of GIS SystemCategory: GISLocation: Saudi Arabia

Closing Date: April 1, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/2Fgg9

Execution of Cadastral SurveyCategory: CadastreLocation: Saudi ArabiaClosing Date: March 30, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/SeGBU

Maintenance and Operation of Aerial Survey

Category: SurveyingLocation: Saudi ArabiaClosing Date: March 30, 2013Web Link: http://goo.gl/dn7ig

Tender Alert

For the latest geospatial tenders from across the globe, log on to: http://geospatialworld.net/Tender/view.aspx

www.geospatialworldforum.org

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