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SEPTEMBER 2010 VOL 01 ISSUE 02 

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Cover Story 

Market Research 

India on a Roll 

It is well acknowledged that the Indian geospatial industry is witnessing a 

growth rate significantly higher than worldwide average… 

Theme: URBAN DESIGN 

Urban Infrastructure 

The Time for Change is Now 

Terry D. Bennett, Autodesk 

3D Technologies 

Unlocking the Potential of Urban Design 

Caroline Tasse, Vectuel Middle East 

SMART Tunnel 

Two Issues, One Solution 

Mohd. Noor b. Mohd. Ali, The Stormwater Management & Road Tunnel 

Lavasa 

Steering Future Indian Cities 

Ar. Anubandh M Hambarde, Lavasa Special Planning Authority 

Dr. GS Rao, Lavasa Corporation Limited 

Public Transportation 

Information on the move 

Sarah Liu, SuperGeo Technologies Inc. 

Focus: IBM Smarter Planet 

An Ingenious way to connected tomorrow 

Conference reports 

GITA Geospatial Solutions Conference 

Understanding Users: Key to Successful Implementation 

Map Asia 2010 

Connecting Government with Citizens 

07 EDITORIAL 08 NEWS 

CHAIRMAN M P Narayanan 

EDITOR & PUBLISHER Sanjay Kumar 

PUBLICATIONS TEAM 

Managing Editor (Honorary) Prof. Arup Dasgupta 

Director Publications Niraj 

Associate Editor Bhanu Rekha 

Assistant Editor Deepali Roy 

Sub-Editor Anand Kashyap 

Product Manager Shivani Lal 

DESIGN TEAM 

Sr. Creative Designer Deepak Kumar 

Graphic Designer Manoj Kumar Singh 

CIRCULATION TEAM 

Circulation Manager Priyanka Ujwal, Vijay Kumar Singh 

DISCLAIMER 

GIS Development does not necessarily subscribe to the 

views expressed in the publication. All views expressed in 

this issue are those of the contributors. It is not responsible 

for any loss to anyone due to the information provided. 

Printed and Published by Sanjay Kumar. Press M. P. Printers 

B - 220, Phase-II, Noida - 201 301, Gautam Budh 

Nagar (UP) INDIA Publication Address A - 92, Sector - 52, 

Gautambudh Nagar, Noida, India Editor Sanjay Kumar 

GIS Development Pvt. Ltd. 

A - 145, Sector - 63, Noida, India 

Tel + 91-120-4612500 Fax +91-120-4612555 / 666 

PRICE: INR 150/US$ 15 

Inside... 

Advisory Board 

Dato’ Dr. Abdul Kadir bin Taib 

Director General of Survey and 

Mapping, Malaysia 

Bhupinder Singh 

Sr. Vice President 

Bentley Systems Inc. 

Prof. Ian Dowman 

Former President 

ISPRS 

Prof. Josef Strobl 

Director, Centre for Geoinformatics 

University of Salzburg, Austria 

Kamal K Singh 

Chairman and CEO 

Rolta Group of Companies 

Mark Reichardt 

President and CEO, 

Open Geospatial Consortium 

Matthew O’Connell 

CEO, GeoEye 

USA 

Dr. Prithvish Nag 

Director 

NATMO, India 

Prof. V. S Ramamurthy 

Director 

NIAS, Bangalore, India 

KCM Kumar 

Chairman & Managing Director 

Speck Systems Limited 

Brian Nicholls 

General Manager 

AAM 

Shailesh Nayak 

Secretary 

Ministry of Earth Sciences, India 

Prof William Cartwright 

President 

International Cartographic Association 

Dr Derek. G. Clarke 

Chief Director: Surveys and Mapping 

South Africa 

Bradley C Skelton 

Chief Technology Officer 

ERDAS 

Geospatial World I September 2010 5

E d i t o r Speak 

India on a healthy growth path 

In the 1950's as the American Interstate 

I 

highways were being laid, Ian McHarg 

lashed out at engineers as people who 

'gouge and scar' landscape. I wonder if he 

would have changed his opinion if he saw 

the way urban design is implemented 

today. GIS, the technology which he foresaw 

through his revolutionary concept of overlay analysis, 

is today an essential element in the urban 

designer's toolkit. The urban designer has to work 

with limited resources and conflicting demands on 

those resources. Urban 

designs have to factor in sustainability 

and environmental 

protection while meeting the 

basic requirements of the citizens. 

Luckily designers have 

many other tools like 3D visualisation, 

Building Information 

Models, GPS, GPR and integration 

with ERP and CRM. 

iences. This is a challenge to the urban designer 

because much of the data on existing structures 

and facilities are dated or worse, lost. It would be 

interesting to see how modern geospatial tools 

could be adapted to meet the requirements of city 

rejuvenation. 

This issue also takes a look at the geospatial industry 

scenario in India. The Indian geospatial industry 

is on a healthy growth path. With a strong 

outsourcing base and a growing internal demand, 

the industry can look forward 

to a bright future. Major 

government projects like 

R-APDRP for the power sector 

and NLRMP for the land 

records management are two 

examples of the future growth 

areas. It is interesting to note 

that both projects are built 

around geospatial technologies 

but their scope extends 

Geospatial technologies have 

much beyond these technolo- 

taken centre stage in urban 

gies to services and manage- 

design and an excellent examment 

of services. This is a 

ple of this is the Lavasa project. 

measure of the maturity of the 

The management of the entire 

marketplace which looks on 

township from planning to con- 

geospatial technologies as 

struction, maintenance and 

essential tools for their work 

operation is built around GIS. 

and not as separate 'GIS proj- 

Another example of the use of 

geospatial technologies to 

manage the urban environ- 

Prof. Arup Dasgupta 

Managing Editor (Honorary) 

arup.dasgupta@GISdevelopment.net 

ects'. 

There are issues which need to 

ment is the SMART tunnel in 

be addressed. The availability 

Kuala Lumpur. This tunnel not only provides a fast of trained manpower is an issue and most projects 

access to the city centre but also prevents flooding are being run by IT personnel rather than spatial 

during heavy rainfall. This issue covers stories on planners. The NSDI which should have been the 

these projects. A question remains: how to revive backbone of these projects still remains a govern- 

decaying cities planned hundreds of years ago for a ment showpiece. The regulatory environment is 

smaller population and for an easy paced way of uncertain. These issues are not insurmountable 

life? There is a need to preserve historical heritage and, given a push by industry, solutions will be 

while opening up the city to modern urban conven- found. 

Geospatial World I September 2010 

7

8 

SOUTH AFRICA 

Free submarine 

cable map 

Durban-based software developer, 

Greg Mahlknecht, has built a map 

showing the world’s submarine 

telecommunications cable systems. 

Mahlknecht used Microsoft’s Bing 

service and Wikipedia’s submarine 

communications cables category. In 

addition, he visited each cable’s 

homepage and gathered alternative 

information. 

The map will be released under 

the General Public Licence, the 

same licence that governs the 

release of most open-source software 

and will be available for free. 

INDIA 

India gets new 

Surveyor General 

Swarna Subba Rao has taken over 

as the new Surveyor General of 

India. He was selected through an 

UGANDA 

World Bank aid for 

modern LIS 

International Land Systems (ILS) 

has entered into a contract with 

World Bank to improve Uganda's 

open competition 

held by 

the Union 

Public Service 

Commission. 

Rao joined 

Survey of 

India in 1983 

and supervised 

all disciplines of survey. He 

has been associated with GIS related 

work for the past two decades. 

GAGAN in final 

phase 

India launched the final operational 

Collaboration for 

earth observation 

South Africa and Russia have 

signed a Memorandum of Understanding 

(MoU) on collaboration in 

the area of earth observation. The 

Department of Science and Technology, 

South Africa, said that the 

MoU paves the way for South 

Africa to access historic Russian satellite data collected over southern 

Africa. It would benefit remote sensing applications towards addressing 

South Africa’s socio-economic problems that rely on the use of such 

datasets. Dr Sandile Malinga, Chief Executive of the South African National 

Space Agency (SANSA) and Professor Alex Perminov, President of the 

Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), signed the MoU. 

land administration systems (LIS). 

As part of the contract, the Design, 

Supply, Installation, Implementation 

of the Lands Information System 

and Securing of Land Records 

(DeSILISoR) supplementary project 

will establish a modern national LIS 

to underpin future enterprise creation 

and growth. 

phase of GAGAN, a satellite-based 

navigation system to aid air traffic 

from Southeast Asia to Africa. 

It is a joint initiative of the Airports 

Authority of India (AAI) and the Indian 

Space Research Organisation 

(ISRO). It will be operational in 2013. 

AAI officials said the system will 

enable airlines to chart out direct 

routes as they will be less dependent 

on the ground-based radar systems, 

save fuel and increase efficiency. 

Civil Aviation Minister 

Praful Patel asked AAI to maximise 

its investment and market the 

capability to other countries in the 

region. 

Geospatial World I September 2010

Innovative minds 

honoured 

Innovations for rural markets 

designed by Indian students 

bagged top honours at technology 

competitions organised by 

Microsoft and Intel. At the 2010 

Microsoft Imagine Cup, a team led by Pranay Sharma 

of National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, emerged as 

the winner. Sharma’s team used cloud computing and 

satellite-imaging tools to provide real-time agricultural 

information to farmers using a mobile phone. On the 

other hand, at the ‘Intel India Embedded Challenge 

2010’, the top prize went to TractRobot an unmanned 

tractor, developed by a four-member team 

led by Sanjay Bansal that uses a combination 

of GPS, GIS, 

remote video 

monitoring 

and 

artificial 

intelligence. 

INDONESIA 

Maps for safer 

infrastructure 

The Public Works Ministry launched 

six new earthquake zone maps to 

support the development of earthquake-resilient 

infrastructure. 

The map-making process 

involved 11 experts from the Bandung 

Institute of Technology (ITB), 

the Indonesian Institute of Sciences 

(LIPI), the Climatology, Meteorology 

and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), 

the Energy and Mineral Resources 

Ministry and the Public Works 

Ministry. 

JAPAN 

JAXA and ADB join 

hands 

The Japan Aerospace Exploration 

Agency (JAXA) and the Asian 

Development Bank (ADB) agreed to 

cooperate in promoting the application 

of satellite technology to disaster 

management, climate change 

mitigation and adaptation, forest 

monitoring and water resource 

management. 

ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda 

and JAXA President Keiji Tachikawa 

signed a Letter of Intent. JAXA is 

also considering to assign person- 

Satellite locates ancient 

megaliths 

Maharashtra Remote Sensing and Applications Centre 

(MRSAC) has located two burial sites dating back 

3000-3500 years. Though, the sites are known to the 

archaeologists, but there is no update in the government's 

toposheets since 1930. Recently, discovered 

megaliths are spread in an area of about 6-7 km, the 

megaliths have a potential to be converted into a heritage 

site. The megaliths were located using "Quick 

Bird" remote sensing satellite. Vinod Bothale, Director, 

MRSAC, said that the megaliths are made of basalt 

rocks. Basalt being black the megaliths appear as 

small black rings on the satellite image. 

nel to ADB to facilitate future 

collaboration. 

3D map shows 

horror of A-bombing 

A new website, "Nagasaki Archive" 

(http://nagasaki.mapping.jp/) has 

been launched. It aims at helping 

the world learn about the horror 

and destruction of the Nagasaki 

atomic bombing (A-bombing), using 

a 3-D digital map. It also shows 

photographic portraits of A-bomb 

survivors and their stories. The 3-D 

cityscape on the map can be seen 

from the sky and from horizontal 

angles as well. 


SPAIN 

Innovative water 

conservation system 

The team of Vincent 

Caselles, professor at 

the University of 

Valencia, has developed 

a remote sensing 

system for water conservation. 

