New Delhi: Geospatial Today, India's premier geospatial technology magazine, launched the first ever Indian Geospatial Industry Survey 2005.

PS Goel, Secretary, Department of Ocean Development, launched the survey questionnaire at an elegant function organized by Geospatial Today in New Delhi on Friday, 5th August 2005. Other guests of honour at the launch were Maj Gen M Gopal Rao, Surveyor General of India, KR Sridhara Murthi, Executive Director, Antrix Corp and Dr N Vijayaditya, Director General, NIC. The survey is supported by Survey of India and Antrix Corporation.

In his keynote address, PS Goel noted that GIS is emerging in a big way and stressed the need for an authentic industry survey. He congratulated Geospatial Today for taking initiative in this direction. Surveyor General of India Maj Gen Gopal Rao said that the recently unveiled map policy will open new vistas in GIS technology. Sridhara Murthi and Vijayaditya too stressed the need for a geomatics industry survey and lauded the efforts of Geospatial Today.

The Indian Geospatial Industry Survey 2005, a pioneering effort by Geospatial Today, to bring in the industry, users and all the stakeholders on to one platform - to collect, analyse and understand the geospatial market information, its structure and composition in India.

The market for geospatial products and services is growing by leaps and bounds as India has become a global hub for data conversion, photogrammetry and GIS services. The industry is moving towards the mainstream IT domain with geographic and location-based technologies being embedded into databases, spreadsheets and corporate information systems. Above all, the recently announced Map Policy is opening up new vistas to an emerging industry. This has necessitated an industry survey to provide a definition to the industry and address the market potential of GIS industry in India.

The survey report is expected to be out by November 2005. The report will contain comprehensive analysis of the scope of data, software, hardware and applications markets; demand side and supply side estimates; profit opportunities; high growth markets; emerging applications; profile of geospatial companies; market share, size and segmentation and revenue growth forecasts.

The report will
Analyse the market structure and composition of the geospatial market in India.
Examine user needs in the context of technology trends.
Collect detailed market estimates from both users and service providers on various vertical industry segments and a detailed analysis of the same will be undertaken.
Assist companies in the context of product positioning and marketing issues.
Delve into the opportunities in public, regulated and private markets.

Survey questionnaires can be obtained online at www.geospatialtoday.com

Hyderabad: The gamut of applications of geoinformatics is ever increasing. It now finds use in each and every aspect of life and living. Be it infrastructure development, disaster management or socio-economic development, geoinformatics is the trusted technology for planners, bureaucrats and industry alike. To give more thrust to this, the Institution of Surveyors in collaboration with the NRDMS division of DST organized a one-day seminar on `Geoinformatics For Socioeconomic Development' at the Survey Training Institute, Survey of India, Hyderabad.

Dr DP Rao, former director NRSA, who was the chief guest on the occasion, inaugurated the seminar and stressed the importance of geoinformatics in today's world of change. Dr JS Yadav, Director, IICT, Brig Dr R Siva Kumar, Head, NRDMS division, Brig MV Bhat and Brig PK Bhatnagar were other dignitaries present at the inaugural ceremony.

Educative and interesting technical sessions followed. Brig Bhat made a thought provoking presentation on `Technology transfer and capacity building to handle geoinformation in the digital world - role of surveyors in managing the change'. He dwelt on why the new map policy was necessitated and assured that the government will shortly be releasing detailed guidelines to clear the ambiguities that crept in after the new map policy was unveiled in May.

Dr DP Rao dwelt on the role of remote sensing and GIS in disaster management. Dr B Nagarajan talked about the plans of SOI to transfer technology and build human resources in the tsunami hit areas of Andaman and Nicobar islands. Brig Dhal made a presentation on cadastral level LIS system issues. This was followed by a panel discussion on open series maps. The panel, which included Dr DP Rao, NK Agarwal, GS Kumar and others, felt that the new map policy, in its present form, is grossly inadequate in meeting the growing needs of industry and infrastructure development and hoped that the government would rework on it.

Tiruchirapalli: A detailed mapping of natural resources in 46 select districts across 10 states was nearing completion, Dr K R Murali Mohan, director of Natural Resources Datbase Management System (NRDMS) said.

