Bio-Abstract Profile
R S SHARMA Dr R Siva Kumar is a Ph.D from IIT Delhi and holds a degree in engineering from Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati and post graduation in computer methods and programming and production photogrammetry from ITC, The Netherlands. After an initial stint in the Corps of Engineers of India Army, he served in Survey of India, Military Operations, Army HQ and heading the programmes of Natural Data Management Systems (NRDMS) and National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) for the past 11 years in the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. He is also heading the National GIS (NGIS) as its Mission Coordinator. As an elected Director of the Board of Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), his initiatives have brought OGC technologies in the country, especially interoperability tools. He is the first Emeritus Director of OGC Board. He has been pursuing the activities related to human resources development and established centres of excellence in Universities of Kumaun and Kerala and an advanced lab in Geospatial Information Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay. |
JUERGEN DOLD Juergen Dold, President of Hexagon Geosystems, has been a part of Hexagon since 1995. Before his time at Hexagon, Dold served as academic counsel at Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, and various management positions within Leica Geosystems. Dold holds a Master of Science degree in Engineering. Abstract: Hexagon Geosystems President Juergen Dold will explore Hexagon’s next-generation geospatial technology; and transforming global challenges into geospatial opportunities by providing the means to create, manage, understand and act upon a con¬stant flow of information, thereby transforming data into actionable intelligence. Technologies such as those provided by Hexagon are helping local and regional governments and communities around the world harness the power of geospatial knowledge to enable smarter decision making and better manage change. In this session, Dold will explain how decisions based on geo-enabled information have a far-reaching, positive impact across a wide array of industries and applications, ultimately allowing a nation to be more competitive and move towards its productivity and development goals. |
PRADEEP NAIR Pradeep Nair is Managing Director for India and SAARC operations of Autodesk. Nair is responsible for the overall strategy and growth of Autodesk’s business across India and SAARC region, covering all of the company’s industries, product segments and strategic partnerships. Nair has proven experience in leading and managing sales, channels, marketing and technical teams, driving double-digit growth and ensuring consistent client satisfaction. He relishes the challenge of building organizational capability, driving sustained high-performance and simplifying complexity in India – easily amongst the world’s most competitive technology markets. Prior to joining Autodesk, Nair worked at IBM Software Group (SWG), where he was heading IBM’s software business for India and South Asia as the Director of SWG. Abstract: The world is facing global infrastructure needs and the civil engineering industry is at an inflection point. The challenges we face are huge, including, unrelenting growth in emerging countries and an increasingly urban population, failure of existing infrastructure and a significant pressure to manage natural resources more efficiently. With a global population projected to reach 9 billion by the year 2050, there will be increasing need for transportation, energy, water and utility infrastructure to support that population. And yet, the process of designing and delivering civil infrastructure projects has fundamentally not changed in decades – maybe even not in a hundred years. So how can technology help solve these problems? Today’s computing power, 3D modeling technology and mobile access allows for the radical acceleration of the planning, design, visualization and simulation processes for infrastructure. Nair will focus on how an intelligent model-based process called building information modeling or BIM, which unites modeling technology with big data that enables more accurate, accessible and actionable insight throughout a projects lifecycle. BIM allows planners and engineers to design in context of real-world data (geospatial and other data) and run simulations using the infinite computing of the cloud to anticipate and solve problems before a shovel ever touches the dirt. The use of BIM is a paradigm shift towards data-intensive, collaborative environments in which models and data are shared real time for many purposes such as planning, design, construction, operations and away from 2D static, disparate systems (such as CAD, GIS, and EAM). |
BHUPINDER SINGH Bhupinder Singh is Senior Vice President of Bentley Software, which is responsible for the strategic direction and management of all Bentley’s software products and development activities. Previously, he served in the sales organization as managing director for Bentley South Asia and as Bentley’s senior vice president of the Platform Products Group. Before joining Bentley, Singh held various software engineering positions at Montgomery Watson Hazra and Intergraph Corporation. He earned a Bachelor of Technology from I.I.T Delhi in civil engineering and holds master’s degrees in structural engineering from Vanderbilt University and in computer science from Rutgers University. |
SUREN RUHELA Suren Ruhela joined Google in 2007 and leads Google maps content operations and is the Product Manager for India Maps. He has been involved in all key product enhancements for Google maps in India - Starting from voice navigation launch, landmark based directions (unique feature for India) and the launch of Special Collects programs for Universities to create virtual walk-through experience for campuses. Prior to taking on maps operations, he has also worked in different positions in online sales. Prior to Google, he has worked in the telecom Industry and as consultant in India, US and Middle East. He has a Masters Degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering, Delhi, and an MBA from the Indian School of Business. |
