After a two-year hiatus because of COVID-19, GeoSmart India 2021 conference kick started today in Hyderabad, India. With a forward looking welcome address, Sanjay Kumar, CEO, Geospatial World gave an in-depth overview of the Indian geospatial market and its growth drivers. India’s economy is projected to grow by 9.5% in 2021 and 8.5% in 2022 (IMF). The economy at present, in the context of quarterly performance, is on a W-shaped recovery or in the double-dip phase, after which the country is estimated to maintain a sustained economic growth of 8% from 2023. Kumar also proposed ‘Geospatial Industrial Development Strategy’ to further the role of geospatial technologies in the development of the country’s economy. He also emphasized on supporting MSMs and SMEs. “They are going to do the scalability of applications to the grassroots level, which will further help in the democratization of knowledge,” he said.
The Government of India’s recent announcement of policies/strategies/initiatives that include Guidelines for Geospatial Data 2021, Drone Rules 2021, Draft of Space-Based Remote Sensing Policy of India 2020, Draft National Geospatial Policy-2021, and the Draft of Satellite Navigation Policy-2021 has made a positive impact on the geospatial technology ecosystem. “If implemented in a timely and phased manner, these guidelines and the policies will have a significant impact on the Indian Geospatial Market and Economy,” Kumar added.
The liberalization of geospatial data and the transition towards openness is going to lead to:
- Scalability of Solutions
- Geospatial Industry Competitiveness
- Open and Easy Access to Geospatial Information
- Partnership and Collaboration
- Enhanced Adoption across Non-Traditional Sectors
- Impetus to Geospatial Education
After the welcome address Dr. Hrishikesh Samant, Associate Professor in Geology & Vice-Principal, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai began the first plenary ‘Advancing the role of geospatial knowledge in Indian economy’. Dr. A.S. Kiran Kumar, Vikram Sarabhai Professor/Member Space Commission, Department of Space; Amit Khare, Advisor to Prime Minister, Government of India; Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India; and Dr. S. Chandrashekhar, Director IICT and Designated Secretary, Department of Science and Technology were amongst the eminent panelists.
Dr. A.S. Kiran Kumar emphasized that time has come when geospatial technologies and information is going to make a significant change in India and move forward in the world economy. “In a way, the entire world is looking at how India is going to tackle its problems & how it is going to guide or lead the world in ensuring sustainable life on planet Earth,” he added. Dr. Kumar highlighted that while timely policy implementations can boost the economy, ‘People’ are key, whether they are in policy making or translating changes into providing services both within the country and providing export services to other countries.
The day’s first panel witnessed three launch announcements. Giving a virtually address, Amit Khare said that vaccinations in India is a remarkable example were technology and logistics were perfectly supported through the use of geospatial technology.
Later on he released the ‘Geospatial Artha report: Indian Geospatial Market, Economy, and Industrial Development Strategy’. This report has been prepared under the aegis of the National Think Tank on Geospatial Strategy for New India.
Agendra Kumar announced the launch of Indo ArcGIS to address the need for ready-to-use GIS based solutions and geospatial content for the GIS users in India. Indo ArcGIS includes solution products in the areas of Forest Management, Disaster Management, Electrical Utilities, Land Records and Property Tax Management. Solution products for several other segments are under development. “These data layers and solution products included in Indo ArcGIS have been created with the aim to reduce the time for deployment of applications for solving many challenges that the country faces and also to support economic value creation with geospatial technologies,” said Kumar.
Dr. Chandrasekhar unveiled the U.N. World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC) logo at GeoSmart India. Realizing the value of geospatial the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India and the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) will host its UNWGIC on 10-14 October 2022. With a proposed overarching theme ‘Geo-Enabling the Global Village: No one should be left behind’, the second UNWGIC will focus on geo-enabling the global village and to ensure no one is left behind in pursuit of the implementation of the SDGs. “DST is currently focusing on the liberalization of policy in India and its impact on the geospatial ecosystem as well as working to mandate geospatial data for all. India has to step forward working on the core philosophy of the U.N. to achieve the sustainable development goals. Geospatial data plays an important role in decision making for all of us,” he concluded.
