India has set the stage for a pioneering Geospatial Innovation & Research Centre of Excellence (CoE) to meet the burgeoning technology demands within the country’s Geospatial domain. A significant step toward this initiative was marked by a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked on November 28, 2023, between the National Geospatial Programme-DST, National Institute of Geo-informatics Science & Technology (NIGST), Survey of India, and IIT Tirupati Navishkār I-Hub Foundation to establish this pioneering Centre.
The Geospatial Innovation & Research CoE, acting as a pilot, intends to cater to the ever-evolving technology needs within India’s Geospatial landscape. This initiative aims to extend support to innovative geospatial technology-based startups, industries, and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) having significant applications and impact across the economy’s core sectors.
Professor Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, DST, emphasized the milestone as a progressive step towards implementing facets of the National Geospatial Policy. He underscored the plans to reform the Survey of India, establishing a geospatial data exchange, and facilitating incubators to foster the development of geospatial technology and support startups focused on applications.
Highlighting the emergence of geospatial data science as an interdisciplinary field encompassing geospatial engineering, computer science, and information technology, Professor Karandikar emphasized that establishing specialized incubators and dedicated CoEs would align with the recommendations of the geospatial data policy.
Envisioning the evolution of the World Wide Web (WWW), Professor Karandikar pointed out the potential shift toward a geospatial platform powered by data science and AI models. This transformation could enable obtaining contextually and location-based information by combining AI and machine learning, potentially reshaping future search paradigms.
Dr. K.N Satyanarayana, Director of IIT Tirupathi, highlighted the Technology Innovation Hub’s (TIH) role under NM-ICPS, focusing on technology development, capacity building, startup ecosystem creation, and international cooperation, particularly in these evolving domains.
Surveyor General of India, Sh. Hitesh Kumar S. Makwana, emphasized the importance of a comprehensive action plan in tackling the challenges while seeking cooperation from all stakeholders.
The event was graced by Shri Sunil Kumar, Joint Secretary (Geospatial), DST, alongside officials from DST, SOI, and IIT Tirupathi, indicating a collaborative effort to harmonize their strengths and collaborative potential for innovative outcomes aligned with market demands. This convergence aims to drive a dynamic functional model, focusing on market-driven technologies.