MARK REICHARDT Mark Reichardt is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC). Reichardt has overall responsibility for Consortium operations, overseeing the development and promotion of OpenGIS standards and working to ensure that OGC programs foster member success. He works with other standards development organizations and professional associations to establish alliance agreements to assure that OGC standards and other standards work together fluidly. Before joining OGC, Reichardt was involved in technology modernisation and production programmes for the US Government. In the mid 1990s, he was a member of a DoD Geospatial Information Integrated Product Team (GIIPT) formed to help transition the DoD mapping mission to a more flexible and responsive geo-information based paradigm. Abstract: The integration of geospatial information and location technologies in the context of weather forecasting, warning and response is having a profound effect on society. The integration of information from an ever increasing variety of sensors, models and forecasts is improving decision making across a myriad of domains and applications including agriculture; aviation; emergency and disaster management, water resource availability, and the hospitality and tourism industry. Key aspects of this success can be attributed to greater open data policy, rapidly improving technologies, commercial value added information and services, and the integration of a myriad of earth observation assets for improved modeling, forecasting and warning. The underpinning role of standards in easing information integration is emphasized in the context of a range of community implementations. |
DR. ANDREAS ULLRICH Dr. Andreas Ullrich holds a PhD in electrical engineering from Vienna University of Technology and is author of the thesis on “High-Resolution Optical Doppler Radar”. Since 2001, he is lecturer on radar technology at the Institute of Communications and Radio-Frequency Engineering at Vienna University of Technology. In 2004, he was awarded with the Wilhelm- Exner-Medaille. From 1984 to 1991, Dr. Ullrich was Assistance Professor at the Institute of Communications and Radio-Frequency Engineering at Vienna University of Technology. Since 1991, he has been with RIEGL Laser Measurement Systems, holding various positions. Since 2006, he is CTO and managing director of RIEGL. Abstract: In principle, LIDAR itself represents the industrialization of the measurement of physical realities. What once required months to survey now only requires a few hours. Examples include topographic mapping, facility as-built surveying, utilities and corridor mapping, the list goes on. Construction projects of every sort are expedited by the rapid collection and analysis of sites in 3D. Examples include road construction, building construction, dams, bridges, and earthworks of all variety. However, LIDAR relying on RIEGL’s key technologies goes beyond 3D; a number of measurements are taken in tandem with the 3D information: attributes of a surface’s reflective properties, the relationship between tree branches, moisture content, and so on. These attributes contribute greatly to the advancement of the sciences of biodiversity and ecological management. Agricultural growth rates, crop types, forest inventories, asset losses and much more is determined using the holistic datasets provided by state-of-the-art LIDAR, the combination of which provides the method and means for expanding productivity, capacity and potential loss management on an industrial scale. The benefits realized by applying LIDAR in unindustrialized regions are even greater than for industrialized regions. |
B N DEVAIAH Under the leadership of Devaiah, SECON has grown into India’s largest private surveying and mapping company. The company has bagged most of the prestigious mapping and surveying projects in corridor mapping, highway mapping and design, irrigation and water management where geospatial technologies are the mainstay. He has ensured that SECON has a substantial contribution to the growth of geospatial applications not just in India but also through its collaborators in Asia, Middle East and Africa. |
RAJESH KALRA In a career spanning 25 years in the engineering and IT sectors, Rajesh Kalra has held key roles with Risk Management Solutions Inc. (RMSI), RITES, Consulting Engineering Services (I) Pvt. Ltd. and Larsen & Toubro. Prior to Atkins, Rajesh was a founding member and Managing Director of RMSI and President of business operations at Rolta India Limited. Rajesh is a gold medallist from IIT Chennai. He holds a Masters degree in civil engineering. |
STEVEN HAGAN Steven has been at Oracle since 1994, and is vice president in engineering, responsible for advanced technology development for areas of spatial/geospatial, semantics, graph databases, imaging, and portions of the big data, cloud and high availability technologies within the Oracle product set. He is representing Oracle on the Open Geospatial Consortium board of directors where he actively pursues evolving the standards in support of customer geospatial needs and he is leading the development team that rapidly evolves Oracle product to keep pace with those standards. He is also an industry observer on the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (GGIM). Before joining Oracle, Steven spent several years at Digital Equipment Corporation, where he managed and led the engineering of the database products. |
