GIS has the potential to transform the very future of India

Esri is a market leader that aims to deliver GIS, Mapping and Location Analytics solutions to its customers, transforming how organisations identify opportunities and unlock potential to improve business results. Through this technology, the company supports more than 60 industry verticals such as Banking, Defence & Intelligence, Education, Electric & Gas Utilities, Forestry, Government, Healthcare, Insurance, Manufacturing, Natural Resources, Petroleum & Pipeline, Public Safety, Real Estate, Retail, Smart Cities, Telecommunications, Transportation and Water. In a chat with VARINDIA, Agendra Kumar, President - Esri India Technologies Ltd. throws some light on some of these aspects – 

What kind of growth prospects do you see in the country when it comes to GIS?
GIS is the foundation for delivering powerful capabilities across organizations. In a vast country like India, with significant demographic diversity, GIS promises immense opportunities. For more than 2 decades, GIS has been used as a key technology in sectors including government, defence, education & research and not-for-profit organizations. Some of the other sectors where GIS is extensively used include Utilities, Infrastructure, Natural Resources and Telecom.

With the government’s focus on all-around development of the country, GIS has a significant role in building New India. As technology, it is going to play an important role in many of the 41 focus areas identified by NITI Aayog. GIS is not just essential but an urgent necessity—to empower citizens and bring an inclusive economic growth and prosperity. In addition, we foresee a significant growth in BFSI, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Logistics, Retail & CPG, and Automotive where GIS adoption has already begun.

GIS is poised for growth and has the potential to transform the very future of India. In the years to come, GIS will become ‘The’ platform for integrating all types of data.

What are the factors that are contributing to the massive adoption of GIS technology by various industries?Which are some of the industries that have been increasingly using these solutions?
Globally, Government and industries rely on GIS for planning, development, analysis and decision making. GIS has evolved to become a technology that can, not only meet industry-specific business needs but can also potentially change the way business decisions are made. Enterprises have integrated other systems like ERP, CRM and BI with GIS for greater insights into its data and business decision making.

Today, a lot of organizations are sharing their work and creating billions of maps every day to tell stories and reveal patterns, trends, and relationships about everything. As GIS continues to evolve and integrate technologies such as Big Data, IoT and Artificial Intelligence, its role is becoming more instrumental than ever in the digital transformation of the country.

While GIS is used across every industry, Government sector has been the early adopters of GIS technology. Urban planning and regional planning departments are not only making cities more efficient, but also consistent with respect to land uses. Analytics, in various forms, is helping understand and plan a more efficient city. Organisations are working on managing natural resources, forests, agriculture and minerals, helping to see what others can't to better manage our world in more sustainable ways. Cities and regions are becoming safer because of better understanding of crime patterns with availability of real-time statistics.  Private sector is leading the way in the application of GIS for business, being more effective at avoiding hazards, minimizing risk for insurance organizations, locating stores in the right place. All the major retailers now are using GIS as a foundation, and they see what their competitors can't.

As the New India Vision pans out across the country, ministries, departments and private sector organisations are being encouraged to use geo-spatial or GIS technology in planning, implementing and monitoring their programs, thus fuelling its growth in India.

What are your company's plans in terms of market expansion, signing up new customers and building more partnerships?
Esri India, since its inception in 1996, has played a lead role in promoting the use of GIS in India. We have been working with various government departments and private organisations to help them define a GIS vision and empower them to leverage GIS technology platform to realise this vision. We have engaged with various industry bodies such as NASSCOM and FICCI to ensure that awareness GIS grows in India.

Globally, Esri has a rich ecosystem of organizations that work together to amplify “The Science of Where”. In India, we have built a very strong eco-system of partners that include ISVs, System Integrators, GIS Service Providers, Data and Survey Organizations, and Start-ups. We also work closely with other OEMs including AWS, Microsoft, SAP, and SAS to address specific requirements of our customer with integrated solutions.

 What kind of a security strategy or aspect do you keep in mind while delivering location mapping or analytics solutions to your customers?
The ArcGIS platform enables customers to leverage the required GIS capabilities with the assurance that Esri continues to follow a robust and effective security framework. Esri’s technology has achieved Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) authorization on both Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services Cloud platforms. FedRAMP authorization ensures that Esri can continue to provide its users with the benefits of security controls that are tailored to cloud services. ArcGIS Online is FISMA compliant, so data security is assured. Esri complies with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information transferred from the European Union to the United States.

 What kind of an opportunity can partners look for in the GIS space and how can they tap into it?
Today, GIS is being used in various facets of modern life. Many new use cases are emerging and Industry is keen to deploy GIS enabled solutions for diverse functions such as database connections & reporting, network tracing, locating customer complaints, and integrating with other business systems. As its applications are increasing, there is a requirement of new tools and techniques to satisfy the demand which in turn is leading to more opportunities in the field of GIS development. The GIS systems are integrating data across all existing enterprise systems such as ERPs, SCADAs, BIs as well as non-spatial data enabling a location strategy that drives business objectives by applying the science of where. As a result, there are ample opportunities for ISVs, System Integrators, Data & Survey Organizations and Solution Partners to become a part of the GIS ecosystem and grow their business. GIS technology is on the road to an exciting future, dotted with promises for governments and businesses.

Which are some of the best solutions that you have in the market today?
Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations including the world’s largest cities, national governments across the world and 75% of Fortune 500 companies. Esri GIS technology is empowering various industry specific and horizontal solutions like Land Record Management, Property Tax Management, Forest Management, Road and Highway Asset Management, Disaster Management, Solid Waste Management, Branch and Store Optimization, Site Selection, Dealer Management, Network Management, etc. Thanks to our strong and growing partner ecosystem, we have 100s of solutions that are built on Esri GIS Technology.