Vincent expects that 

it would save 50% of the global irrigation 

water. Recognising the innovative 

work, the World Meteorological 

Organization (WMO) has awarded 

him the Norbert Gerbier-Mumm 

International 2010 award. The 

award distinguishes the best scientific 

article influential in meteorology. 

One can avail this method 

through the research group’s 

website. 

UK 

OS data accessible 

to public sector 

Public sector organisations in 

England and Wales will have access 

to Ordnance Survey (OS) mapping 

data under a single agreement for 

the first time from April 2011. 

The new deal replaces the local 

government Mapping Services 

Agreement, the Pan Government 

Agreement for central government 

and the NHS Digital Mapping 

Agreement. This new agreement, 

known as the Public Sector Mapping 

Agreement (PSMA) for England 

& Wales, includes over 750 organisations, 

with provision for 1,000s 

more, and will result in significant 

cost savings for the public sector 

and greater data sharing. 

PBBI introduces 

Geosk Platform 

Pitney Bowes Business Insight 

(PBBI) introduced Geosk Platform, 

the geospatial industry’s first location-based 

Data-as-a-Service 

(DaaS) offering. It allows users to 

access and integrate the current 

geospatial data into business analyses, 

location-based marketing programmes 

and risk management 

calculations. It provides access to a 

comprehensive data catalogue that 

includes both free and fee-based 

geospatial data from PBBI as well 

as content from third-party data 

providers such as Ordnance Survey 

THE NETHERLANDS 

and TomTom. Its new content management 

service, Geosk Library, 

enables enterprise organisations to 

store, share and manage geospatial 

data from a cloud-based content 

library. 

OS Insider launched 

Ordnance Survey (OS) launched OS 

Insider newsletter. Available on the 

OS blog, the newsletter aims to 

A joint front to fight disasters 

A new cooperation between the Dutch Kadaster (cadastre) and the topographical 

services of Nordrhein-Westphalen (Germany) facilitates to detect 

and act upon disasters like nature fires and floods faster. The German and 

Dutch organisations are the first in Europe to making this way of sharing 

possible. With this collaboration, sharing of geomatical knowledge has 

been improved using a webservice, combining data of Dutch and German 

areas in a common set of co-ordinates. Hence, map images of The 

Netherlands and Germany can be displayed in one view. 

10 Geospatial World I September 2010

keep everyone informed about 

everything that is happening inside 

Great Britain’s national mapping 

agency. The first edition of OS Insider 

focuses on some of the innovative 

uses of OS data, including OS 

OpenData, OS OpenSpace and the 

GeoVation awards programme. 

RUSSIA 

Governmnet 

promotes GLONASS 

An import duty of up to 25 percent 

on GPS navigation equipment could 

be in place from January 1, 2011, as 

Russia seeks to promote its rival 

GLONASS system, according to 

Sergei Ivanov, Deputy Prime Minister, 

Russia. However, the official 

said there would be no ban on 

devices working with the US Global 

GPS. "If GLONASS-GPS equipment 

is imported than the duty will 

remain at zero level," Ivanov said. 

"This way we will stimulate not only 

domestic but also foreign producers 

(to manufacture GLONASS equipment)." 

FRANCE 

ESSP enters 

navigation business 

European Satellite Services 

Provider (ESSP SAS) received a certificate 

of Air Navigation Service 

Provider according to the Single 

European Sky Regulation 

2096/2005. The certification was 

delivered by the French National 

Supervisory Authority (NSA - Direction 

de la Sécurité de l'Aviation 

Civile) in cooperation with the 

national supervisory authorities of 

Belgium, Germany, Italy, Portugal, 

Spain, Switzerland, and United 

Kingdom. This is an important 

milestone towards making the 

EGNOS Safety of Life (SoL) services 

available to the aviation community. 

Geospatial World I August 2010 11

12 

AUSTRALIA 

‘Virtual Brisbane’ 

launched 

Brisbane City Council launched a 

new visualisation and planning tool, 

Virtual Brisbane. This innovative 3D 

model aims to enhance some of the 

business processes of the Council. 

It was built by AAM utilising aerial 

laser data and Pictometry multiangle 

oblique imagery. The model 

spans an area of more than 

100sqkm, contains models for 

about 100,000 structures and is the 

largest 3D city model in the southern 

hemisphere. 

Robot tech for US 

Marines 

New South Wales (NSW)-based 

Marathon Robotics, with the backing 

of New South Wales Government, 

has bagged USD 57 million 

contract with the US Marines to trial 

advanced robot technology for 

training soldiers in live firing exercises. 

Marathon Robotics CEO, Dr 

Alex Brooks, said, “The Rover uses 

a GPS and a scanning laser 

rangefinder for navigation, positioning 

and obstacle detection and 

avoidance.” Brooks added, “The 

Rover system was developed at the 

ARC Centre of Excellence for 

Autonomous Systems in conjunction 

with the Australian Department 

of Defence.” 

NEW ZEALAND 

Contract for border 

mapping 

NZ Aerial Mapping Limited and the 

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represented 

by the Minister of Interior and 

the Government of the State of 

Kuwait represented by the Minister 

of Interior, signed a contract in Jed- 

Mipela GIS merges 

with GeoSolution 

GeoSolutions Australia and 

Mipela GIS announced merger 

to form a new company – Mipela 

GeoSolutions. 

The Board of Directors of 

Mipela GeoSolutions will consist 

of Mipela GIS Director Hayden 

McDonald and GeoSolutions 

Australia Director Michael 

Krome, with Hayden acting as 

Managing Director. The new 

company will be officially 

launched at the Australian 

Pipeline Industry Association 

(APIA) Conference in Darwin on 

13 and 14 September. 

dah. Under the contract, the company 

will map the partitioned zone, 

dividing line and the boundary line 

between The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 

and The State of Kuwait. It will 

take 20 months to complete. 

Quake sensors to be 

deployed 

New earthquake sensors will be 

deployed across Canterbury and 

Marlborough in South Island, under 

a 45 million-dollar national project. 

From next year, GeoNet, a collaboration 

between the Earthquake 

Commission (EQC) and GNS Science, 

will roll out a monitoring station 

network across the upper 

South Island. 

The earthquake and deformationrecording 

equipment will 

include seismographs, strongmotion 

recorders and GPS 

equipment. 


Policy _______________ 

Apple collects 

location info 

Responding to questions from US 

lawmakers about what kind of location 

data it collects, Apple said it 

collects GPS data daily from 

iPhones running OS 3.2 or iOS 4. 

The phones collect GPS data and 

encrypt it before sending it back to 

Apple every 12 hours via Wi-Fi. 

Attached to the GPS data is a random 

identification number generated 

by the phone every 24 hours. The 

company collects such data from 

customers who have approved the 

use of location-based capabilities 

on the phone and who actually use 

an application that requires GPS. It 

uses the data to analyse traffic patterns 

and density. 

Business_________________________________ 

NGA awards billion dollar contract 

The National Geospatial-Intelligence 

Agency (NGA) awarded GeoEye and 

DigitalGlobe, 10-year contracts 

worth a combined USD 7.35 billion to 

fulfil intelligence needs of the US 

government. DigitalGlobe entered 

into a USD 3.55 billion agreement, 

under the EnhancedView procurement. 

On the other hand, GeoEye 

has won a USD 3.8 billion contract 

award for increased commercial satellite-imaging capacity. The contract 

supports the EnhancedView programme by providing products and services 

that will help meet the increasing geospatial intelligence needs of 

the Department of Defense. 

Bing adds Open Street Map 

Open Street Map of the world is 

now available as a layer in Bing 

Maps. Users who download the 

OpenStreetMap app (and Microsoft 

Silverlight) can switch between the 

traditional layers, which include 

bird's eye, aerial and standard 

street map views, and Mapnik, a 

colourful map that includes businesses 

and landmarks labelled by users and devices through Open 

Street Map. The announcement of the partnership with Bing comes less 

than a month after AOL announced a USD 1 million investment in Open 

Street Map. 

ITT VIS acquires CreaSo 

ITT Visual Information Solutions (ITT VIS) has acquired Creative Software 

Systems GmbH, (CreaSo). CreaSo provides software solutions for data 

analysis and visualisation and distributes ITT's IDL, ENVI and IAS software 

products in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and The Netherlands. 

The acquisition expands ITT’s ability to directly support the growing markets 

for its software products in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and The 

Netherlands and to deliver world class product and services to meet the 

greater European demand for integrated software solutions that support 

pan-European scientific analysis and remote sensing initiatives. 


Application____________ 

GPS-based crash 

avoidance system 

Ford is developing a new and 

advanced crash avoidance system. 

It is a GPS and radio-based wireless 

system. It will provide a 360-degree 

view and uses advanced engineering 

algorithms to validate any 

threats and react accordingly in real 

time. The new technology warns 

driver of a potential collision and 

even begins braking. Ford is bringing 

it to market within the next few 

years. 

Laser backpack for 

3D mapping 

Researchers at the University of 

California, Berkeley, have developed 

a laser backpack that scans its 

surroundings and creates an 

instant 3D model. The outdoor 

version relies on GPS but one can't 

rely on GPS indoors. So, the team in 

the imaging lab combined a new 

breed of miniature laser with an 

Appointment_________________ 

Letitia A. Long to lead NGA 

inertial management unit (IMU) 

like the ones that guide missiles. 

The IMU localises the backpack, 

lasers generate the geometry and 

cameras generate the texture 

map. All three are fused for precise 

navigation. 

Letitia "Tish" Long become the first woman to head 

a major intelligence agency. Long began her career 

in 1978 as a civilian engineer in training for the 

Navy. After a decade as an engineer, she joined the 

staff of Naval Intelligence. As she climbed the 

career ladder, Long served a tour of duty at the CIA before holding a succession 

of No. 2 positions: as the deputy to the 

director of naval intelligence, followed by the Undersecretary of Defense 

for Intelligence and finally, at the Defense Intelligence Agency. 


BRAZIL 

RapidEye expands 

market base 

RapidEye’s distributor in Brazil, Santiago 

& Cintra Consultoria expanded 

CHILE 

its sales territory in South America. 

Now, it covers Argentina, Chile, 

Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, 

Ecuador and Venezuela markets. 

Currently, RapidEye is expanding its 

worldwide network of distributors in 

order to facilitate easy access to 

RapidEye products in various regional 

languages. Lara Musse Felix, 

Director of Santiago & Cintra Consultoria 

said, “RapidEye imagery is 

quickly available and information can 

be derived from the data. This has 

contributed to the success of a number 

of important projects in Brazil.” 

New approach to predict earthquakes 

Alonso Arellano, a Professor 

from the Department of Mining 

Engineering, Faculty of 

Engineering, Universidad de 

Santiago de Chile (USACH), 

along with Guillermo 

Sanchez Arellano, has developed 

a new approach to 

analyse geotectonic activity 

through the study of satellite 

images. This has been 

achieved through the observation 

of the variation in the 

density and orientation of the alignments observed in the sequence of 

satellite images Terra (Aster) for months before and after the event. 

Network of seismic stations 

The Chilean authorities will invest USD 18 million to install a network of 65 

seismic stations in Santiago. "There are 65 modern broadband seismic stations 

for measuring ground vibrations and seismometers that indicate the 

speed of ground motion," said Sergio Barrientos, a seismologist at the University 

of Chile. Sergio added, “These stations are also GPS-based acceleration 

measuring instruments. Each station will be connected to a satellite 

dish to send the data directly via satellite to our centre.” 

VENEZUELA 

MoU to set up 

RS centre 

With the aim of promoting agricultural 

development, Venezuela and 

Brazil signed five memoranda of 

understanding (MoU). The memoranda 

aim to develop a national remote 

sensing centre for agricultural purposes. 

