From farming techniques to monitoring health in villages to providing terrain knowledge to the army, the usage of GIS has truly spread over all sectors today. Srikanth R P elaborates on the increasing role of GIS applications, the potential and the key challenges for this technology in India

Farmers in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun district no longer use farming techniques that haven’t changed in centuries. Now, before deciding on which crop to grow on his land, a farmer no longer says a prayer, asking for divine help, but simply drops in at the nearest Tata Kisan Kendra (TKK) set up by Tata Chemicals.

All he has to do is mention his name and the computer at the centre generates an image of his field and tells him the type of crop to grow on his field or how much fertiliser to use. The TKK tracks key parameters relevant to farmers, such as soil, ground water and weather on a real-time basis with the help of GIS or Geographic Information Systems.

Welcome to the new age of precision farming where agriculture has become a refined art thanks to GIS. Today, with the help of GIS, the TKK can not only suggest the type of crop that would best suit a particular plot of land, but also keep track of other parameters that have a bearing on this decision. What’s more, a GIS can even help predict pest attacks since it combines remotely sensed data, ground verification data, meteorological information, and crop growth and soil moisture models to provide a visual representation of current conditions. Cases like the TKK project though rare in the country, simply affirm the potential of a technology such as GIS in a country like India.

Ajay Lavakare says that the growth indicators for GIS are extremely positive as private players are estimated to spend Rs 50 crore annually on GIS products and services

What is GIS?
GIS can be defined as a computer-based tool that is used for referencing information based at a location—such as information about terrain. Using GIS, any particular point on a map can serve as a reference to a particular area. As the potential of this technology is huge, one can find this technology being deployed in a large number of government sectors.

GIS contains two closely integrated databases: One, spatial (locational) and the other, statistical. Spatial information usually contains information in the form of digital co-ordinates like roads, rivers or buildings. The statistical database contains information about the characteristics or qualities of a particular co-ordinate. For instance, the type of building or the number of people in a given location. A GIS differs from conventional computer programs or other statistical analysis systems in that it can be applied to a variety of situations.

For instance, a GIS can provide immediate answers on the type of location, access to the location and the type of population in a particular region. Not surprisingly, GIS today finds extensive use in a wide range of areas such as planning of public health systems, urban development, public utility works, agriculture, forestry, transportation and management of natural resources such as oil, gas and minerals.

GIS can also help the government in checking deforestation. When natural disasters like earthquakes occur, the use of GIS can help town planners to calculate emergency response times. The same technology also plays a pivotal role in military operations as any military unit is heavily dependent on the availability of accurate information on terrain and military equipment installation in order to arrive at quick decisions. And why just government and defence—if you are a big bank looking to set up ATMs all over the country, a GIS can help you accurately chart out the entire roadmap according to different locations. It
is therefore not surprising that though the usage of GIS-based technologies is currently nascent in India, it is picking up at a fast pace as more and more users realise its benefits.

Scenario
India has a well-established framework for collecting geographical data. Two government agencies—The Survey of India (SOI) and the Indian Remote Sensing Agency (IRSA) through its remote sensing satellites, are the most important generators of geographical data. The SOI, which was established way back in 1767, is responsible for all topographical and development surveys in India. Similarly, Indian remote sensing satellites have been providing data for monitoring and management of India’s natural resources. Further, there are a lot of other agencies for different sectors such as meteorological data, oceanographic data and groundwater data. Though work done by various agencies is excellent, the same is not completely available to the general public. This rigidity in approach has been a major obstacle in the growth of the Indian GIS industry. But despite the obstacles, almost all Indian players are bullish on the growth potential of the industry, which is growing at an average of 35-40 percent year-on-year.

Indian market
In a GIS there are different components like data collection, data capture, data conversion, consulting and system integration. Most Indian firms in GIS are involved in the data collection, data capture and data conversion scenario. But some players have moved up the value chain to offer consulting and system integration. Some of the success stories in the Indian GIS space include companies such as Rolta, Infotech Enterprises, Genesys, Nucleus Netsoft & GIS India, RMSI, ESRI India and Spatial Data.

