• No results found

AIDING THE COMMON WEALTH GAMES WITH TECHNOLOGY LEGAL BLUEPRINT OF INDIAN GEOSPATIAL INDUSTRY

N/A
N/A
Protected

Academic year: 2022

Share "AIDING THE COMMON WEALTH GAMES WITH TECHNOLOGY LEGAL BLUEPRINT OF INDIAN GEOSPATIAL INDUSTRY"

Copied!
52
0
0

Loading.... (view fulltext now)

Full text

(1)

geospatial 10

2010 ` 100 www.geospatialtoday.com

TODAY

AIDING THE COMMON WEALTH GAMES WITH TECHNOLOGY LEGAL BLUEPRINT OF INDIAN GEOSPATIAL INDUSTRY

MANIDEEP SAHA SUSMITA MOHANTY

INTERVIEWS

AIDING THE COMMON WEALTH GAMES WITH TECHNOLOGY LEGAL BLUEPRINT OF INDIAN GEOSPATIAL INDUSTRY

MANIDEEP SAHA SUSMITA MOHANTY

INTERVIEWS

Globally, countries have made geospatial technology an integral part of their development process and enjoyed its benefits. Though market surveys claim significant growth in this domain, the question is whether India has made enough headway to make geospatial information and services available to its people. A reality check.

Globally, countries have made geospatial technology an

integral part of their development process and enjoyed its

benefits. Though market surveys claim significant growth in

this domain, the question is whether India has made enough headway to make

geospatial information and services available to its people. A reality check.

(2)
(3)

TODAY

geospatial

Publications Director Vice President (Operations) Sr. Assistant Editor Assistant Editor Copy Editor Head – Design Sr. Designers Designers Web Ramprasad Umamaheswar Rao P T P Venu Omer Ahmed Siddiqui G Srinivas Reddy Jayaraj Frederick Masa Vijay, Lakshmi D Srinivas P, Nagaraju N S

Upender Reddy V

CONTENTS

Head - Business & Events

Circulation & Subscription

Marketing & Sales Mumbai

Delhi

Kolkata

Chennai

Wilson Rajan wilson@gatewaymedia.in - 099499 05432

Unnikrishna Pillai S unnikrishnan@gatewaymedia.in - 095059 19923

Dr Shibu John Head - Strategy & BD shibu@gatewaymedia.in - 098676 82002

K N Sudheer - Regional Manager sudheer@gatewaymedia.in - 099101 66443

Nikhil Doshi - Region Head nikhil@gatewaymedia.in - 098369 96293

W Sudhakar - Manager sudhakar@gatewaymedia.in - 097899 81869

Geospatial Today

Printed at

Editor:

Please note:

Copyright:

is printed by P Chandrasekhar Reddy published by P Chandrasekhar Reddy on behalf of Spatial Networks Pvt. Ltd., Plot No.761, Road No.39, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad - 500 033 AP, India. and

M/s. Kala Jyothi Process Pvt. Ltd. 1-1-60/5, RTC cross roads, Musheerabad, Hyderabad - 500 020. and Published at Spatial Networks Pvt. Ltd. Plot No.761, Road No.39, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad - 500 033 AP, India.

P Chandrasekhar Reddy

Views expressed in the articles are those of the writer(s) and may not be shared by the editor or members of the editorial board. Unsolicited material will not be returned.

No material published here should be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the publishers.

24

Feed Back

Subscriptions Phone : e-mail : Write to :

Readers are advised to send all feedback and comments to editor@gatewaymedia.in

040 233 000 61 / 0626 subscribe@gatewaymedia.in

Spatial Networks Pvt. Ltd.

#407, Fifth Floor, Pavani Plaza Khairatabad, Hyderabad - 500 004 AP. India.

Tel: +91 40 233 000 61, 233 006 26 Fax: +91 40 233 006 65 www.geospatialtoday.com CONTACT US

VOLUME 9ISSUE 8

Prof Ian Masser

Jack Dangermond

Dr Shailesh R Nayak

Dr V Jayaraman

Maj Gen (Dr) R Siva Kumar

K R Sridhara Murthi

M Moni

Rajesh C Mathur

Mukund K Rao

Dr R Nagaraja

Dr N L Sarada

Visiting Professor, Centre for Advanced Spatial Analyses, University College, London, UK

Founder and President, ESRI

Secretary, Min of Earth Sciences

Director, NRSC

CEO-NSDI, Head - NRDMS

Managing Director, ANTRIX Corporation Ltd.

Deputy Director General, National Informatics Centre, Government of India

Vice Chairman, ESRI India

GIS Activist

Group Head, NDC, NRSC

Prof. Computer Science &

Engineering Department, IIT Bombay

Editorial advisory board

Head, AEC & Geospatial Autodesk India & SAARC

Manideep Saha

Interview

14

02 14

20

24

30

36

42

48 32

NEWS COVER STORY

GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE: OUR NEW INFRASTRUCTURE

ISSUES IN GIS DATA SHARING

EVENTS

Where does India stand in geospatial information and services. A reality check

Head, AEC & Geospatial Autodesk India & SAARC

CEO, Earth2Orbit

As we move from an industrial economy to a knowledge economy, our reliance on physical infrastructure is being supplemented by a reliance on a new type of infrastructure: geographic knowledge

Nine most contentious issues facing GIS data sharing today

Mark your calender

Geospatial technology will make it possible for the CWG to go on smoothly INDIAN GEOSPATIAL AWARDS 2009

INTERVIEWS Manideep Saha

Dr Susmita Mohanty

AIDING THE CWG WITH TECHNOLOGY

ISSUES IN GIS DATA SHARING

42

33 there

yet? are we

(4)

02|geospatial TODAYoctober 2010

News

Google acquires Quiksee

G

oogle has acquired Quiksee, an Israel-based developer of interactive video mapping technologies based on user- filmed videos. Both Quiksee and Google share a common vision and Quiksee's technology will act as the missing link in Google’s Street View service, used by both Google Map and Google Earth to enable users to view photographs of streets around the world. The deal is valued at US$ 10 million.