It also focuses on the implementation 

of national seed production 

of high strategic value, allowing 

a sustained increase in yields. The 

agreement was signed by Juan Carlos 

Loyo, Minister of Popular Power 

for Agriculture and Land (MAT), 

Venezuela, and Celso Amorim, Foreign 

Minister, Brazil. 

IGVSB launches 

geoportal 

Geographic Institute of Venezuela 

Simon Bolivar (IGVSB) under the 

Ministry of Popular Power for the 

Environment (Minamb), Venezuela, 

launched a website, www.geoportalsb.gob.ve, 

where Venezuelans can 

get access to national geographic 

information tools designed with the 

gvSIG software. At later stages, 

users can also get access maps of 

minerals prepared by Institute of 

Geology and Mines of Venezuela 

(Ingeominas). 


18 

MARKET RESEARCH 

INDIA on a roll 

IT IS WELL ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE INDIAN GEOSPATIAL INDUSTRY IS 

WITNESSING A GROWTH RATE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN WORLDWIDE 

AVERAGE OR THAT OF ANY OTHER COUNTRY. SEVERAL SURVEYS HAVE TRIED 

TO MEASURE THIS GROWTH TRAIL WITH NOT MUCH OF SUCCESS. IN THIS 

EDITION, GEOSPATIAL WORLD BRINGS A SCIENTIFIC MARKET RESEARCH WITH 

DETAILED QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE INDIAN INDUSTRY DYNAMICS IN 

ASSOCIATION WITH DAVE SONNEN, CONSULTANT, IDC 

ll 


What's in… 

Market potential 

Market overview 

Policies, standards & best practices 

Productive capacity 

Way ahead 

India's 'Vision 2020' envisages the nation evolving 

into an information society and knowledge economy 

built on the edifice of information and communication 

technology (ICT). ICT including geospatial 

technologies is being integrated into planning and 

management of natural resources, utilities, infrastructure 

and urban development and transport sectors. 

Geospatial information technology (GIT) is being 

assimilated into planning and management to monitor, 

evaluate and apply spatial planning and decision 

support systems (SPDSS) and is also a front running 

agenda for major government agencies. 

MARKET POTENTIAL 

The Indian geospatial industry's current annual productive 

capacity is about `3,944 Cr (39.44 billion) (`represents 

Indian Rupee). The industry is expected to grow at a 

cumulative average rate of 8.1% to a productive capacity 

of `5,818 Cr. (58.18 billion) by 2014. The total allocation for 

various projects incorporating geospatial technology 

among other components in different sectors is 

`623,494.8 Cr and considering that even 1% of this allocation 

is meant for geospatial technologies, the geospatial 

component works out to be `6,234 Cr. 

MARKET OVERVIEW 

The Indian geospatial industry consists of two distinct but 

mutually supporting segments. The larger, international 

segment is geared to provide geospatial data and software 

development services for international organisations, 

primarily in North America and Western Europe. 

The other segment, the domestic segment, caters to pro- 


Table 1: Budgetary Allocation in 11th Plan for Geospatial 

Projects (2007-12) 

Schemes 

Water Resources 

viding geospatial capabilities to the Indian data 

providers/users. This segment is funded, managed and 

controlled largely by national and state governments. A 

number of Indian firms are contracted to provide services 

for government initiatives. India's bimodal industry structure 

creates high market potential and worrisome con- 

Indian government is trying to bring 

e-Governance and g-Governance together. 

Geospatial technology is fast becoming an 

engine of growth for businesses and is 

ready to become a formidable driving force 

in the global as well as Indian economy. 

Prithviraj Chavan 

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for 

Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Govt of India 

Amount 

(`Cr) 

Water Resource Information System 230 

National Hydrology Project 150 

Hydrology Project - II 180 

Environment and Forest Resources 

Forest Information Management and Resource Assessment 300 

Strengthening of Computer/GIS Centre 5 

Land Resources 

National Land Records Modernisation Programme/National Land 

Resource Management Programme (NLRMP) 

Agriculture 

1000 

Development of National Database and Information for 

Natural resource Management 

798 

Climate Change, Risk and Disaster Management, Agro-climatic 

Research Programs 

170 

Development of Crop Potential Maps 

Irrigation 

10 

Application of GIS/GPS in river inflow/discharge measurements, 

Flood Forecasting etc. 

Major and Medium Irrigation - Design, Surveys and Investigation 350 

Urban Development 

National Urban Information System 9.47 

Transport 

Maintenance of National Waterways - Setting up of DGPS 52 

Railway Information System, LRDSS, MIS and other IT applications 52 

Remote Control and automation of lighthouses 2.5 

R-APDRP - Part A (Core Geospatial) 1500 

Space Applications 

Cover Story 

DMS, VRC, NR Management, etc. 1752 

Grand Total 6562.47 

1.5 

represents Indian Rupee 

} 

19

20 

Space Applications 

Land 

Water 

Irrigation 

Urban Dev 

Power 

Agriculture 

Env & Forests 

Transport 

Figure 1: 11 th 

Plan Allocation (%) for Geospatial Projects (2007-2012) 

straints. While India's geospatial market potential has 

never been higher, realising this potential would be challenging. 

The Indian growth rate is significantly higher than 

worldwide geospatial industry growth. This can be attributed 

to the following factors. 

Economic recovery 

The macro economic recovery is still fragile, volatile but 

positive. Assuming continuing improvement, the Indian 

economy is poised to grow about 6.5% in 2010, one of the 

most robust GDP growth rates worldwide. 

Growth of India's international geospatial business 

will depend largely on the economic recovery of international 

economies and businesses. Right now, recovery 

rates in North America and Europe are at least positive, a 

welcome change from 2009's contraction. Planned 

spending on internal Indian geospatial projects is almost 

as high as India's total productive capacity. So, internal 

{The next new IT revolution will not just be 

an IT revolution but will be an IT-GIS 

revolution, because IT is at the heart 

of geospatial technology. Geospatial 

technology presents us with an entirely 

new and far more attractive medium of 

data or information sharing. 

Kapil Sibal 

Minister for Human Resource Development 

Government of India 

geospatial growth will depend on two interrelated factors: 

how the GOI spends its planned budgets; and how the 

industry develops capacity to meet internal demand. 

Economic recovery will create another interesting 

market potential. In a recession, customers question 

existing processes and cut all but essential elements. As 

economic conditions improve, customers have a fresh 

perspective of what was possible with less. When they 

begin to invest again, users will jump on innovations that 

provide a major advance cheaper, faster or better. 

Outsourcing of data acquisition and software development 

to India will still be considered a proven way for 

companies to do more. It is expected that the outsourcing 

business will increase at a brisk rate as the worldwide 

economic recovery continues unless hampered by protectionism 

in certain geographies. 

Government initiatives 

The Government of India (GOI) has budgeted wide range of 

initiatives that have a significant geospatial component. 

These initiatives, along with state and local level initiatives, 

have the potential to motivate a much stronger 

internal capacity for Indian geospatial technologies. 

The geospatial data usage in India is supported to a 

large extent by initiatives set out by the Federal government 

through its ministries and various departments. 

While defence is the major user of geospatial technologies, 

the initial lead for the usage of geospatial technologies 

in India was taken by the natural resources sector. 

Now, solutions such as decision support systems, asset 

management, enterprise wide risk assessment etc. have 

opened up avenues for this technology in almost every 

sector. The recommendations of the steering committees 

and the working groups for the 11th Five Year Plan for the 

majority of sectors highlight the importance of using 

geospatial tools in proper functioning of the sector and 

indicate the commencement of a new phase for the 

geospatial sector. As shown in Table 1,in the 11th Five 

Year Plan, majority of the sectors have emphasised on the 

usage of geospatial data in their current functioning and 

launched various new schemes which mandate the use of 

geospatial technology. 

In addition to the schemes highlighted in Figure 1, 

there are various other schemes which are not essentially 

geospatial but will use geospatial tools and technologies 

as an aid, such as schemes for construction and 

maintenance of roads, railways and waterways, civil avia- 


tion, public utility services, education, health, command 

area development, flood management programme, flood 

control, urban renewal, urban water supply, rural water 

supply, Integrated Watershed Management Programme 

etc. , as shown in Figure 2. 

IT transformation 

Information technology (IT) is transforming into a foundation-level 

capacity for world economies. In the geospatial 

arena, transformational influences will come from three 

directions - advances in information and communications 

technologies (ICT); advances in worldwide geospatial 

technologies; from cultural and political changes, including 

the open movement and a compulsive push towards 

broad economic development. 

The rate of change in Indian geospatial capacity tends 

to be slower than in North America and Europe and parts 

of Asia for two basic reasons: 

First, the acquisition and dissemination of Indian 

geospatial data (particularly aerial remote sensing) is 

subject to certain policies of the Government of India 

(defence/internal security). While the Indian capabilities in 

the area of Earth Observation (EO) are world class, data 

dissemination, particularly to private organisations is 

again subject to these policies. 

Second, in view of the above 'restrictions to growth' in 

the domestic market, Indian geospatial capacity has been 

developed, to a large extent, to address the requirements 

of international businesses. These requirements are likely 

to undergo paradigm changes brought about by 

increased automation/ technological innovations. Thus 

the current capacities, built on the requirements of the 

existing international markets, may not be sustainable. 

Today, India's geospatial industry is well-equipped to 

handle current requirements. But, as 

the pace of IT transformation 

accelerates, geospatial data 

acquisition and programming 

will be increasingly automated, 

reducing the demand for 

current capacities. Geospatial 

capabilities will become 

an important but invisible 

element in most information 

systems. 

To keep pace, India will have 

to develop substantial new 


The political system is fully behind 

the industry, interested in developing this 

capability in the country as a business 

proposition and providing leadership to the 

world in this area 

Dr. K Kasturirangan 

Member, Planning Commission 


} 

capacities for design, development and deep systems 

integration. These capabilities are likely to be substantially 

different from those required to meet current market 

requirements. 

The Indian geospatial industry, however, could likely 

be constrained by the following factors: 

• Lack of skilled manpower and inadequate education/ training 

for geospatial technologies 

• Policies and planning for GOI geospatial projects not being 

adequate in certain sectors 

• Competition from other Asian countries 

• Security impediments to data acquisition/dissemination and 

lack of accountability in the government which comes in the 

way of rapid deployment of new technologies 

• Technological innovations which may shrink demand for 

traditional geospatial data acquisition and software programming 

services. 

POLICIES, STANDARDS AND BEST PRACTICES 

It is often said that, "If you don't get governance right, it is 

hard to do anything right." This truism certainly applies to 

information systems. As earlier mentioned, the Indian 

geospatial industry has adapted well to international policies, 

standards and best practices conforming to the 

norms of offshore services. Now, India requires a significant 

geospatial capacity, conforming to the domestic 

market requirements fostered by forward looking policies. 

Current GOI initiatives offer little guidance 

about geospatial standards, data reuse or 

access. Policy makers and the industry will 

have to cooperate on these 

21

22 

Transport and Infrastructure 

Rural Development 

Irrigation and Water Resources 

NRE, Agriculture and Climate 

Urban Development 

Power 

Education 

Health 

Figure 2: 11 th 

Plan Allocation (%) for Projects using Geospatial 

technologies in different sectors (2007-2012) 

Table 2: Estimated Total Productive Capacity: 2009 

Turnover category No. of Employees Revenue 

Estimate (crore) 

1) < ` 10M 1,710 191.5 

2 ` 10-25M 2,091 247.0 

3 ` 25-100M 2,661 314.4 

4 ` 100-250M 3,969 468.8 

5 ` >250M 23,049 2,722.6 

Total 33,480 3,944.4 

US$ 870,620,874 

Typical Productivity 

Factor 

Note: There is a wide variance in productivity factors between different organisations. The 

productivity factor used in this analysis is typical, but may not apply to a given organisation. 

