In an era where technology is seen as the primary catalyst for transformation, the AGI’s India Geospatial Leadership Summit gathered luminaries from the geospatial sector to highlight the role of Geospatial.
The summit underscored the pivotal role of geospatial technology in propelling national development, with Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohaptra, the Director General of Meteorology, IMD setting the tone with a warm welcome to participants.
His message was clear: India stands at a golden juncture, ready to leverage the synergy of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Geospatial technologies to usher in a new era of progress.
Addressing Critical Issues with Geospatial Strategy
Dr. Mohaptra highlighted the importance of addressing three critical issues for maximizing the potential of these technologies.
He said, “Ensuring the availability and accessibility of geospatial data is important with a need to enhance the quality checks for the existing Geospatial data, and achieving the desired resolution of this data.”
These points highlight the need for a robust framework that ensures geospatial data is not only accessible but also of high quality and resolution, essential for informed decision-making and development.
Vijay Kumar, Senior Vice President, ESRI introduced the four pillars of Geospatial Strategy, offering a roadmap for the geospatial community.
These pillars include Open Data & Governance which makes data findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. The second pillar is Capacity Building which enhances the capabilities of users, industry, and academia,
The third focuses on Solutions, including creating workflows and solutions for users and startups. And final Geospatial Infrastructure where an open, scalable, and secured platform should be developed.
These pillars serve as the foundation for a sustainable geospatial strategy, emphasizing the importance of open data, capacity building, innovative solutions, and robust infrastructure.
Empowering State Governments and Data Creation
The summit also spotlighted the Integrated SDG Framework and the National Geospatial Policy, emphasizing the importance of enhancing adoption use cases and embracing the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
These discussions, moderated by Nikhil Kumar, President-Geospatial at MapMy India, focused on creating a policy environment that fosters the use of geospatial technology in national development.
Rajesh Mathur, Advisor at ESRI India, delved into the evolution of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), highlighting four areas of focus:
He said, “The four areas of focus should be GIS data, Data Visualization, Data Analytics, and Embedding the data.”
This evolution reflects the growing sophistication of GIS applications, from data collection to its integration into decision-making processes.
Pramod Kaushik, President and MD at Hexagon India discussed the role of different stakeholders in enabling state governments to work together and create datasets.
The emphasis was on setting up Enterprise GIS platforms, managing land records, and utilizing data in areas such as agriculture, logistics, and storage.
Agendra Kumar, Managing Director at ESRI India, highlighted the collaborative efforts of government, private players, and technology in expediting data creation and availability.
He said, “Government’s role is to provide foundational data. Data should be made available to users. Private players should have the capacity to support government initiatives with India’s IT sector fulfilling that void with Technology expediting data creation and making data available.”
Sanjay Kumar, CEO of Geospatial World, underscored the transformative power of Geospatial Knowledge Infrastructure in bridging the gap between geospatial data and national needs.
He outlined how converting geospatial data into services supports the economy and society’s primary pillars through geodetic data, real-time analysis, public policies, and integration of these elements.
He says, “Geospatial industry in India, bolstered by government initiatives, is already self-reliant even more than the mainstream IT industry but should focus on operating with increased efficiency.”
The discussions highlighted the need for a collaborative approach to harness the full potential of geospatial data, AI, and ML technologies. By addressing key issues related to data availability, quality, and resolution, and by establishing a robust geospatial strategy, India can unlock new avenues for development and progress.