In the first phase of the project, the base map provided by the Geological Survey of India would be overlapped with census data and information made available on natural resources of the respective areas. Twenty districts in Karnataka, five in West Bengal, two each in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu would be covered in the first phase, Dr. Murali Mohan explained.

The second phase was also been taken up concurrently, so that all districts in these 10 states were covered. Both the phases, covering about 250 districts, would be completed before the end of 2006, he said. He said NRDMS was using GIS (Geographic Information system) technology for the purpose and that Karnataka would be made a model state for planners and decision makers. NRDMS had also taken up mapping of bio-geo wealth/forest cover, land use, available forestry envisaging forestry scope and management system for India. The Department of Science and Technology had signed an MoU with their Norwegian counterparts for collaborative research and technology transfer, he said.

Under NSDI (National Spatial Data Infrastructure), a joint initiative between DST and the Department of Space, NRDMS would provide metadata servers as single point of service at state level data on meteorology before the end of 2006.

Bangalore: Preparation for India's maiden mission to the moon, scheduled for 2007-08, is progressing well, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair said.

Talking to newspersons at the National Institute of Advanced Studies here, which was visited by President A P J Abdul Kalam in connection with a programme on launching reusable launch vehicles, he said a review meeting on antenna for the mission was held in Hyderabad. Land for the proposed Deep Space Tracking Centre, to be located here, had been acquired and work was progressing well, he added. Nair said ISRO was continuing discussions with the United States for having a US payload ride piggyback on the Indian payload during the lunar mission. An MoU with the European Union had been signed for the mission, he added. To a question on an Indian astronaut being trained by NASA, he said ISRO had not received any such proposal.

On the Indo-US Space cooperation, he said ''we have agreed to cooperate on many areas of space sciences, including the Chandrayaan mission and navigational systems for aircraft. Asked about President Kalam's view on reusable spacecraft, Nair said it would be a costeffective solution, but there were ''very many technical challenges''.

The president had spoke about it with ISRO scientists during a recent visit to Thiruvananthapuram and ''we have already initiated some conceptual studies...we are targeting the first flight to take place around 2030.'' As against the conventional payload of 1.5 per cent of the lift off weight, the reusable aircraft could weigh around 16 per cent. ''We have to start from five per cent and then move on upwards,'' he added. On the indigenous development of cryogenic engine, Nair said the cryogenic stage was currently test bed and expressed hope that the first flight of the Mark II GSLV launcher with indigenous cryogenic engine would take place next year as scheduled.

He said ISRO was awaiting clearance from the European Space Agency for the launch of the fourth generation INSAT satellite INSAT 4A. Ariane had just completed a successful launch and the schedule was likely to be finalised next week. The integration work on Cartosat II was currently on and it would be ready for launch in December, he added.

Kolkata: Callisto Infosolutions Pvt Ltd, a city-based IT education service provider, Tuesday launched the first training Centre on the geographic information system (GIS) in Kolkata to cater to sectors using the satellite-based information system.

The centre, claimed to be the first in the eastern region, would offer a six-month course for IT professionals and others to give training on the applications of GIS.

Speaking on the launch of the centre, CISPL director I Choudhury said ''This segment is going to witness a robust growth in the near future and the demand for trained professionals will be high.''

Launched in association with the Institute of Environmental Studies and Wetland Management and Centre for Environmental and Participatory Development (CEMPD), the centre has roped in senior scientists and professors for conducting the course.

Richmond: RADARSAT International and several other companies in the MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) family have been rebranded and are now conducting business under the common brand name "MDA". RADARSAT International belongs to MDA's geospatial services business area and is referred to as MDA Geospatial Services International. Acquired by MDA in 1999, RADARSAT International has over 16 years of experience in providing earth observation data, products and services to the international geospatial marketplace. "This rebranding is part of MDA's strategy to bring a number of its business units - that often serve a similar customer base - together under a single, recognizable brand", said Dr. John Hornsby, General Manager of MDA Geospatial Services International. Dr. Hornsby continued, "Our focus and dedication continues to be on innovation and growth in the earth observation industry. And we are now in a stronger position to offer our customers more comprehensive geospatial information products and services by drawing on MDA's extensive systems and service capabilities".