Table 3: Estimated Revenue Capacity Forecast: 2010-2014 

Revenue capacity 

(in `crore) 

Note: The worldwide (WW) growth rates are a consensus of growth rates for the geospatial 

industry from IDC and other analyst firms. 

3.5 

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 CAGR 

3,944.4 4,244.1 4,621.8 5,181.1 5,818.4 8.1 

India Growth (%) 6.5 7.6 8.9 12.1 12.3 

WW Growth (%) 2.3 3.4 6.8 7.1 7.9 

important matters building models for effective utilisation 

of available funds in a time-bound fashion. 

Fortunately, one can take advantage of the considerable 

expertise and established standards that are available 

from organisations like the Open Geospatial Consortium 

(OGC). How well the Indian policy makers and the 

industry are able to implement the advice of OGC and others 

will have a significant impact on the growth prospect 

of the industry. 

PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY 

Due to the service oriented nature of Indian geospatial 

industry, it is pertinent to look at productive capacity to 

understand the current geospatial industry, predict 

growth rates and assess the impact of future market factors. 

The estimated total productive capacity for 2009 is 

shown in Table 2, while Table 3 shows the estimated 

geospatial revenue capacity for 2010-2014. 

WAY AHEAD 

It is expected that the annual growth rate will slightly 

exceed GDP for 2011 and 2012 as global economies continue 

to recover. Figure 3 highlights the percentage 

growth for the Indian geospatial industry vis-a-vis worldwide 

growth, while the projected revenue capacity for the 

Indian geospatial industry is shown in Figure 4. There is a 

significant increase expected in productive capacity after 

2012 as India's geospatial industry builds out capacity for 

new international and internal markets. Like India's GDP, 

the growth of India's geospatial market will outpace 

growth rate for geospatial markets in the rest of the 

world. The market assumption and impacts are shown in 

Table 4. There are several ways in which vendors and 

users can gear up to realise the full potential of the 

expanding Indian geospatial market. With the Indian 

14.00 

12.00 

10.00 

8.00 

6.00 

4.00 

2.00 

0.00 

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 

India Growth (%) Worldwide Growth (%) 

Figure 3: Percentage Growth 


24 

Table 4: Market Assumptions and Impacts 

Market Force Assumption Impact 

Macroeconomics 

Economic 

Recovery 

India's GDP 

Other Asian 

economies 

Protectionist 

policies 

GOI initiatives 

Global economies will continue to recover 

at generally slow rates for 2010 and 

2011. After 2011, worldwide GDPs will 

return to near-normal rates in most 

countries. 

High (+) A down economy affects business 

and consumer confidence, investment and 

internal funding. Geospatial markets will be 

inhibited worldwide through 2011. 

India's economy will outpace most other 

economies, achieving a growth rate of High (+). Indian Geospatial markets will grow 

6.5% in 2010. India will see robust GDP at relatively high rates for the forecast period 

growth for the rest of the forecast period 

Most Asian countries are developing 

technology service capabilities. Those 

capabilities will continue to grow during 

the forecast period 

As unemployment remains high, some 

countries may enact protectionist policies 

that inhibit outsourcing to India. 

The Government of India will continue to 

fund significant economic and civil infrastructure 

initiatives at planned rates. 

Technology/Service Developments 

Geospatial & 

IT Standards 

IT 

transformation 

Mobility 

Cloud 

computing 

Labor Supply 

Supply of 

skilled 

Geospatial 

workers 

Capitalization 

Venture capital 

Market Characteristics 

Government 

Policies 

Open Source 

Converging 

consumer and 

enterprise 

expectations 

Market Ecosystem 

User as 

participant & 

data provider 

Standards will continue to grow in importance 

within IT systems. OGC standards 

will become a common requirement for 

many IT systems that incorporate 

Geospatial capabilities. 

IT transformation and ICT convergence 

will continue and are likely to accelerate 

User interfaces and computing are 

migrating to mobile devices at the edges 

of the network. This migration will occur 

quickly and will change the dominant 

design of information systems. Mobile 

devices generate volumes of geospatial 

data that can be analyzed and used. 

Cloud computing appears to be a disruptive 

technology. Early clouds will simply 

duplicate current IT approaches. But 

going forward, clouds will become platforms 

for a new generation of enterprise 

IT capabilities. Geospatial technologies 

will become an invisible and often marginal 

element in those clouds. 

India's educational systems are not 

providing a sufficient number of skilled 

Geospatial workers. Many of the current 

curricula are training people for 

yesterday's jobs. 

The lack of venture capital and other 

funding mechanisms for new ventures 

will persist. 

Indian policies are likely to continue to 

constraint the access to Geospatial 

information and hence not likely to 

foster the use of standards or design 

for integration. 

Open Source software will continue to 

be a strong influence in enterprise and 

consumer-facing systems. 

Increasingly, enterprise users expect the 

same simple interfaces, sophisticated 

search and free access that they 

experience as consumers. 

Users will take an increasingly active 

role as participants, data providers and 

co-designers of the information systems 

they use. 

Moderate(-) Other Asian countries will be able 

to compete with India on price, forcing Indian 

technology service providers to differentiate in 

other ways 

High (-) If one or more of the countries that 

outsource to India enact protectionist policies, 

the Indian outsourcing industry will diminish 

proportionately 

High (+) Most GOI initiatives will require 

significant additional geospatial capacity. 

High(+)The intelligent use of standards accelerates 

IT development and lowers implementation 

risks, making Geospatial technologies 

more attractive and less risky to implement. 

High(+/-) Geospatial capabilities will increasingly 

become an element within transformed 

ICT environments, broadening markets, but 

requiring new skills and business models. 

High(+) Mobility and mobility devices will create 

a whole new range of Geospatial applications 

and business. However, those applications 

will be completely different than the 

traditional. Vendors will have to retool to meet 

demand. After a period of adjustment, mobility 

will sharply increase Geospatial opportunities. 

High (+/-) Cloud computing will decrease the 

need for traditional systems integration and 

will change the requirements and profitability 

of established service providers. In the short 

run, vendors will see decreased revenue and 

increased competition. In the longer term, 

cloud computing will open significant new 

markets. 

Moderate (-) The lack of skilled workers will 

constrain the development of new Geospatial 

capacity and will drive labor costs higher. 

Moderate (-) Few new Geospatial startups will 

be able to break out of their initial niches. Most 

new business will accrue to established firms 

Moderate (-) Policy constraints likely to 

impede the acquisition and dissemination of 

Geospatial data and thus limiting development 

of new Geospatial business 

Moderate (+/-) Open Source software tends 

to drive prices lower and also tends to broaden 

the reach of IT systems. Open Source will 

become an important tool in keeping Indian 

technology costs competitive 

High (+/-) Geospatial systems will have to 

adopt interfaces and capabilities found in 

consumer applications. Applications that 

require extensive training will fare poorly. 

Meeting these user expectations will require 

retooling many development processes 

High (+/-) The user's changing role will obsolete 

many current practices and conventions. 

Vendors may be able to benefit from more 

active user participation. 

geospatial industry being bi-modal, one segment servicing 

international markets, and the other segment serving 

internal needs, it is prudent to address the two segments 

separately. 

Recommendations 

International geospatial service industry 

Prepare for global IT and service transformation. Information 

technology is transforming to an always-on, realtime 

phenomena that pervades every aspect of business 

and social life. In the past, IT involved the maintenance of 

mainframe systems that were connected to PCs. Now, IT 

is about a complex network of computers, phones, building 

automation, sensors and mobile devices that are 

deeply imbedded in the fabric of business and industry. 

Web 2.0 and real-time business analytics are driving 

applications directly to the customer or employee and 

becoming mission-critical on the way. 

In the transforming IT environment, the geospatial 

information part of IT infrastructure will be constantly 

updated by location-specific transactions and sensors - 

automatically. Open standards and increasingly open 

access will make geospatial information an integral, but 

invisible part of customer and business experience. This 

transformation may take a decade to realise. As IT transformation 

progresses, traditional project-based geospatial 

services are likely to become increasingly less necessary 

and may eventually diminish. Indian businesses/ 

geospatial industry needs to adapt to this transformation 

by building deeper design, innovation and service delivery 

capabilities, so that they are ready for new IT demands. 

The key is to continue to remain relevant and viable in this 

dynamic environment. 

Prepare for increasing competition from other Asian 

countries. India has firmly entrenched its position in providing 

off-shore geospatial services and IT services gen- 

6,000.00 

5,000.00 

4,000.00 

3,000.00 

2,000.00 

1,000.00 

0.00 

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 

Figure 4: Revenue Capacity (`Cr) 

Revenue Capacity (Rs. Crore) 


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26 

{Geospatial data plays a vital role in India, 

underpins the nation's domestic economic 

activities, aids our national competitiveness 

and supports a large array of government 

socio-economic initiatives 

K K Singh 

Chairman and Managing Director 

Rolta India Limited 

erally. Emulating India's example, most other Asian countries 

are developing their own IT service capacities. Many 

service firms are developing "multi-shoring" capabilities 

and are working on ways to standardise technologies / 

production methods, deliver services online, and expand 

into business services. These capabilities can make the 

service firm an integral part of their customers' operations. 

That is good news for some service firms, but this is 

likely to diminish the project-based work. 

The remaining work will likely be picked up by lowercost 

service firms elsewhere in Asia. Understandably, the 

margins here would be lower. The response to this evolving 

situation is similar to the response needed for the 

broad IT transformation discussed earlier. Indian companies 

will need to develop the capabilities required to 

become an integral, always-on part of their customer's IT 

infrastructure. This will require new skills, capabilities 

and business models. 

Importance of open standards and open source. There 

has often been an adversarial relationship 

between IT vendors and the 

open community. But now, open 

standards and open source 

have established their value 

and can no longer be ignored. 

Open standards, like those 

developed by OGC, enable 

data sharing, reduce development 

costs and lower implementation 

risk. Open source 

software can provide a powerful 

way to extend information 

systems to much broader 

audiences and can increase 

financial returns. Open 

approaches can also lower 

short-term profits, so new business 

models and customer relationships 

are required. But, the 

So far, we have been producing thematic 

data, but with Census 2011 we are now 

evolving to offer a GIS-based decision support 

system for policy makers by bringing 

spatial and non-spatial data together 

Dr. C. Chandramouli 

Registrar General and Census Commissioner 


} 

returns from open, standardised approaches almost 

always outweigh the costs. 

Internal geospatial service industry 

India's international geospatial industry is mature, efficient 

and well-organised. India's internal geospatial situation 

appears in sharp contrast - at crossroads, emerging 

from a 'closed' environment to a gradually 'open' environment. 

Initiatives like the Association of Geospatial Industries 

(AGI) are expected to transform the parties into a 

cohesive body, geared up to address the emerging 

(geospatial) challenges in the country. The formation of 

the OGC India Forum also bodes well for the industry. 

These initiatives are timely, as the potential for India's 

internal geospatial markets is enormous. Current GOI 

plans call for geospatial capabilities that are larger than 

the geospatial industry can currently provide. As India's 

economic development unfolds, geospatial capabilities 

will be an integral part and will grow at vigorous rates. 

Indian vendors and governments could consider the 

following actions to build needed capacity and capture the 

emerging markets' full potential: 

Gain from the experience of others: India's geospatial 

situation is quite similar to Europe's twenty years ago. 