This is the second acquisition of Google in Israel following the acquisition of LabPixies in April this year. Commenting on the deal, Yossi Matias, managing director of Google's Israel development centre said,

“Google will continue to invest in Israel both by expanding and deepening our activity as well as by continuing to strengthen our collaboration with companies and start-ups in Israel.”

I

nfotech Enterprises Limited (Infotech) hired Greg Oaten as Strategy Advisor for Utilities. Greg will operate from Infotech’s Sydney office in Australia and will focus on the APAC region.

Greg will play a strategic role in developing and refining Infotech’s new service offerings in areas such as Smart Grid and power engineering for its customers and prospects in the APAC region. He will be

instrumental in assessing the needs of utilities in the APAC

region and presenting Infotech’s value proposition.

Greg has over 25 years of experience with public and private organisations in

Australia. Before joining Infotech, Greg was working as

‘Executive Manager’ at Energy Australia – Network Revenue Operations. He was responsible for network billing, network installation data, meter data

management and operations, meter reading and smart meter initiatives. In his earlier assignment, he was

responsible for the capture, maintenance and continual improvement of key data sets of Energy Australia’s network and retail operations.

Greg has also served as the President of the Geospatial Information and Technology Association (GITA) Australia

& New Zealand in 2009 and as a director for five years.

Sanjay Krishnaa, Vice President & Head of Asia Pacific, said “Greg brings with him enormous value with his vast experience and understanding of the utility industry in the region. His joining our team will help us further strengthen our utilities business. We are very happy to have him on board.”

ERDAS and Infoterra to simplify satellite data extraction

software that enables the problem solver to extract the needed information from the imagery without deep domain knowledge. Experts at intelligence and military agencies, state and local governments, civil organisations, crisis response organisations and non-governmental organisations will easily be able to transform TerraSAR-X imagery into timely, relevant and accurate

geoinformation.

and process information from radar data. ERDAS and Infoterra plan to work together to rationalise this plethora of data into clearly defined application scenarios. A key component of this transition is the development of dedicated

E

RDAS and Infoterra GmbH have teamed up to develop operational

applications for TerraSAR-X radar satellite imagery and strengthen the knowledge of SAR data analysis within the user community. New sensors like TerraSAR-X offer high spatial resolution, excellent geometric accuracies, short revisit times and a variety of polarisations and imaging modes. At the same time, innovative techniques have been developed to extract

Organisations will easily be able to transform TerraSAR-X imagery into timely, relevant and accurate geoinformation.

Greg Oaten on board Infotech as strategy advisor for utilities

A

mey has been awarded a contract for maintenance of Birmingham highways, for which it is using PBBI’s highways asset management system “Confirm.” The PFI partnership between Amey and Birmingham City Council is the UK’s largest in the local

government highways sector.

Valued at £ 2.7 billion, the PFI extends for a period of 25 years. The PFI includes maintenance of 2,500 km of the city’s road network, 100,000 street lights and over 850 highway bridges, structures and tunnels in

Birmingham. In addition to maintenance of the highway infrastructure, Confirm will make it easier for people to report any faults or issues with the municipal

environment and for Amey to expedite an appropriate response.

PBBI software for maintenance of Birmingham highways

(5)
(6)

DMCii to enhance satellite

application in disaster management

S

pace is set to become an important resource for UK disaster response efforts. DMCii is leading a new European Space Agency (ESA) project to design and build a space based system for the UK civil resilience community, which is tasked with responding to and recovering from disasters. The system will be used for all types of emergencies listed in the UK’s National Risk Register but the project’s focus is on flood scenarios.

The ‘Integrating Space Assets for UK Civil Resilience’ project is part of ESA’s Integrated Applications Promotion (IAP) programme, which develops

value-added services by integrating space assets such as Earth observation, satellite communications and satellite navigation. According to Adina Gillespie of DMCii, “The IAP is intended to engage directly with users who are not necessarily familiar with the benefits of space systems; our project definitely follows that lead. We are working with a very large and varied user community including the Civil Contingencies Secretariat of the UK Cabinet Office, numerous government departments and agencies.”

S

warna Subba Rao has been appointed as the new Surveyor General of India. In 1983 Subba Rao started his career in Survey of India and

B

eijing Power Information Technology Research Center is using Intergraph Geospatial Technology and GeoMedia WebMap to support its grid operations. The technology will aid in enhancing power grid design, centrally managing the life cycle of power grid assets and in enhancing decision making

Beijing Power Information Technology Research Center to use Intergraph technology

through real-time monitoring and alarming. It will also increase grid security, safety, reliability, efficiency and help in cutting costs.

Commenting on the technology integration, Wu Kehe, president of Beijing Power Information Technology Research Center said, “The

integration of key asset data into a unified Intergraph platform is crucial for our future success. By providing a clear picture of the current state of the power grid, and allowing us to integrate, optimise and share resources, the system eliminates redundancies and errors while increasing productivity.”

ISRO gearing up to make more launches annually

DMCii is leading a new European Space Agency (ESA) project to design and build a space based system for the UK civil resilience community.

National Cartographic Association, he has

collaborated with NRSC, SOI, GeoMap Society and Geography departments of Osmania, Andhra and other universities for promoting map quiz programmes in Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam and Jabalpur. Subba Rao holds a civil engineering degree from Osmania University, Hyderabad and M Tech in Transportation Engineering from Regional Engineering College, Warangal.

S Subba Rao is the new Surveyor General of India

this year. Currently the rockets are being assembled. PSLV will carry three satellites and GSLV will carry INSAT 5C.

Speaking about the Chandrayaan-II mission, Veeraraghavan said that it will be launched on GSLV instead of PSLV. He added, “We have already started the process and various payloads have been identified. In

Chandrayaan-II there would be an orbiter, lander and a rover.”

increase our own internal work.” Taking a note of the commercial aspect he added,

“Through Indian remote sensing satellite and through other satellite launches, we are getting revenue of 1,000 crore per year. This is growing at the rate of 20 to 30 per cent every year.”