Islamabad: Pakistan plans to launch a selfcontrolled Remote Sensing Satellite System (RSSS) at a cost of Rs19.3 billion to ensure strategic and unconditional supply of satellite remote sensing data for any part of the globe over the year.

According to sources, the project will be executed by the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) over a period of six years. President Gen Pervez Musharraf has approved the project in principle. The project will require another recurring expenditure of about Rs150 million per year and overall working expenses of about Rs1.15 billion. The president had directed Suparco to develop the capability to make and launch different types of satellites, specially, communications, remote sensing and weather satellites.

Pakistan's space programme must contribute in the areas of mass education, information technology, communications, agriculture, mineral development, mapping and geographic information system, atmospheric sciences, environment and pollution monitoring and in various areas of national security, the president said.

On the completion of the project, high resolution satellite images will be available for national defence and security in any critical time. They will also enable universities and non-profit organisations to obtain satellite remote sensing data and carry out analysis for other application areas.

The project will help Pakistani engineers acquire comprehensive know-how and technology transfer. Thus, it will be a vital support for future in-house Pakistan remote sensing satellites of world standards to meet demands of enhanced capabilities. This will help Pakistan coup with the commercial and strategic needs and open a new era of applied research and new trends for planning and implementation of public sector development projects for socio-economic uplift of the country.

Exton: netGuru, Inc. announced that it had entered into an asset purchase agreement with Bentley Systems, Incorporated, under which Bentley has agreed to acquire netGuru’s Research Engineers International (REI) business. This business includes the market-leading STAAD.Pro structural analysis and design product line. At the time of the acquisition, Santanu Das, netGuru’s chief operating officer, will join Bentley. The acquisition will include netGuru’s worldwide operations associated with REI, including the STAAD structural analysis and design product lines, software and product development, customer support and relationships, and offices associated with the worldwide business, including offices in Yorba Linda, Calif.; Bristol, U.K.; and Kolkata, India; as well as REI sales offices in other parts of Europe and Asia. netGuru will retain its collaborative software operations and products, including eReview and ForReview, and its information technology and engineering business process outsource services businesses. The sale is subject to various closing conditions, including approval by netGuru stockholders and compliance with regulatory requirements. If approved, the sale is expected to close before the end of 2005.

Seul: South Korea aims to use its satellite-related technologies to become one of the world’s top 10 aerospace powers by 2015. To achieve this goal, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) is working on putting three sophisticated satellites into the orbit through 2009 as part of the Arirang project.KARI president Chae Yeon-seok predicts the Arirang project will be a catalyst moving Korea from the backwater of the space development race to the front. `We are a latecomer in satellite technologies, but we have progressed very fast. Now our satellite competitiveness is about 60 to 70 percent compared to that of global top-tier makers, Chae said.

However, he said the gap is narrowing rapidly and Korea will become a global leader when it develops two state-of-the-art satellites, Arirang III and Arirang IV, in years to come. KARI senior researcher Choi Gi-hyuk said a satellite is the right product for the nation to invest in because of its unparalleled prowess in electronics. `Satellites are a mixture of high-tech components and software. As Korea’s electronics industry is leading the world, it will be able to make a big splash in satellites, Choi predicted. Korea got into the satellite business in the early 1990s, decades later than such space powerhouses as the United States and the former Soviet Union.The country got its first commercial satellite in as late as 1995 when the fixed-line telecom operator KT launched a communications satellite Koreasat 1 (Mugunghwa).

Lin Lin Ho: As one of the fastest growing areas, the Asia-Pacific region has attracted the world's attention for its increased rate of economic development and modernization efforts. With this in mind, Trimble is strengthening its local commitment by appointing two new survey sales managers to better meet the needs of the region.

Dulles: ORBIMAGE Inc., a wholly- owned subsidiary of ORBIMAGE Holdings Inc. announced that the appointment of several key positions to its Worldwide Sales and Marketing organization to lead the company's sales initiatives, business development opportunities and marketing pursuits for its OrbView(TM) satellite imagery products and valueadded services.