The European Union (EU) recognised the value of consistent, 

standard geospatial information and created a policy 

framework that facilitates the best use of geospatial 

information for economic development. The EU initiative, 

INSPIRE, has taken years and endured lot of political turmoil 

to establish. INSPIRE is still a work in progress, but 

it works. INSPIRE has become an integral part of the EU's 

policy and legal framework. INSPIRE is dynamic and 

builds on the ongoing efforts of standards groups like the 

OGC, national security agencies, and many diverse mapping 

agencies. There is no good reason for India to incur 

the costs, time and political expense that the EU has 

already paid. While India's situation is unique, the principles 

that the EU has developed will be valuable and can 

reduce the time and costs of GOI geospatial projects. 


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28 

GIANTS AMONG THE PROJECTS 

Re-structured Accelerated Power Development & Reform Programme (R-APDRP) 

KEY ACTIVITIES 

• GIS mapping, metering of distribution and feeders 

• Automatic data logging for all distribution transformers and feeders and 

supervisory control and data acquisition/document management system 

FUND ALLOCATION 

1500 crore for Part A (Core Geospatial) in 11th Five Year Plan. 

National Land Records Modernisation Programme (NLRMP) 

PROJECT OBJECTIVE 

Ushering in the system of conclusive titling. 

MAJOR COMPONENTS 

• Computerisation of all land records including mutations 

• Survey/re-survey and updation of all survey and settlement records including 

creation of original cadastral records wherever necessary 

• Computerisation of registration and its integration with the land records 

maintainence system and development of core GIS 

FUND ALLOCATION 

`1000 crore in 11th Five Year Plan. 

Planning for data integration and reuse. GOI's plans 

for geospatial projects offer little guidance for data integration 

and reuse. Today, most geospatial projects are 

managed by local groups with little thought given to how 

the outputs can be reused. GOI's projects are large and 

still gaining experience, so certain shortcomings are to be 

expected. But, in the long run, the current lack of longterm 

planning, design and data architecture is likely to 

force the government to rework the current projects, 

before the state and national governments can realise the 

benefits of integrated systems. 

Training new geospatial professionals. Current GOI 

geospatial projects will require more skilled workers than 

are available or will be trained by the current education 

system. This situation will create a skilled manpower 

shortage and will drive up labour costs unnecessarily. The 

geospatial industry would need to consider ways/means 

{Though started with data conversion services, 

the Indian geospatial industry moved 

up the value chain in client engagement 

and is in a strong advantageous position 

today. Geospatial content is now a critical 

asset of governments and corporates 

Rajesh C Mathur 

Vice Chairman 

NIIT GIS 

to improve the educational system for geospatial workers 

at skilled and semi-skilled levels. 

Organisational mechanism to effect policies, standards 

and best practices: In North America and the EU, 

professional geospatial organisations play an important 

role in defining policies, setting standards and recognising 

best practices. These organisations represent users, 

vendors and government, often in the same forums. The 

working relationships and social connections developed 

within these groups are the basis for effective action at all 

levels. In this arena, the recently formed Association of 

Geospatial Industries (AGI) and the OGC India Forum are 

timely. It is hoped that the emerging geospatial community 

will participate and strengthen those organisations. If 

that does occur, those organisations can become a valuable 

channel for policy makers, vendors and users alike. 

Analysis of return on investment (ROI): Often geospatial 

projects are implemented without any ROI assessment. 

Many projects include some cursory assessment 

done as a gesture toward "good management" and forgotten 

soon after. Without any clear understanding of real 

value, geospatial projects are often seen as just an exercise 

in spending money. People managing effective projects, 

measure returns constantly. The reason is simple: 

Unless the project's value is understood, the project has 

little value. This simple and clear lesson from successful 

organisations is often forgotten in the rush to "get the 

work done." 

CAPACITY BUILDING 

Capacity building is key to capitalise on the opportunities 

presented before the Indian geospatial industry. India is 

taking due note. India has well defined courses in various 

disciplines of geographical information science at undergraduate 

as well as post graduate levels. The courses are 

run as an allied subject to geography or as stand-alone 

courses in GIS, Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics, 

Geomatic Science, Surveying etc. Public-private partnership 

is also making its presence felt. Recently, Rolta 

signed a formal MOU with Central Board of Secondary 

Education (CBSE) as the resource partner for providing 

Geospatial Technology Vocation Course, for XI & XII 

standard students. This course is an initiative of the 

Human Resource Development ministry under the leadership 

of Minister Kapil Sibal as a part of its vision for 

education sector and to provide employment for a large 

number of youth in the country. 


30 

URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE I Terry D. Bennett 

The time 

for change 

is now 

Here's a look at the role of 

geospatial technologies in 

urban infrastructure design for 

sustainable development 

Growth in human population 

and economic development 

strain the world's finite 

resources such as land, water, 

materials, food and energy. To 

maintain and in some cases, 

improve our quality of life, we need 

to develop sustainably - such that 

our development meets our needs 

for natural resources, industrial 

products, energy, food, transportation, 

shelter, and waste management; 

conserves environmental 

quality (indoor and outdoor) and 

reduces growing social and 

economic inequities. With urbanisation 

estimated to grow from 

around 53% as of this writing to 

64% by 2020 and 70% by 2050 and 

close to 6.3 billion people inhabit- 

ing our urban settings in the near 

future - how do we do it? Intrinsic 

to sustainable urban infrastructure 

design is the planning, design, 

construction, operation, maintenance 

and disposal of a city's infrastructure. 

How do we address urbanisation, 

existing infrastructure and new 

infrastructure in a synergistic manner? 

The question that will continually 

be asked is - Can we fix it, 

can we change it to match our 

future needs or is it more cost 

effective to raze and start over? 

Which option gives us the best long 

term ROI? And finding those 

answers will be an exercise in 

3-dimensional (3D) geospatial decision-making. 

Traditional industry challenges 

Within infrastructure construction, 

the diverse set of disciplines 

involved may include infrastructure 

developers or owners, surveyors, 

architects, civil and structural engineers, 

environmental and geotechnical 

engineers, heating and ventilation 

specialists, utilities and road 

departments of local governments. 

Each discipline has traditionally 

maintained its own professional 

standards, and has conducted its 

work independent from the others. 

As a result, each discipline has 

maintained an island or silo of technology 

related to planning, design 

and engineering information and 

the eventual work product. The true 

quality and accuracy of the designs 


is never really known until the unified 

construction of the project 

begins in the field. 

However, the lifecycle of infrastructure 

is being compressed due 

to economic reality. Owners and 

operators are concerned about the 

costs of operating and maintaining 

these structures. The result is a very 

inefficient process characterised by 

data redundancy, redundant 

processes, and poor data quality. 

With our current understanding 

of the critical nature of climate 

change that is converging with the 

migration of the world's population 

to urban environments, concern 

with sustainable urban environments, 

or "green cities," has come 

to the forefront. Succeeding in 


developing sustainable and economically 

efficient urban environments 

for our growing communities 

requires a rethinking of digital data 

which underlie infrastructure and 

building design approaches and that 

movement is underway. 

Uniting GIS/geospatial & BIM 

Traditional CAD drawings lack intelligence 

because they are designed 

to produce a paper drawing and so 

GIS information used in planning 

needed to be converted to CAD in 

order to facilitate design. Now with 

the emergence of building information 

modeling (BIM) this can change. 

BIM is an integrated, collaborative 

process that enables engineers, 

architects, contractors, and clients 

to work from a single, digital project 

model so they can share reliable, 

coordinated information at every 

stage of a project lifecycle-from 

planning to design through construction 

and ultimately into operations 

and maintenance. But GIS in 

the traditional sense has also 

changed during this time, evolving if 

only in name in many cases to 

geospatial and the understanding 

that users (designers, managers, 

analysts and the like) are no longer 

just interested in GIS as technology, 

but more so in applying geospatial 

information as a backdrop to specific 

vertical sectors workflows and 

processes like BIM for intelligent 

and exacting urban planning and 

Developing sustainable 

urban environments 

requires a rethinking of 

digital data which underlie 

infrastructure and building 

design approaches 

design and the analysis required to 

determine if a particular design 

approach is more sustainable long 

term than another while still in the 

alternative selection phase. Starting 

with surveying and all the way 

through to supporting construction 

processes and into operations, BIM 

31

32 

Sustainable city urban planning analysis Underground utility model 

supported by a geospatial data 

allows the extended civil engineering 

team to extract valuable data 

from the model to facilitate earlier 

decision making, more sustainable 

designs, and faster, more economical 

project delivery. But it doesn't 

just stop there - once the infrastructure 

in our urban centers is built, it 

must be maintained and we are seeing 

a need to take these future conditions 

and make them an input into 

design as a design parameter helping 

to future-proof as much as possible 

the design based on its intended 

life expectancy. 

The development of maintenance 

plans have been well understood 

for many years from the construction 

aspect. Going forward, 

planners and designers will be 

required to optimise an infrastructure 

design solution to reduce life 

cycle costs over say a 50-60 or even 

a 75 year horizon. 

More open sharing of information 

using BIM allows for the visualisation 

simulation and analysis of a 

design, addressing clashes, errors 

and better understanding of how it 

will perform occurs prior to construction. 

This effort is aimed at 

more efficient and less error prone 

construction while also allowing for 

better designs that are more aligned 

to meet our future needs, not just on 

the day construction ends. Sharing 

of information means we must 

change to accommodate this new 

way of collaborating between professionals, 

and how the independent 

"silos" of information can be integrated 

for improved sustainable 

impacts. 

A vision for intelligent urban 

environments 

The time for change is now. The 

replacement and repair of urban 

infrastructure represents opportunities 

to integrate sustainable practices. 

Visionary green cities are 

being announced.The design consultancy 

of Arup was hired by the 

Chinese government to lead the 

construction of Dongtan near 

Shanghai, a green city which will 

implement techniques for recycled 

water, alternative energy from 

cogeneration and biomass, with a 

high degree of carbon neutrality. 

The city of Greensburg, Kansas is 

rebuilding its entire community to 

the highest LEED rating standard 

after being completely devastated by 

a tornado in 2007. The growing list 

of inspiring projects suggests a 

compelling move toward green 

building and city design on the part 

of the AEC industry. 

This move drives increased 

commitment to retool as an industry, 

with innovative approaches to 

professional collaboration, a more 

integrated flow of geospatial information 

into design, increased productivity, 

workforce skill and 

sophisticated data integration. 

There is a critical need for sustainable 

urban environments around the 

globe, and the AEC industry is evolving 

to meet this challenge. 

Terry D. Bennett 

Senior Industry Manager - Civil Engineering 

and Heavy Construction, Autodesk 

terry.bennett@autodesk.com 


Cologne, October 5 th to 7 th , 2010

34 

3D TECHNOLOGIES I Caroline Tasse 

UNLOCKING 

THE POTENTIAL 

of urban design 


Whatever be the 

urban strategiesimplemented 

by the governments, 

the need to 

understand and 

exchange information is 

essential to enable a 

sustainable urban design 

and planification dedicated 

to a better quality 

of life for the citizens. 

The 3D technologies and 

expertise developed by 

Vectuel aim to support 

major urbanism and 

architecture projects at 

each stage of their development: 

from the design 

to the support of decisionmakers 

in the project promotion. 

From this perspective, 

the 3D technologies- 3D 

data, tools and 3D virtual 

simulator - strongly contribute 

to a better understanding 

of the existing 

environment as well as a 

more efficient urban planification 

of the territory. 

These tools also enable a 

mutualisation of the information 

and an innovating 

communication on the 

future projects. Visualising, 

simulating and communicating, 

that is the 

ambition of urban design. 

Understanding the 

environment for a better 

planification 

The rapid development of 

digital technologies 

enables fully building a 

city in 3D in high definition. 


