?The Web will facilitate a national GIS for India?

A landscape architect by training, Jack Dangermond founded Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) in 1969 with a vision that computer mapping and analysis could help us design a better future. Dangermond fostered the growth of ESRI from a small research group to an enterprise recognised as a leading player in geographical information system (GIS) software development. On a recent visit to India, the ESRI president feels that with initiatives like Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme and National Land Records Modernisation Programme by the Indian government, the country will not be far behind the US in a span of five years in terms of GIS technology adoption. In an interaction with Diksha Dutta, he discusses the public sector initiatives, potential and challenges of the Indian GIS market. Excerpts:

What are initiatives you have undertaken in India for implementing GIS solutions?

We build a core technology that helps government agencies all over the world to build applications. Globally, our clients include Walmart, McDonalds, Walgreens, Starbucks, among others. We have about 3,000 organisations that we are working with. Some examples are Survey of India and Indian Space Research Organisation. In collaboration with NIIT GIS, ESRI is working with Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to develop a large-volume GIS geo database and 12 custom ArcGIS applications, which will assist the city in its property taxation, utility management, vehicle tracking system and land-use development. We have done similar projects for many other cities like Kanpur Municipal Corporation, which is now on the Web. We are also working with the National Highways Authority of India.

With the Commonwealth Games coming up, we are working through a government organisation?National Informatics Centre (NIC). They have created the core infrastructure around ESRI technology by mapping the whole city and creating a database. Now they are making it available to Delhi Police for traffic management and to Delhi Jal Board for water management. In the private sector, Reliance is our major client in power distribution and telecom.

What are the key challenges you face in the Indian market?

There are a lot of challenges in India. GIS is used to map out a location where there is a need for development. For instance, where to build schools or highways for rural development? At the same time, GIS is used to map out spending patterns of people.

It is seen that the combination of where the biggest needs are and where the government is spending money are not always consistent. In the US, the government is using mapping technology to show where all of the money is being spent.

This is the next step towards open democracy?where the government can open up all the records to the citizens. Citizens can scrutinise all records and comment on the public policy. This is setting up a trend in the US, UK, Europe and Australia.

It is also influencing government policies in India to be more open and transparent with respect to decision making. India is also behind in terms of GIS implementation due to factors like money and recognition of technology benefits. The cost benefit of GIS is different in India as compared to North America.

The Indian tech market is picking up. Are you seeing strong signs of growth in GIS too?

India is now putting in place a new generation of open data policies and presenting it in the form of maps would be the next step. Traditionally GIS has been used in local government, utility companies or ministries and is now going to the Web. This means we can separate GIS systems all over the country at the state, national and local level and yet have the information which is integrated or unified dynamically by using Web services and standards.

Today people use applications like Google Maps which can show the whole of India, but this is just the beginning. GIS will now allow users to do analytics; it will connect various government agencies and will be the single point for information. We have invested $400 million in our development cycle in three years of research and development for getting GIS on the Web.

The Web will facilitate a national GIS for India. GIS will also be available on Android phone or iPhone or on the Web through browsers.

What will be the impact of GIS deployment in the market?

In India, there is a major capital initiative in investments in power plants and transmission lines. This is doubling in this Five Year Plan from the previous plan. GIS is useful for selecting where to locate these power energy facilities. In the next 12 to 18 months, we will see huge investments in the power sector in India like the Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP). For this, the IT budget is Rs 10,000 crore and GIS will be one of the key technology elements they will be deploying.

As we work with partners like Wipro, TCS, HCL and L&T, we are not bidding for these projects directly. Already, 12 bids have been completed and GIS from ESRI has been selected. So our share could be a very small fraction because we are technology partners, but they are the ones who are taking care of the complete integration.