ISRO plans to launch a GSLV and PSLV rockets

simultaneously in December

`

I

SRO is gearing up to increase its launch capabilities to make eight launches annually.

This will help in increasing its revenues and in keeping technology development at par with the global level.

Commenting on the efforts needed to increase the launch capacity, VSSC Director P S Veeraraghavan said, “We need to increase throughout in getting various subsystems from industries and then

since then he has headed several independent offices.

He has been associated with the GIS sector for the past two decades and has executed several remarkable survey projects including the 560-km pipeline survey for GAIL India.

As Suptdg. Surveyor from 1987 to 2001 and as Dy. Director from 2001 to 2003, he has worked in various fields such as digital mapping, digital photogrammetry and surveying/mapping projects.

As an active member of Indian

04|geospatial TODAYoctober 2010

News

(7)

L

eica Geosystems has released the update of its unrivalled monitoring software Leica GeoMoS v5.1 which includes the new Leica M-Com series, the first compact plug & play solutions for reliable and stable monitoring of communication.

Leica M-Com seamlessly integrates total stations, GNSS receivers and antennas, geotechnical sensors,

software, and IT

communication infrastructure.

Furthermore, Leica GeoMoS v5.1 supports the latest Microsoft Windows 7 operating system. The Leica ComBox reliably links sensors in the field to the office via mobile Internet. The sensors are controlled over the mobile Internet from an office PC with dedicated monitoring software.

An optional component of Leica M-Com is the MonBox30, an energy- efficient Intel-based mini- industrial computer with a robust housing and pre- installed Leica GeoMoS monitoring software. The Leica MonBox30 provides an additional level of security by ensuring that monitoring can continue in the event of a loss of communication.

BBC revamps its travel news site

B

BC has revamped its travel news site to include mapping applications. The BBC Travel News beta site offers a

‘sneak preview’ of the design and presentation of the revamped site to be launched in 2010. New features offered in the site include updated design with wider pages and larger text, improved navigation that allows movement between adjacent geographic areas, interactive mapping which can be minimised while checking the text incident list and clearer time stamping of incidents. The text incident list has been updated to improve readability and is synchronised with the map. Other features include local weather forecast from the BBC Weather Centre for the next six hours and traffic jam cams showing frequently updated still images of traffic conditions on motorways and trunk roads.

The German start-up company MAVinci has developed the new system that uses autonomous micro-air vehicles (MAVs).

Jill Smith, CEO of DigitalGlobe expresses plans to step down

J

ill Smith, CEO of DigitalGlobe Inc., has expressed plans to step down next year. In a regulatory filing the company reported that Jill Smith elected not to renew her employment agreement scheduled to expire on September 1, 2011. Smith will retain her position as chairman and CEO until her successor is appointed. Jill Smith had joined DigitalGlobe in 2005, and in her tenure the company has launched two satellites and begun development of a new one. Before joining DigitalGlobe, Smith worked with software firms Gomez Inc. and eDial.

Leica GeoMoS v5.1 for monitoring communications

A

n unmanned aircraft system guided by satnav has been developed within ESA’s Business Incubation Centre to provide rapid monitoring of land areas and disaster zones. The planes have already helped Spanish farmers in Andalusia to fight land erosion. The German start-up company MAVinci has developed the new system that uses autonomous micro-

air vehicles (MAVs) with a wingspan of less than 2 metres, to inspect land areas.

According to Johanna Born, CEO of MAVinci, “At the moment, the remote-sensing market uses mainly manned aeroplanes, but they are expensive and not always available. Our MAVs are cost- efficient, available at short notice and easy to use for surveillance of development

areas, construction sites, disaster zones and waste disposal sites, just to mention a few.” He added, “The MAVs can carry visual and thermal cameras or other customer- specific measuring equipment.”

Satellite navigation steers unmanned micro-planes

(8)

G

eoEye, Inc. has completed private placement of 80,000 shares of its series A convertible preferred stock to Cerberus Satellite LLC. Gross proceeds to the company from the deal were US$ 78 million, which will be used for the development and launch of GeoEye-2. As part of the deal, Cerberus will support GeoEye

in its bid for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s EnhancedView contract. Cerberus'

commitment to purchase the company’s series A convertible preferred stock was

conditioned upon the final award of a satellite to GeoEye under the programme.

Under the terms of the

contract, the NGA will contribute up to US$ 336.9 million for the overall construction costs of the GeoEye-2 satellite, which is expected to be operational in 2013. The EnhancedView award includes US$ 2.8 billion for commercial satellite imagery purchases by the NGA over the next 10 years.

Best practices for disaster

preparedness

I

n an attempt to facilitate easy evacuation in the event of a disaster, a number of villages in Maliya, Junagadh district have displayed big GIS maps in the main area of the village. Specific routes are marked on these maps for people to take for reaching a safe spot in case of any disaster. Houses of vulnerable people such as the physically and visually challenged, widows with children and ailing people are also marked on the map, so that they can be evacuated on priority. In Maliya and Talala talukas of Junagadh district

schoolchildren have been trained in emergency exits in case of natural calamities.

Response preparedness teams have also been formed at village level, and are trained in rescue, evacuation, first aid and other emergency management programmes.

GeoEye completes private placement of preferred stock shares to Cerberus Satellite LLC

Surveying to support sustainable development in Ghana

removal of schools under trees programme and completion of selected ongoing projects in the road, mining and energy sectors.

Surveyors will play a major role in solving these issues by providing accurate surveying and map data.

Ghana was last mapped in 1974 and the government is planning to map it again under the better Ghana agenda.

other forms of development we will need landed information in terms of maps.” He listed the key sectors of the economy on which the government will focus for the next year’s budget, including energy-oil management, provision of water in deprived

communities, completion of

A

lhaji Collins Dauda, the minister of land and natural resources in Ghana emphasised on the need for proper land management and administration to support sustainable development.