Thanks to a detailed 

and interoperable data, 

the analysis of a city can 

be done in different ways: 

technical analyses and 

calculations thanks to GIS 

tools, visualisation in high 

definition on VStory, display 

on the web globes 

with worldwide visibility, 

edition through urbanism 

software - the choice is 

wide and meets all needs 

of the stakeholders of city 

management. The results 

of these analyses will support 

the town 

planners in their design 

of new projects in the purpose 

of improving the 

urban living area. 

Simulation and 

visualisation, success keys 

to plan and design the 

future 

Crossing the world of GIS 

and architecture is the 

mission of Vectuel. Taking 

into consideration the 

existing environment for 

the urban design and 

including the future developments 

in the spatial 

analyses opens new doors 

in planification and urban 

management. 

That was the motivation 

of the Fujairah Emirate 

(United Arab Emirates) 

in the creation of a 

3D detailed database and 

in the acquisition of a virtual 

3D simulator VStory. 

Its objective is to take into 

consideration the existing 

cities to design and plan 

in a harmonious way the 

future developments of its 

territory. 

The 3D virtual simulator 

VStory enables the 

insertion of architecture 

projects to visualise 

"before/after project": 

what are the impacts of 

my new development on 

the existing environment? 

What are the changes to 

make? Thus we are talking 

about the 4th dimension 

- 4D - with the display 

of the future: what 

will my city look like in 

2020 or in 2030? What are 

the different phases of 

construction of my future 

city? 

This simulation and 

visualisation tool is adapted 

for architecture competition. 

In a fair and 

transparent way, one can 

assess the different projects 

and choose the one 

which will best meet one's 

expectations and requirements. 

Although the projects 

are varied - revitalisation 

of a parking into a 

public garden, development 

of an accommodation 

building, insertion of 

a tramway line downtown 

or creation of a new city - 

the main need is common: 

to be understood by all 

project stakeholders, who 

sometimes have different 

work culture and diverse 

expertise, in the purpose 

of easing an efficient common 

work. That is the reason 

why they are interested 

in tools and data 

usable by all in order to 

mutualise the information, 

exchange their work and 

capitalise on experience 

for the future projects. 

Interoperability of 

the GIS and architecture 

world for a better 

information mutualisation 

Being able to display 

architecture projects in 

GIS tools and an existing 

urban environment in 

design software is today 

available for all with the 

RCP technology. It enables 

“ 

3D technologies- 

3D data, tools 

and 3D virtual 

simulator - 

contribute to 

a better understanding 

of the 

existing environment 

as well as a 

more efficient 

urban planification 

of the 

territory. These 

tools also enable 

a mutualisation 

of the information 

and an 

innovating 

communication 

on the future 

projects 

’ 

35

36 

Objets3D® 

usage of one single data 

in diverse applications and 

to exchange it with partners. 

At the scale of a city, 

this mutualisation of data 

coming from diverse 

sources benefit the 

department of building 

permit: the use of 3D tools 

and data enables the simulation 

of the future project 

into the existing environment 

for validation 

after analysis. Making 

data available to all and 

simplicity of use requires 

some specifications: the 

data should be geometrically 

accurate and detailed 

and benefit from a high 

definition texture in a 

standard format. With 

software like RCP, one 

can optimise and convert 

data for all business 

applications. 

3D dedicated to wide 

communication of the 

territory 

Such 3D data also offers 

advantages beyond the 

technical circles and the 

traditional businesses. It 

offers the possibility of 

better communicating to 

citizens about the choices 

and future developments 

that they do not always 

fully understand. 

It can also serve as a 

promotion tool when used 

via the Web. The virtual 

visit in 3D high definition 

gives the possibility to display, 

as close to reality as 

possible, the tourist points 

of interest, the economic 

attractiveness or the real 

estate offerings of the territory. 

This asset is fundamental 

to attract 

investors, tourists, citizens 

and to build the 

image of its territory. In 

this regard, the 3D virtual 

simulator VStory has been 

chosen by the Abu Dhabi 

Future Energy Company 

(Masdar) to promote 

among diverse public 

including general public, 

companies, investors, 

decision-makers, etc. the 

future city of Masdar during 

the World Future 

Energy Summit in the 

UAE. Introducing a new 

city goes beyond a simple 

presentation. 

The needs are 

numerous: making the 

visitor understand the 

concept of Masdar, the 

design of the new city with 

its advantages and synergies, 

experiment the 

future lifestyle, etc. This 

technology enables a real 

experience of the future 

project by walking and flying 

freely into the 

virtual city. 

Caroline Tasse 

Branch Manager 

Vectuel Middle East 

c.tasse@vectuel.com 


38 

SMART TUNNEL I Mohd. Noor b. Mohd Ali 

Two issues, one solution 

The Stormwater Management and 

Road Tunnel (SMART) in Kuala Lumpur 

serves the dual purpose of flood 

mitigation and easing road congestion 

Kuala Lumpur is a booming 

city and a nerve centre for 

Malaysia’s economy. Topographically, 

Kuala Lumpur was built 

along the flood plains of the Klang 

River and thus, since the earliest 

days it was subjected to flooding. 

In 1971, the flood lasted for five 

days and resulted in extensive 

damage. About 445 hectares of 

land in the city were inundated 

and the cost of damage was estimated 

to be in the region of RM36 

million. Over the past decades, 

incidences of flooding have 

become more rampant and 

according to a recent study, the 

cost of damage due to floods to 

the whole country is around RM1 

billion a year out of which RM100 

million is borne by Kuala Lumpur 

city centre alone. Besides the risk 

of flooding affecting the city centre, 

Kuala Lumpur has also been experiencing 

road congestion issue due to 

the booming growth in its economic 

activities. One of the critical road 

alignments heading towards and 

from the city centre is the southern 

gateway link that connects the city 

to the southern part of the country. 

The traffic volume on this stretch 


has seen a huge growth and an 

alternative route to cater to further 

growth was greatly needed. 

To address both these issues, 

MMC-Gamuda Joint Venture presented 

the idea of incorporating two 

major infrastructure components 

into one mega structure to the Government 

of Malaysia which gave the 

project a go ahead in 2003. 

Smart features 

The Stormwater Management and 

Road Tunnel, better known as 

SMART, started construction work 

in January 2003. The project 

demanded the effort and expertise 

of many - from supply of two slurry 

mixshield tunnel boring machines 

(TBMs) of more than 13 metre diameter 

to solving the complex engineering 

issues of combining two different 

uses in one tunnel, from supply 

of bentonite and M&E fittings to 

employing the workforce and the 

services of international and 

domestic leaders in their field. Part 

of the challenge was dealing with 

the soil condition of Kuala Lumpur 

which mostly consists of karstic 

limestone and alluvium with many 

cavities and pinnacles. 

Hence, managing advance of the 

tunneling machines and progressing 

major surface and open cut 

works to refining the operating 

standards and protocols for the 

safest operations of the dual purpose 

facilities were of utmost 

importance. 

Early results of the 3D modelling 

of reflected features at up to 40 m 

ahead were promising but the necessary 

sensors on the rotating cut- 


terhead didn't survive the harsh 

environment of the limestone excavation 

process and had to be 

removed and improvement was 

made onto the casing for better and 

more robust protection. Being able 

to "see" ahead of the tunnel face 

however remained a high profile 

objective and therefore other methods 

of geotechnical survey techniques 

were also applied, such as 

microgravity, cross hole seismic 

survey, ground penetrating radar 

and 2D resistivity tomography. The 

most beneficial of these was resistivity, 

a technique that detects 

changing resistivity of features within 

the ground to identify potential 

anomalies such as karst voids and 

fissured rock. 

Mechanical and electrical 

components 

Smart Tunnel is a dual purpose tunnel, 

incorporating a double deck 

motorway within the middle section 

of a stormwater tunnel. It was completed 

on 30 June, 2007. The completion 

of the Smart Tunnel is attributed 

to the implementation of innovative 

technologies and skilled team 

players. Being the first of its kind in 

its concept as a whole, there were 

indeed many firsts for the Smart 

team. In dealing with the dual purpose 

tunnel, amongst the most 

important components are the M&E 

equipment that can withstand the 

dual environment conditions - both 

wet and dry. 

Smart operations 

Smart Tunnel is designed first and 

foremost for flood control and as 

such stormwater operation mode 

will always over-ride the motorway 

operation mode. To ensure this protocol 

is maintained, the decision to 

close the motorway section for flood 

operation has been retained with 

the Government through its agency, 

Department of Irrigation and 

Drainage, Malaysia (DID). 

Three modes of operation: 

Mode 1 - no storm. For most time of 

the year, there is no storm or low 

rainfall, which means no diversion 

of water flow from the upstream 

confluence of the Klang River and 

Ampang River through Smart infrastructure 

to the attenuation pond 

downstream in Taman Desa. During 

this mode, the road section operates 

normally and the traffic is able to 

use the tunnel from Kuala Lumpur 

city centre - Seremban Highway and 

vice versa. There is no discharge of 

water into the tunnel in this mode. 

Smart Tunnel 

incorporates a double 

deck motorway within 

the middle section of a 

stormwater tunnel 

Mode 2 - minor storm. When 

there are moderate or minor storms 

and the river flow at the confluence 

exceeds 70 cumec (cubic meter per 

second), the Stormwater Tunnel is 

39

40 

Mode I: 

No Storm 

Holding Basin 

Mode III: 

Moderate Storms 

Mode III: 

Major storms 

Total Storage Capacity 

3 million cubic meters at 3 main components 

Sg Klang 

Inlet 

600,000m 3 

Northern 

Section 

Operational modes of the SMART 

Motorway Tunnel 

250, 000m3 750,000m3 activated to "semi-open" status by 

allowing diversion of water flow 

from the confluence of Klang and 

Ampang rivers to the storage pond 

located upstream in Kg Berembang, 

Ampang, thereafter into the tunnel, 

and through the lowest channel of 

the road tunnel section and into the 

attenuation pond downstream in 

Taman Desa. 

The flood detection system 

(FDS) operated by DID continuously 

and closely monitors any changes in 

weather conditions. The motorway 

section operates normally where 

there is no traffic disruption for 

those driving through the tunnel 

since only the lowest channel is 

being used at this juncture. 

Mode 3 - major storm. When the 

FDS detects a reading at the river 

confluence of more than 150 cumec 

and predicts heavy and prolonged 

downpour, the Stormwater tunnel is 

activated to "fully open" status. The 

radial gates at the diversion weir are 

lowered to divert water flow in full 

8% 

Storage 

Reservoir 

Southern 

Section 

Sg Kerayong 

Outlet 

1,400,000m 3 3,000,000m 3 

capacity from the confluence of two 

rivers into the holding pond. At the 

same time, the entrances to the 

motorway section are closed to traffic 

while all vehicles in the tunnel 

are evacuated. 

This is to ensure that both the 

road decks are empty and ready for 

flood water to be channelled 

through the tunnel to the attenuation 

pond. Sufficient time is allocated 

to ensure that all traffic is evacuated 

before all the relevant gates 

such as the road gates, service 

gates and emergency gates are activated 

to allow the water to be diverted 

through the tunnel. 

Once the FDS indicates that the 

Mode 3 status is over and the 

weather is back to normal, flood 

water is pumped out of the tunnel 

into the attenuation pond and 

the tunnel is cleaned of mud and 

small debris. In normal process of 

cleaning and inspection of the 

tunnel condition, Smart tunnel is 

reinstated within 48 hours after the 

water channelisation is made and 

traffic for the motorway section is 

allowed back for usage as normal 

thereafter. 

Smart benefits 

After operating for more than three 

years, Smart tunnel has proven to 

be a success in meeting its primary 

and secondary objectives. Through 

the Smart tunnel, areas such as 

Masjid Jamek area, Dataran 

Merdeka, Leboh Ampang and Jalan 

Melaka have witnessed no flooding 

incidence since 2007. 

