Geospatial Artha Summit, which has been a pivotal event for the geospatial community in India, returned to the center stage after a gap of more than three and a half years with key messages for the industry and the role that geography can play in economic growth of India in the next decade.
‘Artha’ in Sanskrit has multiple meanings, all translating into ‘means of life’ — defined as purpose, value, wealth, and economy. Since its inception in 2012, the geospatial industry has taken rapid strides. Driven by strategic geospatial-related policy initiatives in 2020-2021, geospatial knowledge is expected to create significant ‘Artha’, transforming and enhancing the socio-economic development in the country.
The summit, which was held a day prior to GeoSmart India, brought together stakeholders from the government and private sectors. Coming close on the heels of the newly minted geospatial policy guidelines that were announced by the Government of India earlier this year, the summit got down to business following an insightful opening address by Sanjay Kumar, Founder and CEO, Geospatial World.
“Service companies will move towards data processing and data management because we now have new policy guidelines that allow them to get into data capture,” he said, highlighting how data product companies in India will now be looking towards partnering with global companies. He also underscored the need for the geospatial industry to align its workflows with that of the user industry. Shining the spotlight on the growth potential, he said that the geospatial industry is estimated to be valued at ₹23,200 crore by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 13.36%
The opening address was followed by a panel discussion on Integrated Policy Framework and Its Role in National Economy Development. Dr. Kiran Kumar, Vikram Sarabhai Professor, ISRO spoke on the change the last few years had brought, calling attention to the fact that Artha was not merely an economic aspect but also encompassed humanity, sustainability, and the government’s focus on enablement and leadership. “These are changing times. What the government has been trying to do has also been, in a significant sense, influenced by what the industry wanted,” he said. On the need to create different solutions for the country, Dr. Kumar pointed out, “Our problems are very different from the problems in other countries.”
Also watch: Opening remark and Welcome address | Day 1 | GWF2021
Nikhil Kumar, President- Geospatial at MapmyIndia emphasized that ‘policy’, ‘integrated framework’, and ‘implementation’ were broad phrases that everyone might not be able to understand accurately. “We have a propensity in the corporate sphere to discern these into four pieces: vision, mission, objective, and execution plan,” he said.
Dr. Hrishikesh Samant, Associate Professor in Geology & Vice-Principal, St. Xavier’s College began by saying, “This year and the previous year have been the happiest for the geospatial community thanks to thought leadership and national leadership.” While he did concede that the demands of the industry may not exactly dovetail with the academic environment, he was optimistic that trained human resources were a national asset, though they might not reflect so immediately.
Speaking on the topic of Economic Value of Geospatial Knowledge Infrastructure in National Mission Programs, Agendra Kumar, Managing Director at Esri India and President, Association of Geospatial Industries, spoke on the value that geospatial knowledge infrastructure had to provide in various aspects of Indian economy, and its spillover areas like transport. “Transport costs are 30% higher for roads in India and they are 70% higher for railways and coastal waterways, compared to countries such as the U.S.”
Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Director, National Institute of Advanced Studies, said, “More important than the information is the timeline of the information,” while stressing on the need that Artha should not just be restricted to economics. He also foregrounded issues such as environment, which are not currently taken into economic consideration. Speaking on how the next 10 years were crucial for implementing technology, he added, “How we transit from fossil fuels to cleaner energy is more important than the question of energy itself.”
Thought process is already underway at the Department of Economic Affairs on the monetary and economic aspects of the SVAMITVA scheme, according to Alok Prem Nagar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj. “We have an inter-ministerial committee to advance the various objectives of the SVAMITVA scheme,” he said.
Sai Arun, Senior Executive Finance, Hexagon Capability Center India, explained how geospatial knowledge infrastructure can contribute towards national programs and needed to be viewed in a historical context, underscoring the various phases, and their need, that Indian polity and economy had progressed through since the country’s independence.
In his address, BVR Mohan Reddy, Executive Chairman, Cyient, underscored the rapid pace of development of science, but struck a note of caution: “The coming 10 years are going to see a fairly serious turmoil in terms of geopolitics.”
In the session titled Indian Geospatial Industry: Collaborative Workflows and Business Model Transformations, Rajan Aiyer Managing Director, Trimble Navigation reflected on how the session’s title also reflected Trimble’s story. “X-as-a-Service calls for new business models, basically focusing on deeper penetration, longer customer engagement, thinking about total customer value (TCV),” said Aiyer.
Sajid Mukhtar, CEO, Rotter Group, spoke about how companies were now focused on finding solutions instead of merely selling instruments. Regarding responsibility towards society, he emphasized: “We are responsible for developing skills and knowledge for the next generations and build equipment in India. To close, we have to go back to the country.”
The Indian geospatial market in the next decade or so is going to be driven by strategic policy imperatives, geospatial incubation and accelerator programs, and geospatial focus on national mission-mode projects. It is estimated that the geospatial market is going to grow the Indian geospatial economy to approximately ₹100,000 crores by 2030, respectively; which is going to add almost 2% growth to the overall GDP. Further, the impact of geospatial data and technologies in the Indian economy is going to enhance efficiency, productivity, and effectiveness across varied sectors, and for socio-economic development.
With the changing geospatial industry landscape, the strategic policy initiatives, and the rapid pace with which the technology is advancing — there is an increasing opportunity among the geospatial, allied (4IR technologies) and the IT industry to collaborate and integrate data and solutions for efficient use of geospatial technologies for India’s geospatial economy growth. Further, these collaborative workflows lead to significant business model transformations within the Indian geospatial community and add greater value to India’s growth story.
In his closing remark Kumar said, “We have a big opportunity, as well as a big role to play in taking our country forward, besides making our country a better place for the next generation. Last of all, the trends are clear everywhere I go — collaborative workflows are not only adding value to the economy and society, but they are also the only way to stay relevant in business.”
The Geospatial Artha Summit set the agenda for GeoSmart India that will be held at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre from December 7-9. The highlight of the opening day’s plenary will be the release of the India Geospatial Economy report.
Also read: GWF 2021 Awards acknowledge outstanding contributions to the geospatial domain