ALAN ABRAHAM Alan Abraham is the Joint Principal Architect of Abraham John Architects, a firm started by his father Abraham John in 1967. He is both an architect and a professional photographer. Alan Abraham was selected as one of Architect & Interiors India’s iGEN 50 - The New generation of Innovators in Architecture. Abraham John Architects is a multidisciplinary architecture, interior design, landscaping and urban planning studio. The work portfolio varies from niche residential developments to corporate and commercial projects, hospitality, retail, administration and office buildings for public and private clients, charitable projects across India, as well as master planning. The studio has recently made an urban planning proposal to improve the city of Bombay- The Bombay Greenway Project –Winner of the International Urban Planning & Design Competition, Velo-city 2013, Austria. Abstract: The Railway in Bombay defines the linear city and dictates how 7.7 million people travel daily! The Railway into Greenway proposal envisions a 21st century greenway over the existing railway lines; 114 kms of continuous, flat, traffic and stress free space to encourage active modes of transportation and healthy city living! This proposal not only directly affects about 7.7 million daily commuters but also aims to save more than 4000 lives lost on the railway tracks every year and creates 1000 acres of new urban green space in a city deprived of recreational space; Bombay has only 1.1 sq.m/person in sharp contrast to 31.68 sq.m/person in London. The Greenway is self-sustainable, converts a negative like water logging into a positive viz. water harvesting and has a positive impact on the ecosystem (sound/air/ temperature/biodiversity), improving everyone’s lifestyle. It allows for a multiplicity of uses that a modern city like Bombay should expect from its public spaces: the Greenway as a vibrant linear urban park: encouraging cultural and retail re-invigoration, E-W connectivity, environmental restoration and becoming a green transport & leisure solution. Faster train services and upgraded railway stations, reduced carbon footprint, inter-nodal retail spaces add to the overall positive impact of this proposal. |
B N SATPATHY As Sr. Adviser in Planning Commission, Satpathy looks after two divisions, namely, Environment & Forests Division and Science & Technology Division. He is also the Chairperson of the Oversight Committee of the National Data Sharing and Access policy of Government of India in Planning Commission. In this role, he is in charge of the Open Data Initiative of Government of India. As Chairman of an Expert/Working Group on construction of e-Readiness index for India, he has been guiding the team in designing and implementation of e-Readiness Indicators for India for 2009- 10 onwards to support the global measurement on Network Readiness of World Economic Forum (WEF) and ICT Development Index of International Telecommunication Union (ITU). As Chairman of another expert/working group of ICT measurement and indicators, his leading role has been to design a framework for measurement of ICT Indicators in the country in order to support global monitoring and measurement of ICT for Development. |
P D MEENA An IAS from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, PD Meena holds a masters degree in economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and an MBA in human resource management, marketing and finance from Southern Cross University, New South Wales, Australia. Prior to his current position, he has been Principal Secretary, Public Works Deptt./ Sports & Youth Welfare, Government of Madhya Pradesh; and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Some of his notable achievements during his various tenures include allotment of patta (tenurial land rights to the slum dwellers in different cities of Madhya Pradesh), formulation of city development plans in four major cities - Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Ujjain of Madhya Pradesh, under JNNURM, as well as property tax reforms. |
BARBARA J. RYAN Barbara J. Ryan is Secretariat Director of the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) located in Geneva, Switzerland. In this capacity, she leads the Secretariat in coordinating the activities of nearly 90 member states and 50 participating organisations who are striving to integrate earth observations so that informed decisions can be made across nine societal benefit areas including agriculture, biodiversity, climate, ecosystems, energy, disasters, health, water and weather. Before assuming this position in July 2012, she was the director of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Space Programme. Before joining WMO in October 2008, she was the Associate Director for Geography at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Reston, Virginia where she had responsibility for the Landsat, remote sensing, geography and civilian mapping programs of the agency. |
B N SHARMA BN Sharma is 1985 batch, Rajasthan cadre IAS officer. He is presently Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power. He has served his state in differnt various capacities with various ministries including land revenue management, agriculture, human resource development, and finance. |
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AGENDRA KUMAR Agendra Kumar has over 25 years of experience in IT business management and has served as the country head of several multinational technology companies. In his last assignment, Agendra was the Managing Director of SGI in India (earlier known as Silicon Graphics Inc). Prior to that, he worked as Managing Director of Veritas India and upon its merger with Symantec Corporation, took on global accounts management responsibilities for Asia Pacific and Japan region. Currently Agendra is the President of Esri India. |
CHRIS GIBSON Abstract: The Agriculture industry is facing increasing pressures as the demand for produce is driven by a number of factors including population growth and energy needs. Geospatial information can be incorporated into a number of the critical Agriculture processes to improve the yield, cost management and environmental impact; these include land preparation, planting, nutrient water and pest management and harvesting. In his presentation Chris Gibson will provide an overview and examples of how geospatial information is helping to transform the Agriculture industry |