In monetary terms, the tunnel 

has managed to save around RM112 

million, based on the number of 

possible major floods that could 

affect these areas should there be 

no such infrastructure in place for 

Kuala Lumpur city centre. 

As for the traffic relief, Smart 

Tunnel has been widely accepted as 

one of the preferred alternative by 

road users for their journey into the 

Kuala Lumpur city centre from the 

southern gateway and vice versa. 

The major reason for that is the 

travelling time which has been minimised 

from the normal 20 minutes 

when using the federal road to only 

eight minutes when using the Smart 

Tunnel. 

Besides these benefits, Smart 

Tunnel project has also managed to 

develop more experts in the tunneling 

job where from the project 

alone, it has groomed up to 200 local 

engineers who are now capable of 

taking up any tunneling challenges 

anywhere in the world. 

Mohd. Noor b. Mohd Ali 

Head - Toll Ops & Public Relations 

Syartikat Mengurus Air Banjir & Terowong SDN 

BHD (The Stormwater Management & Road Tunnel) 

mohdnoor@smartco.com.my 


November 8–10, 2010 

The Mirage, Las Vegas 

CONNECTIONS THAT WORK FOR YOU. 

Don’t miss Trimble Dimensions 2010—the positioning event of 

the year! It’s the one place where you can make connections and 

gain insight into positioning solutions that can transform the way 

you work. Be inspired by our panel of visionary guest speakers. 

Increase your knowledge base from hundreds of educational 

sessions that focus on surveying, engineering, construction, 

mapping, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), geospatial, 

infrastructure, utilities and mobile resource management solutions. 

Register now and you’ll learn how the convergence of technology 

can make collaborating easier and more productive to gain a 

competitive edge. 

To fi nd out more about Dimensions 2010, visit www.trimbledimensions.com 

©2010 Trimble Navigation Limited. All rights reserved. PN# 022540-039 (5/10)

42 

LAVASA 

Steering future Indian cities 

Lavasa, a hill city currently under development 

near Pune in India, is integrating 

GIS in all stages of planning to offer 

enhanced quality of life to its residents 

India's success on the economic 

front has not only made it one 

of the hotspots on the global 

economic landscape but also 

brought about social changes in 

the country. It has fuelled aspiration 

among people about quality of 

life and quality of space they use 

including private and public 

spaces. Architect and urbanist 

Charles Correa once said "I would 

like to live in a city which is a great 

city and a great place. Modern Indian 

cities are great cities but terrible 

places." Most of the cities in India 

lack the availability of safe, 

approachable, livable and associative 

public spaces. 

Lavasa, a hill city currently 

under development near Pune, is 

setting up the benchmark for future 

Indian cities. The core idea of 

Lavasa master plan is to create a 

hill city to Live - Learn - Work - Play. 

Lavasa is pioneering in providing 

excellent quality of life to its residents. 

A well designed public realm 

is the hallmark of Lavasa. GIS has 

enabled Lavasa to sensitively incorporate 

the natural features in the 

master plan, paving the way to a 

sustainable and livable town. Planners 

in Lavasa have realised that the 

potential of GIS is limited not only to 

master planning and overall development 

strategy but it is also essential 

for the next level of detailing of 

public realm. Thus urban design 

benefits significantly from GIS which 

allows design innovation to not only 

achieve the desired effect regarding 

public realm but also analyse 

scientifically pre- and post-design 

situations. 

Relationship between 

GIS and urban design 

Understanding patterns, be it of 

activities in public realm, land use, 

façade styles, value of property or 

just movement pattern, is one of the 

key factors which helps urban 

designers evolve design strategies 

for a given place. All these patterns 

must be understood spatially since 

the solution is governed by spatial 

designs. GIS comes handy to urban 

designers in studying patterns. GIS 

can map various such patterns on 

the same spatial reference and can 

overlay these patterns to draw critical 

inferences which become a 

guide for urban designers to take 

informed decisions. 

The four elements of geodesign: 

sketching, spatially-informed models, 

fast feedback and iteration 

make GIS very useful to spatial 

designers working at multiple 

scales.In Lavasa, urban designers 

have used the analytical capabilities 


44 

Figure 1 Figure 2 

Figure 3 

of GIS extensively to solve urban 

design tasks. GIS provides critical 

mapping and overlay analysis to 

master planners from the very 

inception stage of master plan. Subsequently, 

various layers resulting 

from the master plan are provided to 

urban designers in required format 

to understand the patterns better. 

GIS helps designers map the 

design decision to understand the 

pattern anticipated to evolve as a 

result of those decisions. GIS also 

helps designers get feedback from 

various stakeholders on the design 

decision by posting it on the intranet 

GIS portal. 

Quick 3D visualisation of 

built form 

The primary output of any urban 

design exercise is the well visualised 

character of buildings of the 

Figure 4 

town. The most effective tool to create 

homogenous built form is to 

prescribe the common architectural 

elements across the buildings in the 

town. Depending on the geographic 

expanse, one town may have the 

same architectural character or a 

variety of different districts. Thus, 

the prescription for architectural 

elements may also remain the same 

or may differ. The designer, in order 

to understand the relevance and 

appropriateness of the built form, 

must get a quick 3-dimenstional 

visualisation of the suggested 

design. In order to zero in on the 

best built form, several iterations 

may be required. 

Pedestrian walkways 

The basic concept of Lavasa master 

plan is based on the principles of 

new urbanism. It configures the 

land use distribution in such a way 

that concepts like "Walk to Work," 

"Walk to School" and "Walk to Park" 

become a reality. The town centre is 

the hub of all work places, education, 

leisure and socio-cultural 

activities. Care has been taken that 

maximum permanent residents stay 

within walking distance of their 

workplaces. In July 2009, Lavasa 

management took a decision to 

strengthen "Walk to Work" by building 

pedestrian walkways in Dasve 

town in Lavasa. 

With the help of GIS, the pattern 

of population density and work place 

resultant of land use was mapped 

(Figure 2). It was overlaid on the 

slope map, natural ravine pattern 

and proposed parks. Due to the hilly 

terrain, the streets were on different 

altitudes. The overlay analysis 

showed the need to connect these 

streets. The projected population 

density mapping also determined 

the number of people who are anticipated 

to use the pedestrian walks 

and thus the frequency and width of 

such connections was determined. 

The walkways were categorised into 

formal and informal walks keeping 

in mind the slopes, amount of people 

and frequency of usage (Figure 

2). Finally the well executed, safe 

and robust walkways were constructed 

and will provide quick and 

safe access between workplaces 

and homes in Dasve (Figure 3). 

Internal bus transport 

nodes 

Taking the next step of creating a 

safe and livable city, it is imperative 

for Lavasa to have an efficient, reliable 

and viable public transport system. 

Lavasa initiated a study for 

internal bus routing system. This 


study was in continuation with the overall traffic modeling 

study for the entire Lavasa. The bus system was created 

to cater to the permanent resident population as 

well as the tourist population. The traffic study used GIS 

extensively by utilising the capabilities like shortest path 

and scenario generation. 

The designed bus system used all the analysis done 

for traffic study and was overlaid on the population density 

pattern. The results helped to determine key factors 

of a viable bus system: the bus routes, frequency of trips 

and density of bus stops. The location of bus stop was 

based on the factor that maximum amount of population 

has to be within reach of 5 minutes walk from bus 

stop. GIS was used for analyzing the proposed bus stops 

for their proximity to houses and work places. In general 

a distance of 360m to 450m was considered to be 

within 5 minutes walking distance. Post design GIS 

analysis showed that with the help of pedestrian walkways 

and road sidewalks, 85 to 90% of population was 

within 5 minutes walk and 90 to 100% of the population 

within 8-10 minutes' walk (Figure 4). 

Collaborative process of design 

The most significant aspect of urban design, which sets 

it apart from all other design processes, is that the 

design product is not and cannot be conceived by a single 

stakeholder or a single discipline. In Lavasa, it is a 

collaborative process involving town planners, urban 

designers, architects, landscape architects, product 

designers, branding teams, engineers, execution and 

operation experts, security experts and most importantly 

the user. It is the consensus and creative inputs of all 

these stakeholders which makes the design and resultant 

created space a success. Lavasa GIS provides the 

essential platform to disseminate the concept and collaboration 

of all the inputs at a rapid pace. The future of 

geodesign and other GIS-based design technologies will 

bring far more flexibility and speed in design decision 

and make our cities a much better place. 

Ar. Anubandh M Hambarde 

Sr. Manager – Urban Design, Lavasa Special Planning Authority 

anubandh.hambarde@lavasa.com 

Dr. G S Rao 

Vice President 

Geographic Information Systems 

Lavasa Corporation Ltd. 

govindaraju.rao@lavasa.com 


46 

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION I Sarah Liu 

Information on the move 

A public transportation system in 

Taipei, Taiwan aims to help commuters 

get real-time bus information easily 

and enhance their experience with 

city transport 

With the rapid development 

of information and communication 

technologies, 

Intelligent Transportation system 

(ITS) is emerging as an efficient 

tool in solving urban transportation 

problems. The Advanced Public 

Transportation System (APTS), an 

ITS subsystem, employs electronic, 

communication, and computer 


technologies to assist public 

transport operators in raising 

efficiency and service levels. An 

example of APTS is the Bus Information 

and Transit System, developed 

by SuperGeo Technologies 

using the Internet Map Server Software 

SuperWebGIS, for the Public 

Transportation Office, Taipei Government. 

INTEGRATION OF DATABASES 

WITH GIS PLATFORM 

The Bus Information and Transit 

System is an integrated platform 

providing real-time bus information 

based on WebGIS technology to 

construct an advanced and complete 

bus dynamic information system. 

It has numerous GIS tools and 

easy-to-use interface for commuters 

to easily and intuitively 

query the bus information before 

taking a bus, thereby facilitating 

them in planning their route. By 

achieving reliability, safety and convenience, 

the quality of service of 

Windows Server 2003 

Linux 

System Structure 

IIS 

SuperWebGIS 

Oracle Spatial 

Microsoft Server SQL 2005 


public transportation can be 

improved. The information provided 

is collected through devices on the 

buses which record movement 

information such as coordinates, 

speeds, directions, time, etc. and 

send the data to the databases 

according to their property. Various 

back-end software analyse the 

information and transfer the analysis 

results to the front-end users to 

query. 

MAIN FUNCTIONS 

The Taipei Bus Information and 

Transit System provides the following 

five functions for bus users: 

GIS Bus Route: The function 

provides information on bus lines, 

bus stops, landmarks and crossroads. 

GIS Trip Planner: This function 

integrates scenic spots such as 

historic sites, museums, hot 

springs, hotels and bikeway 

entrances, making it convenient for 

bus users and tourists to clearly 

understand the locations, information 

and bus lines 

of scenic spots by 

checking the 

options. In addition, 

this function 

also helps them 

plan a route from 

the assigned start 

point to the destination. 

Quick Search: 

The Trip Planner 

function in Quick 

Search provides 

The System is an 

integrated platform 

with numerous 

GIS tools and 

easy-to-use interface 

for commuters 

information on the conditions Stop, 

Landmark, Address, Crossroad and 

Metro & Bus for users to set the 

start point and destination. Besides, 

Quick Search is also available for 

users to get information on complete 

bus routes by stop names, bus 

lines or districts. Therefore, the 

system will display the route results 

clearly for users to choose. 

Related Info: The function provides 

complete information on all 

bus terminals and other useful 

transportation links. 

My Bus: To use this function, 

users need to have a log-in. 

Through this feature, commuters 

can set the warning information as 

the bus approaches the assigned 

stop, thereby saving on the waiting 

time. 