This is possible through accurate land information provided by maps developed by surveyors. He added, “To ensure proper natural resources development, modernised agriculture and

N

AVTEQ has launched a new product Natural Guidance that promises to change the way navigation systems and applications interact with end users.

Natural Guidance breaks new ground by enabling guidance the way humans provide directions to each other – through the use of descriptive reference cues. Research shows consumers desire more intuitive and practical

NAVTEQ gives navigation a ‘Human Touch’

directions because it is easier to follow and allows the user to keep their eyes on the road. NAVTEQ Natural Guidance enables applications to use recognisable and easily understandable points of reference close to the decision point to highlight the next manoeuvre.

NAVTEQ Natural Guidance also employs a variety of importance criteria to help

Ghana was last mapped in 1974.

optimise when and how the guidance is presented to consumers. Reference cues can look very different – or be partially or fully obscured –

depending on such factors as which direction the user is approaching, the size of the reference object or whether it is winter or summer.

NATURAL GUIDANCE

At the pub take the second left Turn right at the traffic signal Turn right after

the white church Turn right

after the mosque

Drive past the zoo and turn left

At the Supermarket, take the second left

06|geospatial TODAYoctober 2010

News

www.scanpointgeomatics.com

(9)

PCI Geomatics

info@scanpointgeomatics.com

(10)

T

he Indian government has launched a project to study the changing pattern of wastelands in the recent years.

The drastic reduction in wastelands, despite the government measures to expand the area under cultivation, has been the cause of concern. The Department of Land Resources (DoLR) in the rural development ministry and NRSC are jointly studying the change in the pattern of wastelands over the past two decades with the help of data provided by satellites. The

A project to study the changing patterns of wastelands in India launched

BEG to survey defence land

defence lands.

As a pilot project the Southern Command has initiated the development of digital database for defence lands including details of the properties on the land and vacant plants. Commenting on the mapping exercise, a BEG official said, “The GPS

T

he Southern Military Command has roped in the Bombay Engineering Group (BEG) to carry out a survey to prepare a digital database of the defence land.

The development is in line with the complaints from various cantonment boards regarding encroachment of

reading of the places are being taken and will be mapped out. This will help in better land management as the Southern Command will have the digital record of its land. Like a Google map, the buildings and other defence establishments can be located at the click of a mouse.”

study will help in determining why and how wastelands have reduced over the years.

According to data available with DoLR, 63.85 million hectares of area was occupied by wastelands in the country between 1986 and 2000. In 2003, the wastelands area was observed to have shrunk by 8.21 million hectares. The latest Wasteland Atlas of India developed in 2005-06 using satellite data has shown a further decrease in wastelands area by 8.41 million hectares.

Gujarat Univ offers new courses in GIS

G

ujarat University is now offering a two-semester advanced PG diploma in Geoinformatics and Satellite Communication. The course is offered by the department of physics, electronics and space science, in collaboration with the Space Applications Centre and the Physical Research Laboratory. Many fields such as town planning,

development of navigation systems, automatic vehicle location systems,

transportation planning and engineering are expected to benefit from this course. The diploma will also be useful in environmental modelling and analysis, telecommunications, agriculture and public health.

The diploma offers training in various disciplines of geoinformatics – such as RS, GIS, photogrammmetry – and telecommunication – such as satellite communication, mobile communication and satellite navigation.

New Navi Mumbai map to speed up airport approval

However, the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Union government objected to it as there were lots of structural changes over a period of time."

Anna University, the authorised coastal zone mapping cell of the Union government, has prepared the map and it has been approved by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA). The old

T

he Maharashtra

government will submit a detailed new map of Navi Mumbai area to the Central government, in order to speed up the process of getting approval for the airport in Navi Mumbai.

According to an official from the Urban Development Department, “The earlier map of Navi Mumbai was prepared in 1995 and the airport plan was superimposed on that.

The new map of Navi Mumbai on 1:4000 scale includes minute details of all locations, and will speed up the approval process for new airport.

map was done with scale of 1:25,000 while the new map is with 1:4,000 scale which includes minute details of all the demarcations and locations.

08|geospatial TODAYoctober 2010

News

(11)

I

n many countries it is difficult to get even a rough estimate of the abundance of a subcategory of airborne particles such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5) due to lack of surface-based air pollution sensors. Experts have been using satellites to study the PM2.5

measurements at the global level, but accurate

measurements of the particles in near-surface air have still not been obtained. Major problems in this process are that most satellites are not able to distinguish among

particles close to the ground and those present high in the atmosphere. In addition, clouds and bright land surfaces also hinder the measurement process.

Overcoming these issues Canadian researchers Aaron van Donkelaar and Randall Martin at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada have developed the first long-term

HP Skyline 2020 winners announced

Mapping air pollution

global map of PM2.5 by combining total-column aerosol measurements obtained from NASA satellites with information about the vertical distribution of aerosols developed through a computer model. The map shows the average PM2.5 results between 2001 and 2006. Even though the blending technique does not necessarily provide more accurate pollution

measurements over developed regions, it surely provides the first PM2.5 satellite estimates for many developing countries.

H

ewlett-Packard has announced the winners for Skyline 2020 at an award ceremony held in New Delhi.

The contestants submitted their designs online between April and August 2010 and were judged by an eminent jury of renowned architects.

The Pune-based team comprising Mr Anto Gloren and Ms Sayali Athale has won the national award. Sayali is a final year student at Marathwada Mitramandal's College of Architecture, Pune who is currently interning at the INTACH office in Pondicherry. Gloren Anto graduated from Marathwada Mitramandal's College of Architecture last year and is now working on various industrial and office projects in collaboration with two other architects. The winners were presented with an HP Designjet Large Format Printer and an HP Workstation.

