Arup DasguptaManaging Editor, Geospatial World

India’s Geospatial LegacySurvey of India set up in

1767Geological Survey of

India set up in 1851Cadastral Mapping

started by Survey of India. Responsibility handed over to States in 1904

Indian Forest Act 1878. Forest survey of India set up in 1981

© Royal Geographical Society

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Organisation

•Capabilities•Competencies•Processes•Culture

TrajectoriesAlignment•Past Decisions•Future Choices

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How Innovation HappensLook at organisations as living systems Innovation is evolutionaryThe phases in remote sensing show a life cycle

approach involving the co-evolution of the organisation, technology & industry

Choosing the right technology during a transition period enables the organisation to catch up and even become a world leader

If such catching up pressures are driven by unique country specific needs the chances of radical innovations are higher

Having caught up the trajectory follow predictable paths

Time

Perf

orm

an

ce

measu

re

Technology A: Scanner

Technology B: CCD

Limit of technology A

Limit of technology B

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First Operational UseISRO interprets Landsat

imagery to show reduction in forest cover

FSI disputes findings and begins State of Indian Forests Report

1987 report acknowledges “satellite imagery shows good forest cover … is one third of extent of forest cover envisaged in National Forest Policy”

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NNRMSRajiv Gandhi

National Drinking Water Mission – 1985

Wasteland Mapping Mission 2000,2003, 2006

FASALIntegrated Mission

for Sustainable Development

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• MAP UNIT• ROCK TYPE & GEOLOGICAL

SEQUENCE• GEOMORPHIC UNIT/LANDFORM• RECHARGE CONDITIONS• NATURE OF THE UNIT• TYPE OF WELLS SUITABLE• PROBABLE DEPTH RANGE OF

WELLS• EXPECTED YIELD RANGE OF

WELLS

RUNOFF ZONES

NC VILLAGE

• PROBABLE SUCCESS RATE OF WELLS

• REFERENCE NO. OF OBSERVATION WELLS

• GROUND WATER IRRIGATED AREA

• RECHARGE STRUCTURE SUITABLE

• PROBLEMS/LIMITATIONS /REMARKS

INFORMATION CONTENT IN THE MAP

PROBLEM AREA

YIELD RANGE

EXCELLENT>200 lpm

GOOD100-200 lpm

MODERATE50-100 lpm

LIMITED20-50 lpm

POOR<20 lpm

NIL

DEPTH RANGESHALLOW<20 m

MODERATE20-80 m

DEEP>80 m

FRACTURE ZONES

GROUND WATER IRRIGATED AREA

FRACTURE/LINEAMENT

GEOLOGICAL/GEOMORPHOLOGICAL BOUNDARIES

RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL DRINKING WATER MISSIONGROUND WATER PROSPECTS MAP - PARTS OF CHITRADURGA DISTRICT, KARNATAKA

ACREAGE

Forcasting Agricultural output using Space, Agrometeorology & Land based observations (FASAL)

F O R E C A S T S

D E C I S I O N R U L E S

ECONOM

ETRICWEATHER

FIELD SURVEY

MULTIDATE

COARSE

RESOLUTION

HIGH

RESOLUTION

CROPPEDAREA CROPASSES- SMENT

YIELDFO

RE-CASTS

EARLY MID LATE

National Wheat Forecast

‘FASAL’ - RESULTS

72.9 Mt

73 Mt

FORECAST

ACTUAL

Enterprise Resource Planning

Customer Relations Management

Supplier Relations Management

Tracking

GIS

Document Management

Project Management

Land Title

Asset Management

Acc

ess

Port

al

IT Infrastructure

Enterprise Resources Planning

IssuesGeospatial systems are mainly government

funded and ownedGeospatial applications by industry for

industry are few and far betweenDeterring factors

PoliciesLoss of IP

Policies are not affecting foreign entities like Google

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Growth DriversBig spenders – Defence and NTROMajor public sector projects

R-APDRPNLRMPJNNRUM

All seek to make geospatial systems a part of the overall IT solution

Investment in the order of Rs 65000 million in 2007-12

But progress is slow13

Promises NSDI

Started in 2000Government approval 2006Geoportal established in 2008 but not being

populatedGML schema readyMetadata standards ready

Independent portals coming upBhuvanState Government portals

National GIS of Planning CommissionSeeks to ‘integrate’ all efforts and also provide DSS

to all departments

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ChallengesThe Indian psyche of data secrecy

Nobody wants to share dataPolicy of ‘Give me your data and we will make a

fantastic database’Inadequate human resources

Geospatial courses are turning out Jacks of all trades who are Masters of none

Introduce geospatial electives in schools, arts and science colleges and engineering institutions

Aligning data policies to technological advances

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Recommendations – Map PolicyMake the Open Series Maps completely unrestricted Continue to register the map users under the Map

Policy Do not use OSM maps for legal purposesProvide slope and aspect maps derived from height

informationCharge royalty on map reuse through value addition

but do not demand IP rightsBase map series having lower positional accuracy for

thematic mapping All digital data must be supplied in GML 3.0 or higher

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Recommendations – Remote Sensing Data PolicyDeregulate all old high resolution satellite imagery

2 years for satellite imagery5 years for aerial imagery

Deregulate data from sensors like SAR and LIDARForeign satellite data up to one metre resolution

should be directly available from suppliersFor data better than one metre the requirement of

a government certificate should be removed Such data should be made available through Antrix

Corporation who will maintain a database of the supplies and the intended usage

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Recommendations -SDIMake data sharing mandatoryEvolve National standards for thematic dataAll digital data must conform to ISO or OGC or independent

standards developed in India Automate data ordering through online browsing, order

placement, payment and delivery to reduce turnaround timeLarge volume data users should only use digital signatures Users should need to register only once and not for each

transactionFor security consider calibrated access with record of

transactions and IP address trace backUnobtrusively watermark data using advanced steganographic

techniques approved by a government security agencyEnlist legal liabilities, disclaimers for improper use and

penalties for misuse and illegal distributionEmpowered committee consisting of representatives from all

sectors to review policy every six months18

Recommendations - HRIntroduce electives in existing courses in computer

science, statistics, mathematics, geography, physics, life sciences, social sciences, engineering and management

Courses for administrators in the government and industry during their induction training

State academies for administrative training need to hold refresher courses from time to time to update their staff capacities

Introduce geospatial applications and technology in schools so that it becomes a career option for the students entering college

A beginning has been made to introduce geospatial subjects in school curricula by the Central Board of Secondary Education This needs to be spread to all other Boards

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Public Private PartnershipPromote Volunteered Geographical Information

as a source of dataEnable citizens to understand and participate

in decisions that impact their lives and living spaces

Firm up participation of private industryMove beyond services and contractsInvolve industry in DSS design and

implementationIndustry can use service contracts as entry to

push in higher levels of modelling20

In ConclusionIndian problems are unique and require

unique Indian solutionsInduction of Geospatial technology is an

urgent necessityPromises need to be realised by proactive

decision making by government, industry and academia

Indians are expert in working around obstaclesNeed is for institutionalisation of innovation

and improvisation

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THANK YOU