Says Ajay Lavakare, CEO of RMSI, “The Indian market potential in GIS is high. With GIS already having made inroads into sectors such as defence, natural resources management and environmental management, we see increased application of GIS in areas such as land and property information management, utilities and facilities management, agriculture, e-governance, and more significantly as an important planning and decision-making tool. According to market reports, in the year 2000 alone, the Indian government invited major tenders worth more than Rs 200 crore in this sector. It is also estimated that private players in infrastructure, telecom and other utilities are spending around Rs 50 crore annually on GIS products and services. In short, the growth indicators are extremely positive.”

Though there have been no official figures on the GIS market in India, market sources estimate the entire GIS industry to be close to Rs 80 crore.

As noted earlier, the government is the biggest consumer of GIS applications and uses it actively. India, with its diverse landscape is a perfect fit for a technology like GIS. The use of geographic data has always been considered to be a vital asset in decision-making for any nation. For instance, knowledge of geographic data is absolutely critical while planning a town or building a highway—any infrastructure, for that matter. Keeping this in mind, a large number of government departments, both at the centre and the state level, have established GIS centres.

Adds Dr D K Munshi, head of GIS solutions at Rolta India, “The maximum potential has been in the government departments, which are actively involved in spatial data generation and planning and implementation of various programmes. For example, various departments responsible for execution and implementation of development schemes have been using GIS. The departments which are involved in implementation of GIS activities are the Department of Space through NRIS, the department of Science and Technology through NRDMS, Forest Survey of India, Survey of India and National Hydrographic Survey.” Simply put, this is a massive market for GIS players to address. There is also an increased use of GIS by central, state and local governments in the areas of converting their existing maps to digital formats and in areas such as land record management.

E-governance
GIS can also play a huge role in e-governance. For example, municipal corporations can organise and map properties in a particular region by using GIS as a tool. There have been countless cases where after a fresh survey of a particular city was taken, it was found that more than 25 percent of properties in the current land records would have to be reassessed. If properties are correctly identified, it will mean an increase in collection of property taxes. An innovative example is a recent plan by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. The corporation is considering implementing a GIS and GPS (Global Positioning System) to detect illegal construction.

Information on units that have been given building permissions is fed regularly into a computer. Under the GIS, satellite pictures of land within the corporation’s limits are taken on a weekly basis. The result is that as soon as a structure comes up without proper permission, satellites immediately track it. In urban areas, where illegal construction is a matter of grave concern, GIS can be an effective combat tool. The use of GIS by municipalities is certainly a big market as India has an estimated 400 major cities. In addition, the ministry of rural development has recently announced that it has earmarked a spend of Rs 2,500 crore for developing rural land records in the next five years. When you add all these opportunities, it translates into a big market.

Sajid Malik says the total business volume estimated in the coming three years from GIS is about Rs 120 crore

Private sector
Besides the government sector, there is a huge market waiting to be tapped in the private sector too. For instance, telecom is one of the hottest market segments for the usage of GIS. Suppose a basic telephone services operator wants to make changes related to telephone cables, like diverting a telephone cable or erecting a new pillar. But before doing that, the firm has to look up different maps in the city and also look at the existing installed base of telephone lines to make a decision. In short, a messy affair. But if the same maps are digitised, then it would help the telecom operator to gain more visibility when planning and thus increase efficiency.

Using GIS, telecom operators can estimate the length and direction of cable networks from one point to another point on the network. Errors can be quickly located on a network and performance reports can be generated according to the distribution points. In addition, telecom operators can have answers to queries such as: “Which are the subscriber locations from where the maximum number of complaints have been received?” on a daily basis. In fact, after the government, the telecom sector is considered to be the biggest user in the private sector.
Adds Sajid Malik, managing director of Genesys International, “After a recent circular from BSNL headquarters to all circles that they should migrate their cable record management to GIS, there has been a spate of tenders from several circles. The typical spend of a medium circle for GIS services in the areas of data creation and implementation is in the order of Rs 2 crore. In the coming three years, the total business volume estimated from this segment is in the order of Rs 120 crore.” In line with this trend, almost all players are looking at this segment to boost revenues.