The International Space Business Council has announced the release of the '2005 State of the Space Industry'. First released in 1997, the report was developed to provide industry, government, and financiers with an independent assessment of the trends and issues affecting the industry. The report states that, 'now is a good time to be involved in the space and satellite industry. Whether one's focus is on military, civil government, or commercial activities, there are numerous opportunities - government funding for space is on the rise, commercial orders for satellites and launches have rebounded and stabilized, new exploration initiatives are being pursued, and entrepreneurial efforts related to radio, broadband, and space tourism are generating excitement'. It cites U.S. export regulations under ITAR 'the industry's most serious issue' and states, 'what initially was a nuisance to businesses has evolved into a serious problem for U.S. industry'.

Highlights
World turnover generated from commercial services and government programmes reached $103 billion in 2004 and is forecast to exceed $158 billion in 2010. More than $18 billion is spent annually on the development of space systems.

U.S. Defence spending on space has grown from around $15 billion in 2000 to more than $22 billion today and is forecast to reach $28 billion by 2010. India and China have joined the U.S., Europe, Russia, and Japan as having fully independent capabilities. Satellite-toconsumer television has become a $40 billion worldwide market. The markets for satellite radio and GPS positioning and tracking are being validated with growth measured in billions. The successful launch of new satellite broadband services in the U.S. and Canada beginning in 2005 could improve the market for commercial infrastructure. The development of a substantial space tourism market would have a positive but disruptive influence on the industry, though it is not likely to happen before 2010. According to Scott Sacknoff, President of the ISBC, 'With the diversity of the sector ranging from Walmart's IT network to NASA Mars missions to the military's hunt for Al Qaeda, the size of the industry should not be a surprise. Governments around the world look to the industry and see space and satellite technology, R&D, and services as vital to their nation.

Mumbai: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to foray into a niche market segment. It will create small satellites having six Ku-band transponders, aimed specifically at the developing countries.

ISRO will, thus, be able to tap customers who need limited capacity. "We want to find space in the niche market by creating small satellites with six Ku-band transponders. In many countries like Malaysia and Thailand, there is a demand for such satellites," says ISRO contract management and legal services director SB Iyer. ISRO is adding 36 Ku-band transponders with launch of three Insat series satellites - 4A, 4B and 4C for meeting the local demand, particularly from direct-to-home operators. Beyond this, ISRO is planning to add a further 36 Ku-band transponders for 2006- 2007. A part of this capacity augmentation will be through launch of the small satellites, says Iyer. The satellites will all be launched from India. So we will not have the situation where we have made the satellite ready and we will have to wait for the launch vehicle," says Iyer. ISRO uses Arianespace to launch some of its satellites.

Several foreign satellites are also keen to use ISRO's launching facility as it is a cheaper option. "Foreign satellites are willing to come here to launch. An Italian and some Russian satellites have already expressed their intent. Our Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is very popular for low orbit and medium weight satellites. We are well placed in that," says Iyer

Partners with Essel Shyam and NSTPL
ISRO has got into arrangement with two teleport operators to facilitate transmission on multiple channels per carrier (MCPC) mode. This move will considerably bring down the space segment cost for small broadcasters. Essel Shyam and Noida Software Technology Park Ltd (NSTPL) have been allocated a transponder each on Insat 4A which is scheduled for launch in October-November. The two teleport operators can put together a bunch of channels for uplinking from their facilities while offering them space on Insat 4A satellite. "We are starting an arrangement with teleport operators for transmission on MCPC mode. Essel Shyam and NSTPL are being allocated two transponders on 4A," says ISRO contract management and legal services director SB Iyer.

New Delhi: At least 20,000 BPO executives in India know more about streets in Rome, London or Paris than Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore. They work for nearly 250 medium and large-sized companies in India, providing GIS services to the world. Says Radhakrishnan Nair, an executive in a GIS BPO: "I've been living in Delhi for the past nine years. But, two years in a GIS firm and I know more about Rome and Paris than Delhi." He digitises maps and develops GPRS systems used in car navigation systems.

GIS is used in disaster management, planning of land use, flood surveys, road mapping and laying of telephone, gas or oil pipelines. Global GIS firms like Tele Atlas and ESRI have set captive centres in India. Major telecom firms like Motorola, Cingular, Lucent, Saudi and Bahrain also outsource to India.