The competition saw over 600 participants who shared their astounding ideas on the skyline of the future from all across India. Talking about the contest, Mr Puneet Chadha, Director, Graphics Solutions Business, HP IPG India said,

“This competition is a

reflection of HP’s support to nurture the next generation of architecture professionals and support them with the best products and services. We certainly have some brilliant creative thinkers in this country and HP is proud to support these Awards.”

Yaogan XI launched

China has launched another remote sensing satellite “Yaogan XI” from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the northwestern Gansu Province, onboard the Long March rocket.

The satellite will be used to conduct scientific experiments and help in disaster prevention.

Two other satellites developed by a local university were also launched simultaneously. The launch marked 130th mission of the Long March rocket series.

The map of PM2.5 at global scale will help in measuring pollution level around the world.

Morgan Stanley divests half of its stake in DigitalGlobe

Morgan Stanley’s private-equity arm has expressed plans to divest nearly half of its 31 per cent stake in DigitalGlobe, as the shares have jumped by one-third this year.

With the divestment, Morgan Staney will lose the right to name two of DigitalGlobe’s nine directors, but will retain the right to nominate three directors as long as its stake remains above 15 per cent. The sale of at least 6 million DigitalGlobe shares will reduce the stake to Morgan Stanley to as little as 18 per cent.

Murder mapping in London

Murder Map is a new site that compiles data on every reported murder in London and then maps the results. The website will eventually bring together the incredible archives of the Old Bailey with details of modern murders. The scope of the site extends both in the future and in the past and it will be updated constantly. The site enables users to filter results by murder type and dig information about each case.

(L to R): Mr Anto Gloren-national winner, Mr Sen Kapadia – renowned architect; Ms Guayente Sanmartin - Director - Designjet Business, HP Asia Pacific & Japan; Mr Puneet Chadha - Director, Graphics Solutions Business, HP IPG India and Ms Sayali Athale – national winner.

(12)

H

CL Security, strategic partner of NICE Systems Ltd., will implement NICE’s integrated security solution for Delhi Police. The security solution will provide Delhi Police with an integrated command, control, coordination and communication center (C4i) solution to meet operational requirements for the upcoming October 2010 Commonwealth Games and beyond. The HCL- NICE consortium was selected by Delhi Police through competitive bidding to help enhance the police response to security events in anticipation of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

The security solution will fuse

HCL to provide security solutions for Delhi Police

are also updated every two minutes. Jetten adds, “Traffic prediction is improving constantly, because it's technology that is being driven by the community.”

Integrating social networking with navigation

traffic jams. Recently, TomTom has inked a contract with Twitter to link the micro- blogging service to its PND devices. According to Joost Jetten, VP of sales for TomTom, user-generated content has enabled the company to offer predictive analysis, such as forecasting traffic congestion, to help make accurate travel time predictions. TomTom's maps

S

ocial networking and geo- location services are being integrated to revolutionise the way consumers interact with portable navigation devices (PNDs). Social networks such as Twitter, Foursquare and additional software are being integrated by PND companies to enable online communities share location with friends and to report road accidents, hidden speed cameras and

Integration of social networking applications with PNDs will enable users to access and share information.

Maps to ensure fair polls in Nigeria

data from multiple systems and sensors from across 45 locations throughout the city, including sporting venues, metro stations, markets and police stations. The pre- integrated NICE solution is based on NICE Situator, NICE’s

situation management solution. NICE Situator is interoperable with third-party solutions for video analytics, video surveillance systems, Tetra (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) IP network for public safety, and GIS, among others.

10|geospatial TODAYoctober 2010

News

ORKASH-UCIMS released

O

rkash has launched Unconventional Conflict and Intelligence Management System (ORKASH-UCIMS), a first-of- its-kind battlefield

management system for unconventional and low- intensity conflict situations.

Prime features of UCIMS include operational planning in 3D terrain-based

geographic information system, automating intelligence analysis, creating and display of layers of operational and civilian demographic information, monitoring of mobile tactical assets in real time, pattern analysis and creation of actionable intelligence, integration with the ground and air surveillance systems, capable of visualisation of operational and situational updates and aiding in the formation of a network- centric command and control system, artificial intelligence based decision- support modules and ability to seamlessly integrate into existing information systems and databases.

help emergency teams during the Chile earthquake and floods in Pakistan. The mapping application uses

“crowd sourcing” for pulling together and organising data from public users.

Commenting on the mapping application, Tunji Lardner, sent by SMS, email and social

networking sites to plot a map of problem areas during elections. The Nigerian project is inspired by Ushahidi, a website developed in Kenya to map post-electoral violence in 2008, which was later used to

N

igerians will be using smartphones and social networking sites to monitor the upcoming polls in January. West African Non- Government Organisation Network (Wangonet) is developing an application that can record information

founder of Wangonet said,

“We believe by arming a new generation of Nigerians with social media and networking tools, the 105 million Nigerians under the age of 35 might be motivated to directly engage and interrogate the system.”

(13)

Digitisation of cities in China

Encouraged by the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, the development of digital cities in China has gathered momentum in the past two years. Pilot projects for digitisation have been launched in 112 cities, which account for about one-third of total cities in China. According to Xu Deming, Director of the State Bureau of Surveying,

“We estimate that the

construction of most digital cities will be completed in 2015, and a 'digital China' will be basically formed by then.” For developing geospatial data framework in 40 cities the bureau had carried out a pilot project from 2006 to 2008.

Large-scale geospatial databases that can be updated on demand have also been developed for some of those cities.

A

ccording to a Euroconsult report forecast, an estimated 1,220 satellites will be developed for launch over the next decade. The average satellites to be launched per year will increase from 77 launches in the previous decade to 122 launches in the near future. This clearly indicates that government and commercial operators need to upgrade their satellite development and launch capabilities.

The report estimates revenues from the manufacturing and launch of these satellites to reach US$ 194 billion worldwide for the decade.

