Liberalising mapping policy by the government will give Indian startups and corporations a leg up even as India will now have its personal mapping corporation and will not have to rely on Google Maps, T.V Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Manipal Global Education Services told TheSpuzz Online on Monday. The government on Monday opened up the maps and geospatial sector for unbridled neighborhood innovation by removing restrictions on the access to government-controlled geospatial information and creating it readily accessible. The Ministry of Science and Technology in its suggestions for acquiring and generating geospatial information and services announced that firms and innovators will not call for prior approvals prior to they gather, produce, prepare, disseminate, retailer, publish, update digital geospatial information and maps inside the territory of India.
“Biggest challenge about maps is getting the spatial data. The biggest source for spatial data is satellite images and these images always had a barrier of (creating geospatial data of spatial accuracy finer up to) 1 metre. Now that barrier has been removed and this will give Indian startups and companies a leg up. If they tie-up with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and others, they will get access to a huge database and technology on a continuous basis and India will have its own company that will have these maps and won’t have to depend on Google Maps,” mentioned Pai.
Comments from Google for this story will be updated as and when received.
Also study: SIDBI Fund of Funds: Startups backed by means of Modi govt’s mega fund nears 400 quantity jumps 50% in 12 months
Geospatial information is referred to the information on the place facts about the all-natural or man-created, physical or imaginary characteristics of the place no matter whether above the ground or beneath such as boundaries, points of interest, all-natural phenomena, climate patterns, and more. The government on Monday mentioned that on-web site spatial accuracy of geospatial information must be 1 metre for horizontal or planimetry and 3 metres for vertical or elevation. However, spatial accuracy or worth finer than the threshold worth of 1 metre can now only be developed and owned by Indian firms and stored along with processed in India though foreign corporations and foreign-owned or controlled Indian firms will have to license the information of spatial accuracy finer than the threshold worth from Indian corporations and that as well for the objective of serving their buyers in India only. On the other hand, the use of information by startups and innovators will be topic to self-certification “to demonstrate adherence to guidelines.” The most recent pro-Atmanirbhar move by the government is intended to break away from reliance on “foreign resources”.
“Radical maps reform frees up mapping by Indian startups. No permits to make next-gen hyper resolution maps of India – Maps 3.0!,” mentioned Lalitesh Katragadda, Founder, Indihood, and former Country Head for India Products at Google. The relaxations came days just after ISRO and navigation corporation MapmyIndia had joined hands to create an indigenous mapping program. “Sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, finance & revenue, logistics, transportation, technology, commerce & many more – which form 70 per cent of India’s GDP will be positively impacted. And the country will see 4-5 per cent GDP growth due to the horizontal, wide-spread and all-pervasive benefits of geospatial technologies,” mentioned Rohan Verma, CEO & Executive Director, MapmyIndia.
The ministry in its suggestions also noted that the availability of information and contemporary mapping technologies to Indian corporations is essential for attaining India’s policy aim of Atmanirbhar Bharat and the vision for the $5-trillion economy. “India presently relies heavily on foreign resources for mapping technologies and services. Liberalisation of the mapping industry and democratization of existing datasets will spur domestic innovation and enable Indian companies to compete in the global mapping ecosystem by leveraging modern geospatial technologies.” Currently, Google dominates the mapping sector in the nation.
“Tomorrow they can take all the data, spend money and then squeeze us and monopolise the whole thing and charge us very high. Mapping directions are for the public good and we shouldn’t pay anyone for using our own data. It is good to have our own company with our own data so that we have a choice. Tomorrow if Google shuts up for whatever reason, why should we be subject to foreign powers. We should have basic building blocks in India and we have the capacity to do it,” mentioned Pai.
Also study: No RBI, ED probe launched into alleged FDI violation in Flipkart-Aditya Birla Fashion deal: MoS Commerce
The move would permit startups in e-commerce and other customer-facing technologies sectors to construct their personal maps and increase place-based services for more quickly delivery of national, regional, neighborhood, and hyperlocal deliveries. “The reforms will unlock tremendous opportunities for our country’s start-ups, private sector, public sector, and research institutions to drive innovations and build scalable solutions. This will also generate employment and accelerate economic growth,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Monday. The deregulation was also welcomed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani on Twitter who hailed it “as another strategic step in India’s journey of data empowerment!”
“Startups will have a major role in every segment India wants to grow. Indian players, which are evolved and forward-thinking, are partnering with startups to resolve technology issues. In the geospatial sector, this is the need of the government. They are backing startups in a huge way. In this way, we can get rid of the Google Maps system. It would also help the government in inhospitable terrains where it wants to make roads, towers, and other infrastructure based on local innovation. So startups can really get the entire technology at the bottom of the system by which government can do mapping in different areas,” Anil Khaitan, Chairman, Assocham National Council on Startups told TheSpuzz Online.