CONCLUSION 

The Bus Information and Transit 

System not only integrates information 

on Taipei's bus system and 

scenic spots, but also provides 

diverse and real-time information. 

While users and tourists can plan 

the best route conveniently, government 

sector can also utilise WebGIS 

technology for better design and 

planning of urban transportation. 

Sarah Liu 

International Marketing Division 

SuperGeo Technologies Inc. 

sarahliu@supergeo.com.tw 

47

48 

FOCUS - IBM SMARTER PLANET 

AN INGENIOUS 

way to connected 

tomorrow 

Technological advancements are turning the 

world into an intelligent, instrumented and 

interconnected place. With these changes come 

amazing opportunities for society - for every business, 

institution and individual. 

Today, there are around 4.6 billion mobile phone 

subscribers worldwide. Hundreds of satellites orbiting 

the earth are generating terabytes of data everyday. At 

the same time, we are heading toward one 

trillion connected objects in the Internet. 

There are as many as 30 billion 

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) 

tags produced globally, embedded in 

products, passports, buildings and 

even animals. 

They are becoming smarter 

because they are smartly 'interconnected', 

using the Internet, GPS, 

RFID tags and other means to communicate 

with 

devices around. They are 'instrumented,' 

have the ability to sense 

their environments and monitor 

their performance. Furthermore, as 

Sam Palmisano, CEO, IBM says, 

Smart systems are becoming the 

basis of competition between nations, 

regions and cities. They are changing 

everything from organisations' business 

models to how they enable their 

employees to collaborate and innovate. 

SMARTER 

PLANET 

It is well known 

and acknowledged 

that companies, cities 

and the world is indeed a 

system of systems. IBM has 

evolved a three step agenda for 

building smarter planet. "This consists 

of a building system which is 'instrumented' 

to collect precise information at the right 

time, 'interconnected' to integrate information across 

any end-to-end system and 'intelligent' which yields new 

insights that drive action to improve the ultimate outcome. 

IBM brands this usable information as Informix 

Database," according to an IBM spokesperson. He added 

that some of its characteristics such as embedability, 

continuous availability, real time data management, spatial 

data support, scalability and extendibility make it the 


database of choice for customers implementing smarter 

systems. 

GIS support: IBM Informix database introduces two 

datablades for GIS support viz. Spatial Datablade and 

Geodetic Datablade. The Spatial DataBlade brings all the 

significant features and benefits of IBM Informix to location-based 

data. It can transform both traditional and 

location-based data into essential information. It manages 

spatial data using GIS technologies, ensures 

precision and accuracy treating Earth as a globe, 

uses the R-tree index on integrated space, time 

and numeric dimensions, includes database 

replication of geospatial data and provides a 

clean C-language API that's handy to build 

new functions that use the same data structures 

and interfaces. 

Real-time data management: Much of the 

data generated by real life systems are time 

series - such as flow data or metering data 

from utility systems such as water or energy distribution. 

Informix brings a technology called as 

"TimeSeries" and "Real Time Loader" for managing 

real time data with great efficiency. This technology 

shows up to 33 times better performance and up to 70% 

disk space saving as against the traditional relational 

database technologies for time series data. 

EXECUTION OF THE CONCEPT 

So far, IBM proved itself successful in its ambitious 

smarter planet project with the support of Informix database. 

Here are a few testimonies. 

DEHEMS Project: The core aim of Digital Environment 

Home Energy Management System (DEHEMS) had to 

develop and test a home energy management system to 

reduce CO2 emissions and electricity bills. The project 

involved installing small, low-cost energy monitoring 

devices at groups of homes in five European cities. The 

challenge was the sheer volume of data. Using GIS on 

Informix TimeSeries, energy monitoring for three million 

homes or more became a practical proposition. The 

Informix TimeSeries technologies created a single database 

object for each data-source, and then simply updated 

it with the latest readings whenever a new pulse of 

data arrived. 

Trafficmaster: Trafficmaster's UK services rely on 

data feeds collected from black boxes in the vehicles of 

around 80,000 customers, numerous vehicle licence plate 


recognition cameras and 7,500 roadside sensors. The 

data collected constantly provides information on the flow 

of traffic on the national road network. To further innovate 

its services, the company needed to start collecting 

data from vehicles every 20 seconds. 

It became a real challenge to extract greater value 

from the increased data volumes. To address this challenge, 

Trafficmaster took to geospatial technology. As 

part of this process, IBM and IBM business partner, Integres 

implemented the IBM Informix database technology 

and software which receives and processes the vast volumes 

of vehicle location data. 

CONCLUSION 

A smart planet requires a smarter communications infrastructure. 

Only high-speed broadband doesn't make a 

network smart. We need smart networks to be multidirectional 

and must have the ability to get infused with 

advanced analytics and intelligence. 

(Based on inputs provided by IBM)

50 

GITA - Conference report 

UNDERSTANDING USERS 

Key to successful implementation 

The three-day 15th 

Annual Geospatial 

Solutions Conference 

organised by 

Geospatial Information 

and Technology Association 

(GITA) Australia/ 

New Zealand in Brisbane, 

Australia from 2-4 

August 2010 offered an 

excellent opportunity to 

see how important it is 

to understand the complexities 

and dynamics 

of user domain. 

Each user domain has 

its own unique set of 

business processes, 

issues, challenges and 

dynamics. In oder to 

serve those industries, it 

is fundamental to enable 

onself and understand 

as much as possible 

about their domain. 

Having Smarter Infrastructure 

for Sustainable 

Future as its theme, the 

GITA Australia/New 

Zealand conference provided 

exactly this kind of 

opportunity for the 

geospatial industry by 

bringing some of the top 

leaders from utilities 

and infrastructure 

domain. 

The conference began 

with an inspiring 

Keynote by Councillor 

Campbell Newman, 

serving his second term 

as Lord Mayor of Brisbane 

City. He outlined 

his priorities and pro- 

grammes which are 

underway to make 

Brisbane a smart thinking, 

easy living and 

world class city. 

Terry Effeney, CEO of 

ENERGEX provided a 

very detailed overview of 

the energy sector with 

special emphasis on 

priorities of his own 

company. 

He further added that a 

major challenge being 

faced by ENERGEX is 

decarbonisation of the 

energy sector and environmental 

compliances, 

which is putting additional 

burden of costs 

leading to price rise. 

Peter Birk, Chief Technology 

Officer of Energy 

Australia stressed upon 

building smarter grid 

network to ensure optimum 

utilisation of every 

amount of electricity 

being generated and 

reducing the losses. Jon 

Black, Chief Executive of 

UnityWater raised an 

alarm on increasing 

demand of water and 

advocated building better 

infrastructure for 

water treatment today to 

avoid major water crisis 

tomorrow. Another very 

interesting presentation 

was delivered by Peter 

Ferris, General Manager 

of Planning and Design 

of Australian National 

Broadband Network, 

responsible for design 

and planning of fiber, 

terrestrial radio and 

satellite networks for 

NBN Co. 

He mentioned that 

although 93% of 

Australia can be very 

well covered by the 

proposed fibre to home 

network, the remaining 

7% is much more difficult 

and economically 

unviable. 


52 

MAP ASIA 2010 - Conference report 

Connecting government 

with citizens 

GIS Development and The Institution 

of Surveyors, Malaysia (ISM) jointly 

organised Map Asia 2010 and the 

International Symposium and Exhibition on 

Geoinformation (ISG) to foster the growth of 

geospatial sciences and spread its benefits 

for the community through discussions and 

deliberations among academicians, 

researchers, policy makers and industry 

representatives. With the theme "Connecting 

Government and Citizen through Ubiquitous 

GIS," Map Asia and ISG 2010 turned 

out to be a phenomenal success where 

there was an active and dynamic participation 

of over 1358 members of GIS community 

from over 41 countries. 

Plenary sessions 

The first plenary witnessed speakers from 

reputed organisations talking on ways to 

connect the government with citizens 

through ubiquitous GIS. Assoc Prof Dr 

Somchet Thinaphong, Chairman, Geo- 

Informatics and Space Technology Development 

Agency, Thailand, discussed how 

Thailand NSDI is connecting with people 

through its services. Margaret Coughlin, 

Chief Marketing Officer, DigitalGlobe 

described the new features of WorldView-2 

and the application of various satellites in 

DigitalGlobe constellation. Dean Angelides, 

Corporate Director, International Operations, 

ESRI analysed how a geospatial platform 

is emerging on the Web, creating a 

distributed network of data and services. 

Dato Dr Ahmad Sabirin Arshad, CEO, ATSB, 

discussed how space technology can be 

utilised in a high income nation. Dato Dr. 

Ahmed added that to be an effective economic 

contributor, space and related technology 

development is not a miracle cure 

and needs to be nurtured properly. 

Joel Campbell, President, ERDAS, while 

talking in the second plenary on the changing 

landscape of remote sensing, said that 

the government demand for commercial 

imagery will double and the market for spa- 

tial information management software/ 

services will grow from USD 3.2 billion to 

5.7 billion. Discussing the societal applications 

of earth observation systems, PG 

Diwakar, Scientist and Associate Director, 

Earth Observation System, ISRO, listed several 

space-based applications India has 

developed. Opening up the world of LiDAR 

to the audience, Brian Nicholls, General 

Manager, AAM explained how LiDAR and 



integrated GIS can expedite infrastructure 

development. 

Panel discussion 

An interesting and interactive round of panel 

discussed the prospects and challenges 

of geospatial industry in the Asia 

Pacific. Assoc Prof Dato Mohd 

Ibrahim Hj. Abu Bakar moderated 

the panel. Eminent speakers in 

the session included Dr Noordin 

Bin Ahmad, Deputy Director General, 

ANGKASA and Dr Chih Hong 

Sun, Chairman, Taiwan GIS Centre 

and Dr Bill Shephard of ESRI- 

Singapore. 

Parallel sessions 

Several parallel sessions on a wide range of 

technologies and verticals and meaningful 

interaction with exhibitors kept the delegates 

and visitors busy. The India Technology 

Summit, organised in association with 

the High Commission of India in 

Malaysia and the Ministry of 

Earth Sciences in India, brought 

together a spectrum of technologists 

and industry personnel to 

demonstrate the commitment of 

the Indian government to the 

Asian community and help them 

develop and grow in terms of 

their geospatial capabilities. Another theme 

which was of much interest to the geospatial 

community of the region was utilities 

“ 

Map Asia seminars took up 

issues pertinent to the region 

like ocean information 

services, urban planning and 

development and geospatial 

for development sector 

’ 

and infrastructure. Informative presentations, 

inquisitive audience and a packed hall 

made this session interesting to one and 

all. Sessions speakers included Geoff Zeiss, 

Director of Technology, Autodesk and Abu 

Bakar Hashim, Director-IT, Malaysian 

Highway Authority. The session discussed 

several organisational initiatives by Bintulu 

Port, Gas Malaysia and Indah Water Konsortium. 

Technical sessions 

The last day of Map Asia 2010 and ISG 2010 

witnessed a plethora of technologies and 

application verticals discussed in packed 

halls. While the ISG seminars discussed 

core technologies like GPS, GNSS and GIS 

with several interesting papers from the 

region, Map Asia seminars took up issues 

pertinent to the region like ocean information 

services, urban planning and development, 

geospatial for development sector, 

SDI and last but not the least a discussion 

forum on capacity building. 

Another round of interesting presentations 

caught the attention of the delegates in 

Urban Planning and Development session. 

The 2010 edition of Map Asia witnessed 

about 186 paper presentations and several 

poster presentations. The exhibition too 

witnessed visitors throughout understanding 

the latest technologies available for 

them. The best exhibitor awards were 

bagged by Fugro and Getac, DigitalGlobe 

and ESRI. 

53

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