Governments around the world are expected to continue to dominate the space industry, accounting for two-thirds of the total number of spacecraft launched, and launch and manufacturing revenues. A total of 808 satellites will be launched by civil and military government agencies in around

50 countries in the next decade, with two-thirds of these satellites designated for civil or dual use.

The next decade to witness more satellite launches

R

apidEye has authorised Roland Berger Strategy Consultants to support in its effort for raising fresh capital funding that will be used to finance new growth and expansion plans. According to Wolfgang G Biedermann, CEO of RapidEye AG, “We want to expand our market reach, our investment in new systems and our product development

efforts more quickly to take advantage of the business opportunities which present themselves to us.”

RapidEye plans for expansion

The new funding will aid in making necessary investments for market development, upgradation and improvement of systems to handle the additional growth and to initiate development of new geo-information products and services. RapidEye is also gearing up its preparations for the second generation of satellites.

The new investment will help in expanding market reach and in product development.

DigitalGlobe changes WorldView-2 orbit

DigitalGlobe has expressed plans to lower the altitude of its WorldView-2 spacecraft in order to enhance the satellite

performance. Scheduled for September 2011, the satellite’s orbit will be dropped from 770 km to 680 km. A few additional ground terminals will be added to the currently existing network of stations. The reduction in orbital will improve spatial resolution to 41 cm (16") at nadir, versus 46 cm, without hampering the

operational life of the satellite.

A potential second decrease in the altitude to 496 km, contemplated after September 2013 is expected to bring resolution of the satellite further down to 30 cm. However, the resolution for commercial customers will remain at 50 cm, as prescribed by NGA. The orbital changes are motivated by the search for an ultimate position to better meet NGA requirements.

(14)

Tracking GHG from space

O

HB System AG, a German aerospace contractor and the Institute of Remote Sensing Applications, a unit of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have signed a MOU to jointly develop CarbonSat constellation, a satellite fleet to monitor greenhouse gases (GHG) contributing to climate change. According to Steffen Leuthold from OHB System, more partners including other European nations and the US are required to implement a network of multiple satellites.

The CarbonSat constellation would measure carbon dioxide and methane in the

atmosphere, gauging their contributions to rising global temperatures. The satellites could help implement a post- Kyoto Protocol designed to reduce heat-trapping GHG emissions across the globe.

Commenting on the deal, Berry Smutny, CEO of OHB System said, “Environmental protection is a global challenge and only global partnerships are able to achieve the results required to protect the Earth. The Chinese involvement in this new partnership shows how seriously both sides are committed to Kyoto Protocol.”

T

rimble and the Hilti Group have reached a definitive agreement to form Intelligent Construction Tools, LLC. This 50:50 joint venture of Trimble and Hilti, will focus on leveraging technologies from both companies to develop measuring solutions for the building construction trades.

Partnering since 2002, the Hilti and Trimble share similar values – focussing on a deep understanding of the customer needs and harnessing innovation to

Trimble and Hilti target construction market

develop value-added solutions that increase customer productivity. In addition, Trimble and Hilti have complementary channels and geographic footprints in the building construction space.

By combining Hilti's expertise in a wide range of leading application systems for construction professionals with Trimble’s broad portfolio of positioning technologies, the joint venture will deliver a new class of productivity solutions to the building construction industry.

Commenting on the deal, Steven W Berglund, president and CEO of Trimble said, “We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Hilti. The joint venture brings tremendous synergy to Trimble and Hilti by providing the expertise and platform to develop long-term strategies to serve the building construction market.

The powerful combination of these two companies creates a unique opportunity to change the way work is done on building sites.”

Opening up public data

users. We want to partner with those who manage data, to help them cut costs, while at the same time making it easy for end-users to freely access this data.”

The mission of the USGDR is accomplished by making an generates a large amount of

vector data, but lacks the resources to distribute their data. This is where the USGDR comes in; as a non-profit we are not in this for “the money,”

we are here to help both the data creators and the data

T

he United States GIS Data Repository (USGDR) is on a mission of “Making Public Data Public” and needs federal, state and local GIS departments to join in it. Kyle Souza, Director at the USGDR, explains, “The government

arrangement with the data author/manager that allows organisations to upload their GIS data to USGDR servers.

Anyone who visits to the USGDR website

(www.usgdr.org) can then download the data for free.

12|geospatial TODAYoctober 2010

News

(15)

Intergraph presents Icon awards

I

ntergraph has presented its highest customer honour – the Icon Award – to seven industry and government leaders for their visionary use of its enterprise engineering and geospatial software.

Names of the award winners were announced during the opening keynote presentations at Intergraph 2010 conference.

The 2010 Icon Award winners include the Bundeswehr Geographic Information Office of the German Federal Armed Forces; ConocoPhillips, the third largest integrated energy company in the United States; CTCI, Taiwan’s largest

engineering, procurement and construction firm; E-Comm 9-1-1, the regional emergency communications center for southwest British Columbia, Canada; the New Zealand police and fire service; QUIP Group, a leading Brazilian offshore vessel construction

firm; and Shell International Exploration and Production.

Other organisations that are innovatively using Intergraph software were also recognised for their ongoing partnership with Intergraph as well as for their ability to yield proven results.

ISRO to replace ageing satellites

ISRO has expressed plans to replace two ageing satellites in December, which are nearing completion of their operational life. GSAT 5, a communication satellite will be launched onboard GSLV in the second week of December to replace INSAT 2E that was launched in 1999. GSAT 5 with its 36 transponders will also compensate for the partial failure of INSAT 4B. The first stage of GSLV is complete and the other stages are in the process.

Resourcesat-2, a remote sensing satellite will be launched onboard PSLV along with two small satellites made in Singapore and Russia that will piggyback the launch vehicle. Resourcesat-2 will replace Resourcesat-1 that was launched in 2003.

T

he Australian Government is funding the upgradation of ‘Emergency Alert,’ the national emergency warning system for delivering warnings to mobile phones based on the location of the handset.