Logistics and asset management
In addition to sectors like telecom, GIS-based applications can be of tremendous use in sectors like retail. In today’s competitive market, where brand preferences change rapidly, it has become necessary to assess whether the sales team and distribution network of any company cover all outlets in a cost-effective manner. In the area of logistics and cargo movement, cargo courier movement can be tracked online to check on the progress of the shipment. GIS-based applications can also be effectively deployed by transport organisations to track their fleets.

According to Manoj Thakur, Indian companies have to graduate to higher levels and adopt a solutions mindset instead of a service mindset

An example of innovative use of GIS in the vehicle tracking space is seen in the case of Nexgen Logistix, an infrastructure technology management company. The company, by using Autodesk’s MapGuide technology has created a vehicle tracking technology. Branded Nextgenlogger, it is the first vehicle data recorder for offline tracking of vehicles in the country. Nextgenlogger provides information to the transport organisation by giving accurate inputs on details such as speed, stoppage and transit information. The direct benefits to transport companies are that transport organisations can have an insight into unnecessary fuel consumption and stoppages in transit.

GIS can also be used to track asset management by corporations with multi-locational facilities. A case in point is Satyam Navigation, which has realised huge benefits due to GIS. Explains Paul Kuah, product marketing manager for Autodesk in the South Asia Pacific region, “With more than 45 offices around the world, Satyam Navigation designed their asset and facilities management solution using Autodesk MapGuide 6 to successfully track and manage their facilities as well as their HR activities. The result is that, today, all human resources activities are planned, discussed and announced over the Web. Related details like salaries, leave records, medical records and reimbursements, guest house bookings and recruitment are also done through Web-based programs. All fixed assets and facilities such as boardrooms, conference rooms and training rooms are seen as cost centres all over the world. One can book a facility in any office from anywhere in the world over the Web with the costs billed directly to the division concerned.”

The use of mobile assets is also tracked and allocated in the same way. For example, if a set of computers have to be moved from one office to another, the entire process encompassing the identification of resources, booking and allocation, permissions, transportation, and installation can be done through this program.

Adds S Rajagopalan, managing director of Spatial Data, “Location-based services through the use of GIS can be a big growth area. For example, there are lakhs of passenger buses operated by different road transport corporations. Even if we target one lakh buses for using tracking services at a minimum cost of Rs 1,500 per year, it would yield revenues of Rs 150 million. In addition, there are many other vehicles like trucks and cars.”

Another example of the effective use of GIS is the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The organisation uses Autodesk’s Web-based application to monitor the progress and maintenance of work related to the national highways. The software allows the NHAI to record details on the maintenance schedules of each segment, quantity of material used, labour involved and cross-check the same with characteristics of a road like elevation, curves and declines. This effectively means that at a single console, the NHAI can now see and monitor the progress and maintenance of various projects.

According to Dr D K Munshi, the maximum potential has been in the government departments, which are actively involved in spatial data generation

Issues
While there have been interesting and innovative cases of the use of GIS, there are also critical issues that need to be resolved immediately to boost the growth of the industry. For instance, there are still many government restrictions on the Survey of India map data for large portions of India.

Says Rajagopalan of Spatial Data, “Lack of reliable and accurate digital data, in addition to policies, are some of the major obstacles. For example, a private sector player who creates a digital map has to get it cleared by the Ministry of Defence. There are also no clear guidelines. Everything is treated on a case-to-case basis and this sometimes takes more than a year. The end result is that, by this time, there are changes in the attributes of the location itself, such as the coming up of new shops, and data has to be sent all over again to the ministry.”

Explains Lavakare, “India has a well-documented history of maps but the rigid framework of restriction of map data policy has tied down GIS players within India. In addition, there is no ‘quality standard’ or certification standard for GIS data produced, and end users are unable to evaluate the quality of data supplied by GIS players. The other real obstacles are low awareness of the benefits of GIS, no clearly outlined government policy in this area, and the lack of finance to support GIS solutions, especially at the state and local government level.”

Consequently, although government bodies in India have been one of the biggest consumers of GIS, compared to
international trends the usage of GIS-related technology has been comparatively low in India so far. As a result, most of the larger and more professional GIS service firms in India are focused on the international market. Hence, success stories of the benefits of GIS technology and their applications are few and not so well-known.

