Wednesday, Dec 18, 2002
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By P. Vikram Reddy
"We should cooperate on a larger scale so that we can give stiff competition to American companies'', says Sergei Miller, President of GIS Association of Russia, who was here in Hyderabad on the first ever visit by a group of 10 GIS companies to look for opportunities and areas of collaboration with Indian GIS companies. Established in 1994 as a non-governmental inter-regional public association of experts from higher education institutions, research, scientific community, planning, design, information and other organisations, the association now has a membership of about 600. Dr. Miller himself is a Professor at the Russian State University of Oil and Gas at Moscow. Speaking to The Hindu, Dr. Miller pointed to the `huge potential' that exists for cooperation between the two countries. And one, which can be beneficial for both. Russia itself has made rapid strides in GIS in just about three years. `At one point of time, people used to ask: why do I need this (GIS)?. But now they say: I cannot live without this', he says referring to the importance that GIS has come to play. For example, it is unthinkable for someone to build a structure in Moscow without looking at GIS data. And all this has happened in three years. `GIS technology by itself does nothing. It is the people who do it. Basically our work is to integrate equipment manufacturers, data suppliers and software programmers', he says. And today, the Russian GIS industry is a thriving one with nearly 3,000 companies involved in it, of which 25 to 30 are already established in the international market. Then what does Russia expect from India? It is ironical for a country of such eminent standing as Russia that it does not have a `civil satellite'. Consequently companies are forced to seek data from sources like the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, which can be used in Russia for operations in areas of geology, ecology, and for `land cadastre (for registration of land ownership)', he says. Also there is the issue of secrecy and restrictions on exchange of data. On its part, Russia has companies such as Scanex, which provide fully integrated solutions for satellite remote sensing applications. Satellite ground stations are its primary specialisation, besides earth imagery collections. And it is in such areas where fusion can take place between Indian and Russian companies to offer alternate and economical packages (GIS projects and consulting) at the global level. Scanex is now discussing with Antrix Corporation, the corporate arm of the Department of Space in India. While India can sell data, Russia can sell the hardware. And together we can share profits, he says! Besides, Scanex, others like Racurs and Geo Spectrum Group are among those providing GIS services to global companies. `This is only the beginning', Dr. Miller says as he leaves for Russia, after having extended an invitation to the Indian GIS industry to attend the All Russia GIS Forum, a major international event being held in Moscow from June 3 to 6, 2003.
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