Currently, the system sends voice and text warnings to landlines and mobile phones based on an owner's billing address rather than the

location of a handset during an emergency. As a result, people who are present in a disaster zone but have a billing address outside the affected area do not receive warnings.

In August 2009, an interim report was released by the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission that recommended the establishment of a national

warning system based on the location, in addition to the billing address of a mobile phone. Supporting the recommendation, the Australian Government has provided A$ 1.35 million to the Victorian Government to investigate the possibility of developing a location-based warning system on behalf of all states and territories.

Upgrading emergency alert in Australia

R

apidEye has successfully passed the Operational Readiness Review (ORR) for the European Space Agency (ESA). Integration software will now allow ESA and its user community efficient access to RapidEye’s 5-m pixel sized, multi-spectral data through an interface allowing semi- automated product and metadata exchange between

RapidEye clears operational readiness review of ESA

satellite imagery mainly for the project ‘Safer’, a security and emergency project of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program in Europe.

GMES is a European program for implementing a European capacity for Earth

Observation, with an objective to monitor and better understand the environment.

ESA and its user community can now efficiently access RapidEye's 5-m pixel sized, multi-spectral data.

Three new products in Bentley’s OpenPlant software

Bentley Systems has released three new products in Bentley’s OpenPlant software for plant creation based on an open data model. The new software – Bentley OpenPlant Modeler V8i, Bentley OpenPlant ModelServer V8i and Bentley OpenPlant Isometrics Manager V8i – are the first commercially available products to share and meet the primary goal of the iRING user community to enable real-time, seamless sharing and interoperability of data and information across different organisations and systems using an internationally recognised standard.

iRING implementations (ISO 15926 Real-Time Interoperable Network Grids) address the challenging workflow

requirements of today’s globally distributed and sourced plant projects. The new software enhance interoperability across data formats, workflows, and plant design systems, and add to the comprehensiveness of Bentley OpenPlant software.

RapidEye’s ground segment and ESA's Coordinated Data Access System (CDS).

ESA will be using RapidEye’s

(16)

Cover Story

Globally, countries have made geospatial technology an integral part of their development process and enjoyed its benefits. Though market surveys claim significant growth in this domain, the question is whether India has made enough headway to make geospatial

information and services available to its people. A reality check

w A en ar es s

Data Acc ess

there

yet? are we

CHINA

JAPA N CHINA

US A

UK

T P Venu & Omer Ahmed Siddiqui

(17)

The INSPIRE initiative and Ordanance Survey’s open data policy is expected to further democratise access to geospatial data.

IND IA

AN NA

the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

For a country like India, which is ridden with

corruption, red tape, nepotism and delayed

projects, the Maryland experience is worth emulating.

Another example is the King County government in Washington that has recently enacted a legislation mandating development of an open data Web portal and requiring all county agencies to publish data on the portal. The portal will go live by the first week of November, 2010. However, at the moment, India continues to grapple with data access issues while other countries,

particularly the US, are galloping and moving onto a different horizon. Geospatial technology application is expanding to newer avenues like the gaming industry, e.g. games such as Battle Cell and Virtual Village II use Google Maps. It is increasingly being used in the business of retailers as well.

In the UK, geo-enabled

websites/portals are opening up public access to government data. The INSPIRE initiative and Ordanance Survey’s open data policy is expected to further democratise access to geospatial data. Democratisiation of access to data, it seems, is the key for the development and spread of the technology. A fine example is the case of Derbyshire County

Council, which

provides public data through its website

http://derbyshiremaps.derbyshir e.gov.uk. The website provides a single-point access to geographic information held by the councils throughout Derbyshire. The Web GIS is enabling the maintenance of public data in a centralised database which can be shared across departments and with the common man. This data sharing is gaining ground and is

becoming popular. Another noteworthy government funded initiative is the Small Area Health Statistics Unit (SAHSU) that aims at assessing the risk of exposure to environmental factors to the health of the people. It uses a geo-enabled application for analysing public health issues using routinely collected health and population data. Geospatial awareness is growing; data that was once only the preserve of departments that used it for infrastructure, utilities etc. is now available for the common man. The people can now report in real-time about the local problems, whether they are related to hygiene or municipal in nature, to the concerned authorities.

Over the last few years internal databases have been linked, electronically stored maps have been introduced and geospatial IT has been integrated into mainstream enterprise systems, leading to mobile applications COUNTRIES ACROSS

continents from New Zealand to the US, China to UK have latched on to the opportunities that geospatial technologies offer and have leaped ahead in socio- economic development. So much so that the technology has become a part and parcel of all developmental activities in myriad sectors ranging from disaster management, forestry, urban planning, utilities to irrigation. Federal and state governments in the US are increasingly investing in

geospatial technology as it helps in better coordination among federal programmes,

democratising access to data and enhancing the quality of services to the people. Departments share data among themselves and this criss-cross initiative is paving the way for better control and is reducing redundancy in geospatial investments – termed as the Geospatial Line of Business (Geospatial LoB). This model is highly successful and all the major government

departments such as agriculture, commerce, defence, education, healthcare, and urban

development play an important part. It is setting a fine example of how the technology can be harnessed and put to use. The case of Maryland is a case in point. To track the spending of tax payers’ dollars for

accountability reporting and maintaining transparency is worth mentioning. The state of Maryland has mapped

investment of every dollar from

(18)

Cover Story

and other services that boost efficiency. According to the Computer Weekly news release, geospatial technology saved councils £ 230 million and boosted GDP by around

£ 323 million in England and Wales in 2009. Councillor David Parsons, chairman of the Local Government Association's Improvement Board, said, "It is estimated such technology and information sharing could potentially save councils up to

£ 372 million by 2014/15. In this climate of strained budgets, councils must strive to keep reaching more residents and improving services ever more creatively, and look at more ways of working together to make these big savings.”

