Geospatial Industry in India: “I do not see any specific slow down” Says Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Science

It’s rare that a politician can wax prophetically on geospatial technology. Maybe it’s his training as a lawyer, but Shri Kipal Sibal, India’s Minister of Science & Technology, can articulate better than most any geospatial technologist a vision for what’s needed to expand opportunity in his country.

"Over the past five years, India has come a long way but we are only touching the fringes,” said Sibal in referring to the potential of geospatial technology. "The need has grown exponentially." He recognizes that the global economic situation is disastrous but predicts that geospatial activity will not be affected, at least in India. "With demand for geospatial technology…I do not see any specific slowdown…We expect to benefit from the outsourcing activity from which India benefits." And there are other reasons. India is instituting a new map policy, a National Spatial Data Infrastructure, and Spatial Data Authority. Sibal said that the recent attacks in Mumbai illustrated a need for building information management and infrastructure data. "The opportunity cost of not investing in geospatial technology is too high," he said. Changes to map policy that he helped to initiate are promoting data sharing but perhaps more slowly than he had hoped. "Our effort to establish and NSDI has pushed several local governments to build out their spatial data infrastructure."

Sibal also called for independent regulation of geospatial technology in India and to support the creation of a nationwide ecosystem for making geospatial technology a primary activity. However he cautioned that there is a lack of qualified GIS professionals. Course work at the university level is beginning to yield results but more needs to be done to accommodate the growing need both within the country and servicing the outsourcing opportunities. He said that government and private industry must come together and he is inviting the private sector to offer ideas directly to his department to foster innovation. “We need to make geospatial data more available to the average citizen so that they can see the potential," said Sibal.