Adds Bharti Sinha, vice president of Marketing and Sales for Asia Pacific at Infotech Enterprises, “Indian users need to be educated on the power of GIS-based applications. There is also a need for ridding the industry of short-term, fly-by-night operators who take customers for a ride and ultimately the quality of projects gets affected, which in turn affects the whole industry. Additionally, users need to understand the need for comparing apples with apples and not apples and oranges, when deciding on a major project. For instance, many projects still are decided only on the basis of cost, which leads to the lowest priced vendor being selected, but who may not have the capability to deliver.” Sinha feels that the government needs to lay down strict guidelines for acceptance on quality and credentials in order to remove the chaff from the grain.

Manoj Thakur, president and CEO of Nucleus Netsoft, also puts forward a very valid point on the need for a change in mindset on the part of the government. Says he, “The policy maker’s mindset has to change on availability of data for public consumption. The Survey of India needs to be left to do what they have been doing for centuries, in their military role. Public availability of data can only increase with a civilian copy of SOI. If ISRO and NRSA could work closely with private service providers in making satellite originated GIS products publicly available, it could lead to a great win-win situation for not only Indian users but users worldwide.”

In addition to these issues, there is also a need for dissemination of spatial data through the Internet. A clear-cut policy on map publication and distribution on the Internet needs to be framed, taking into consideration the security concerns of the country. The policy should also address the issues of data availability for the common man, its accessibility, dissemination and standardisation. Lavkare of RMSI feels that the government should institute an annual award to recognise the best Internet GIS usage by any government agency, similar to the e-governance award already in place for government websites providing e-governance services.

Paul Kuah says that assets and facilities such as boardrooms, conference rooms and training rooms can be viewed as cost centres

Vendor strategies too have been made in keeping with the policies of the government. For instance, most of the companies that we spoke to suggested their preference for the global market. And keeping in mind progressive policies of other countries, Indian GIS players are naturally looking to aggressively target the global space. Says Sheshank Aggarwal, VP and co-founder, Manchitra Services, “The US and Europe are two big geographies with good growth potential. Europe is coming out strongly with deregulation in its various segments such as power and water. Also, there are a lot of vacant places in industry vertical GIS solutions that Indian companies can target.”
And similar to the software services industry, a majority of the Indian GIS players are still stuck at the low end of the value chain, offering only basic services like data conversion. But this realisation is setting in and some Indian GIS players are realising the need for moving up the value chain. Says Manoj Thakur of Nucleus Netsoft, “Indian companies have to graduate to higher levels. We have to adopt a solutions mindset and not a service mindset and similarly bid for solutions and not services. For instance, there have been some visible initiatives in photogrammetry and remote sensing that needs to grow. Indian companies also need to seriously grab the product development opportunities that the present location-based services market offers. Given our development talent, all it needs is entrepreneurial sustenance.”

Pure domestic market players

S Rajagopalan Not all companies are looking at tapping the global market. For instance, take a look at Bangalore-based Spatial Data, a company focused totally on the domestic market. The company is looking at its unique cost proposition to make a dent in the domestic market. Explains Rajagopalan, “Before forming this company, we identified two barriers: One, the cost per-user of GIS software was rather high and secondly, there was no digital map market. The user has to create digital maps by sub-contracting to vendors and he/she could not make an off-the-shelf purchase. We started this company to overcome these barriers. We felt that if we set up a group that develops GIS software code and basic digital maps of the country, states and cities, the cost of using GIS would come down and subsequently the market would expand. Moreover, since the code is within our control, we have an advantage over other international companies since we can quickly develop customised solutions according to the needs of our client. Additionally, the cost-per-user comes down.” Rajagopalan claims that when the company delivered a solution to the Karnataka Health Department, the cost-per-user was half of what any other solution provider could provide.

Conclusion
While the Indian market is still at a nascent stage, major growth can be achieved if the government decides to follow progressive policies similar to other countries. And when that happens, Indian GIS-based technology providers can surely look to the sky as their upper limit for growth.