India and China are the two fastest growing economies in the world and it is interesting to see the growth of both in the geospatial realm. Way back in the early 90s China had just about 20 GIS companies, India too was no better but in the next 20 years the dragon was able to spread its tentacles far and wide and today the three main centres Beijing, Shanghai and

Guangdong have become synonymous as spatial centres.

India too started well but has not been able to step up the gas to the required extent. In India, it has been the national mapping agencies, educational and research institutes and pilot projects such as the NRDMS, IMSD, NNRMS and Defence that the technology found its use.

China has scored in the area of human resources; the initial investments are showing results with nearly 200 universities The dragon and the elephant

offering undergraduate and post- graduate courses in geospatial sciences and surveying and mapping. China is sitting comfortably with 4,000 people graduating each year; in contrast, the situation in India is abysmal with just a few hundred coming out of institutes every year. To compound the problem, there are very few opportunities in India for post-graduate courses.

China has built a national standard system of surveying and mapping. Geospatial information resource has been accumulated with full coverage of the country at 1:100million, 1:50000 and 1:25000. A few provinces are covered with geospatial information at 1:10000. All cities are covered in 1:2000 and 1:5000. China has collected rich remote sensed image and photography. China has replaced the paper topographic map with DEM, DOM, DLG and DRG and established geospatial databases.

It is in the process of completing the second round of land use survey for the creation of a land map of China that it proposes to renew annually. In the area of

SDI, China has paid great attention to construct the Digital China Geospatial Framework (DCGF). This NSDI has four layers at National, Provincial, Municipal and Country levels.

The datasets are defined in standards from 1:1 million to 1:5000 at four administrative levels.

What sets apart the Chinese is the fact that the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (SBSM), the agency responsible for fundamental geospatial information resources in China, has come up with a set of standards and has laid out certain rules and regulations for companies to be bracketed.

Recently 31 enterprises were given approval and bracketed as A-class companies; what it means is that these companies can provide Internet mapping services. A license must be acquired before companies provide Internet mapping services. In case of India, there is no such product and

methodology standardisation at the moment. China is on the path towards creating an ecosystem where policies, guidelines, procedures and standards are fast becoming the norm. Classifying companies based on their capabilities and following stringent regulations is being done. For instance, companies that want to provide Internet mapping services need to adhere to certain parameters.

Enterprises that have been granted licenses to provide online mapping services are allowed to provide four services which include map searching and locating, geographical

information, map downloading and copying, and direction- Setting the standards

16|geospatial TODAYoctober 2010

The recent trend that is

noticeable in China is that traditional IT companies have started looking to enter GIS industry such as Nuesoft, POTEVIO, Digital China, ZTE and Datang Telecom.

What’s special about UK?

What is it about UK? What makes it special? The facts and figures of the application of GIS in the public sector in country are making everyone sit up and take notice.

More than 40 per cent of the local authorities in the UK are involved in projects for providing public access to geospatial data. About 40 per cent of the local authorities have integrated GIS with other business applications such as CRM and ERP to enhance data sharing.

In an attempt to provide free and unrestricted access to geospatial data, Ordnance Survey has launched an online portal ‘OS OpenData.’ It allows users to download and view maps and boundary information for the entire country and develop applications based on Ordanance Survey’s OS OpenSpace application programming interface.

(19)

sending and map-embedding services. Those bracketed as B- class enterprises for providing online mapping services are only allowed to offer map searching and locating, and geographical information services and are prohibited from map

downloading and copying, and direction-sending and map- embedding services.

From a mere 20 companies in the early 90s to a staggering 400 specialised GIS companies, China has come a long way. About 80 per cent of the companies have a registered capital anywhere between ¥ 500,000 and 2 million. The recent trend that is noticeable in China is that traditional IT companies have

started looking to enter GIS

industry such as Nuesoft, supporting the industry. But there is great scope in the future.

Projects such as R-APDRP, JNNURM, NLRMP will give an impetus to the industry. Also, many government organisations are on a fast track to digitise all their data and create base maps.

Even at municipal and town planning, organisations are actively involved in reforms.

Though the change is slow and not uniform, it is bound to create a ripple effect in the days to come, say experts. Another welcome change has been the trend for many states to go for the creation of Spatial Data Infrastructure in India.

With the advent of Internet,

More than 40 per cent of the local authorities in the UK are involved in projects for providing public access to geospatial data.

Number of companies

Institutions providing courses in

Geoinformatics

Industry

standards Scale of

map NSDI

status

INDIA CHINA

Where they stand

About 200

Around

30 Not yet

formulated

1:25000 and 1:50000 scale The Open Series Maps (OSMs) are available after a one-time clearance from the Ministry of Defence.

Indian NSDI is enabling the sharing of database repositories at national level.

About 400

Nearly 200

State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping has set forth industry guidelines and has divided the companies into several categories.

Full coverage of the country at 1:100million, 1:50000 and 1:25000. All cities are covered in 1:2000 and 1:5000

Chinese version of NSDI called Digital China Geospatial framework (DGCF) has four layers at National, Provincial, Municipal and Country level. The datasets are defined in standards from 1:1 million to 1:5000 at four administrative levels.

References

Related documents

 Core language contains set of keywords and its control, data and object abstractions.  Some languages also supports abilities such as treads and

The second report will concentrate on the results of the deep-dive into 39 food manufacturers (listed in Annex 3), following research into their response to the Covid-19 crisis

An IMF staff paper (2019) estimates the additional annual spending required (both public and private) for meaningful progress on the SDGs at $0.5 trillion for low-income

The Macroeconomic Policy and Financing for Development Division of ESCAP is undertaking an evaluation of this publication, A Review of Access to Finance by Micro, Small and Medium

The banking industry has used business technology to create several new options for consumers, including online banking, instant access to retirement accounts,

• An input device is a piece of hardware used to provide data to a computer used for interaction and control.. It allows input of raw data to the computer

The key areas of land- related interventions in these components included: support to pro-poor land policy formulation and implementation; promotion of access to land through

To break the impasse, the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), in collaboration with Loughborough University and in consultation with multiple