According to rough estimates, GIS BPO is already a Rs 1,000-crore industry in India. The most prominent GIS BPOs in India are RMSI, Rolta, TCS, Infotech and Genesis. The industry is gathering steam as the hourly billing rates at $9-10 are slightly higher than voice-based BPOs ($7). As a result, companies offer good packages to employees too. Says Ranbir Bose, manager, RMSI, a GIS BPO: "engineers, architects and statisticians earn Rs 15,000 as starting salary. Urban planners and graduates in geography are also in great demand." The data is captured through satellite images and fieldwork. Says Dr SK Shukla of Kampsax, a GIS firm operating from Gurgaon: "data capturing involves 90% of satellite imagery and 10% of fieldwork as nothing can substitute a human eye. But now, through advanced remote sensing satellites, we can recognise even the rank of a soldier!" Many GIS portals have also come up, which can guide you to any address in India. Says Rakesh Sharma, MD, MapmyIndia.com: "such e-portals can guide your vehicle to any address. They also provide business intelligence to banks, restaurants or retail chains, such as the number of people with a salary above Rs 20,000 p.m. in a radius of 5 km to a bank setting up an ATM network." According to sources, Google is planning to open its GIS BPO in Bangalore.

Exton: Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats Pvt. Ltd. (ICT), a leading New Delhi-based international provider of consultancy services for infrastructure development, has won a 2005 BE Award for its feasibility study and detailed engineering for the four-laning of national highway 1A project in Jammu and Kashmir State, India. The award category was "Civil: Road Design." The BE Awards of Excellence, which are selected by an independent jury of industry experts and presented at an evening ceremony during the annual BE Conference, honour the extraordinary work of Bentley users improving the world's infrastructure. These projects set benchmarks for their industries, and showcase the imagination and technical mastery of the organizations that created them.

Mumbai: Rolta India Ltd, specialising in geo-spatial technologies has signed an agreement with US-based Intergraph Corporation for providing expert services to Geographic Information Systems' (GIS) customers. This alliance is positioned to support GIS, photogrammetry, utility and telecom businesses using Intergraph's GIS solutions in Canada, Mexico and South American countries.

Under the agreement, the company would provide specialised GIS services in the areas of project consulting, application software development and customisation, implementation, digital mapping & photogrammetry, GIS data migration, data conversion, data maintenance and system management and maintenance.

The portal provides worldwide B2B mapping services for Internet and mobile developers.

In addition it offers to everyone easy map navigation and free mapping services, among are: address finding, routing, POI lookup, weather forecast, real-time traffic information.

Business Services of the mapping portal can be purchased by credit card directly via the website using a secured gateway.

The technological engine behind this site is the AtlasNET map server; it was developed by AtlasCT, and enables real time streaming of mapping data using Macromedia Flash technology and Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG) format.

The unique server technology enables fast interactive map viewing using all internet browsers and mobile applications. AtlasCT is a leading developer and provider of worldwide mapping solutions. AtlasCT products are designed to supply a variety of GIS and mapping capabilities for the Cellular and Internet-based mapping market using an innovative unique technology.

AtlasCT and Nokia collaborate in developing and introducing the innovative Mobile Search application. More information about the Mobile Search application can be found on Nokia website.

Stevenage: Cadcorp, the digital mapping and geographic information systems (GIS) software developer, has announced the availability of a new, lowcost digital mapping software product, Cadcorp Storm Tracker.

Developed by Cadcorp to satisfy the requirements of insurance and re-insurance specialists and other organisations concerned with damage caused by hurricanes and other storms, Cadcorp Storm Tracker is a light-weight digital mapping application for the visualisation of hurricane storm tracks. Using data from the Unisys Weather Web site (www.weather.unisys.com/hurricane), a respected source for global storm data, Cadcorp Storm Tracker enables users to take live storm information, automatically convert it to geographical line features and visualise it over a digital map base.

It also enables the user to export the resulting storm track to commonly-used GIS data interchange formats for integration into other software, such as catastrophe modelling products.

Hyderabad: Infotech Enterprises Limited, a product engineering and IT solutions provider, has announced the inauguration of a dedicated centre of excellence for design engineering and product engineering services for Hamilton Sundstrand, a subsidiary of the $40 billion United Technologies Corporation, a press release said.