G P OBI REDDY Abstract: National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning (NBSS&LUP), Nagpur under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) made consistent efforts to harness the potential of geospatial technologies in terrain analysis, soil resource inventory, development of digital soil resource databases in GIS, soil-landscape modeling, agro-ecological characterization, land use systems analysis, land evaluation, crop suitability evaluation, assessment of soil erosion risk, assessment of soil acidity/salinity, harmonization of degraded and wastelands and development of perspective land use plans in the country. Further, development of user friendly graphical interfaces to incorporate the analytical models in GIS to arrive at Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSSs), which provides a framework to integrate analytical modeling capabilities, database management systems, graphical display capabilities, tabular reporting capabilities and expert knowledge for natural resource management and sustainable agriculture. The dedicated cloud based geospatial portal enable to access value added agricultural datasets and maps from a browser and perform spatial analysis for site-specific land use plans in achieving sustainable agriculture and food security. The scope to harness the potential of advanced geospatial technologies is enormous in Indian agriculture, especially in digital terrain analysis, soil-landscape modeling, inventory, mapping and monitoring of natural resources, crop acreage estimation, drought monitoring, watershed and command area management, which helps to enhance sustainable agriculture and food security. |
DR. CHANDRASHEKHAR BIRADAR Abstract: Geospatial technologies are becoming an integral part of solving the food security equation from an integrated research and development, aid better intervention and delivery programs, policy, and outreach. A recent advance in geoinformatics technology has opened new avenues for integrated agro-ecosystems research and applications. The shift in paradigm from landscape level studies to farmscape to underhand the matric of granularity within and among the smallholder farming systems in a participatory and integrated agro-ecosystem approach to improve capacity and processes which leads to cross-fertilization of diverse interests and, by package of practices, to the development of sustainable, farms level information services at a higher spatial scale from effective interventions to ex-ante analysis towards improvising food security and better livelihoods in the dry areas. |
GIRISH JAIN Abstract: Accurate Levelling of farm lands have been the requirement of farmers since the early man learned the art of farming. The techniques of levelling the land since then have been evolving and have reached to a level where the land can be levelled with a table top finish and within very short period of time. The new way of land levelling employs tractor with a scrapper bucket connected to hydraulics of tractor and automatically controlled by a laser rotator and machine control components namely Laser receiver and control panel. This way by measuring and controlling the elevation of scrapper bucket continuously while the tractor with scrapper bucket is on move the land gets levelled automatically. Here only the height (vertical) component of the machine (scrapper bucket) is measured and controlled. There are other application in agriculture where the horizontal component of tractor needs to be measured and controlled and in some advanced solutions all the three component’s needs to be measured and controlled. Applications like spraying of fertilizers, pesticides etc in the field requires it to be done in a way so that the spraying happens evenly in the field. This and some other applications demand modern techniques of Geospatial measurement and control which includes Laser rotators, GNSS receivers and machine control parts. |
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PRASENJIT GUPTA Abstract: Bridging a critical information divide between farmers and the agricultural intelligence ecosystem can result in achieving significant growth in different parameters of agricultural practice from increased output to better natural resource utilization and controlling the cost of produce. A Geospatial based model which integrates field data collection to agricultural intelligence and produces a web based GEO-DSS for instant agri-analytics and advisory system can create the operational framework for an efficient agri practice. The model depicts the usage of such a system in West Bengal and other parts of India where the farmers are connected on real time with the agro intelligence community and can utilize the information on real time. |
KEVIN DAUGHERTY Abstract: The presentation will describe how a modern land registry system was built by a partnership of government and contractor; the steps taken; lessons learned; and the operational efficiency of the operational land registry system. |
BRUCE THOMPSON Abstract: The presentation will discuss the Victorian Government's experience on the custodianship model which is based on a public private partnership. The following experience will be shared from the Australian experience:
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DR. ALOK UPADHAYA Abstract: Implementation of Land Administration Systems have led to good governance and sustainable development in countries that have connected it to a good spatial data infrastructure (SDI) and allowed it to function in the environment of an E-government and spatially enabled society. Economic spin-off of land administration in these countries have led to benefits such as: Direct:
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RATAN AWASTHI Abstract: Land is a collection of all naturally occurring resources whose supply is inherently fixed. Supply curve of land follows law of zero elasticity. This natural resource needs to be used judiciously and it comes under immense pressure because of rapid urbanization. To fund the modern infrastructure for urbanisation it is important to have the monetisation of all the land belonging to CPWD,Govt. Private Railways .The aim is to move to a system of conclusive titling system that would minimise land and property disputes. India is one of the few countries where the record of rights on land is presumptive. “We are presumed to be owners of land unless proved otherwise. That is why we have lots of disputes and lots of problems in land acquisition. Modernised land records will ensure availability of updated record of rights, sale deeds and registration process in electronic form. These records will be available in electronic format. It will ensure greater transparency and accuracy in determining ownership of land. This will help in calculation of fair compensation on the basis of the latest market rate and ease the acquisition process. |
N.S. SHANKARANARAYANA Abstract: Land Management is one of the most essential requirements for any government/ public /individual existence/ sustenance/ development/ prosperity. In the present day the land value is exceeding the gold value and every inch of land is precious and a great treasure to own and maintain. However, there is a big gap in land management leading to huge problems in day to day life for governments and citizens. The main reason or this problem is no proper land records. The existing paper hand written records are obsolete.GIS/ Remote Sensing visual information technology has brought a sea change to Modern Land Management. Any area can be imaged, parcel mapped with high accuracy, monitored for change detection with high resolution satellites like WorldView/ GeoEye satellites with a Ground resolution of 50-30 cm and GIS ready digital updated records are available on mobile devices to effectively monetize modern land management.Following the international examples, Government of India through NLRMP project has made a great start to implement this GIS/ Satellite imagery based Land Management and this will be most successful real world operational success using this GIS/ Remote Sensing technology solution at grassroots level. |
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BARBARA J. RYAN Abstract: The Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), built by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), is both a policy framework, and an emerging infrastructure that allows decision makers to respond more effectively to the many environmental challenges facing us today. Built upon broad, open data-sharing practices, information from an expanding array of observation systems is being made available to users around the world. Since its inception in 2005, GEO has had four primary objectives – improve and coordinate observation systems; advance broad, open data policies and practices; foster increased use of Earth observation (EO) data and information; and build capacity. Participants have contributed data, research and other related Earth observation activities in nine Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs), including agriculture, biodiversity, climate, disasters, ecosystems, energy, health, water and weather. None of these SBAs exist in isolation and activities which cut across them are, therefore, increasingly important in order to ensure regional, national and international investments in observing systems are leveraged to the greatest extent possible. Tremendous advances have been made over the last 50 years in the Weather domain, particularly regarding the improvement of global forecasting ability. There are many factors which have contributed to these successes, not the least of which include research investments, both in situ and satellite observations, modeling capabilities, open data sharing policies and practices, and international coordination and cooperation. The advances in the Weather domain, can therefore, be used as a model for the other environmental domains. The presentation in this Session will focus on the role that broad, open data policies for geospatial information and international collaboration can play in advancing similar success stories in domains other than Weather. |
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DR SC KAR, SCIENTIST G Abstract: The National Centre for Medium range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) has been a lead Centre for weather modeling and research in India. Real-time global data assimilation and weather forecasting are being carried out using high-performance computing systems and high-resolution global models. Observed atmospheric data from thousands of observing stations are received through Global telecommunication System from all over the world. In addition, data from Geostationary and Polar Orbiting Satellites are processed everyday at NCMRWF in real-time to prepare gridded and consistent global weather conditions. These data are then input to global weather models to generate medium-range (up to 10 days in advance) weather forecasts. Uncertainties in the forecasts are represented by using a global ensemble prediction system. These processed data as well as raw data from observing platforms contribute to data archives and also for weather and climate research. While most of the information is geospatial in nature, the Centre does not yet provide that information in GIS-ready formats. Moving gridded data from the weather models to a geospatial database enables forecasters and researchers to access and analyze the data in novel ways. GIS has become a useful tool for storing, organizing, visualizing and analyzing geospatial data in digital formats. NCMRWF is getting ready now to integrate the weather related information as geospatial data bases to cater the research needs of various application scientists. |
KAUSHIK CHAKRABORTY Abstract: The use of Geographical Information system (GIS) and geospatial data has increased exponentially in last several years. Weather service providers (such as IMD) can utilise the innovative capabilities of their workforce to leverage this technology to benefit India - in terms of protecting life, property and the economy against natural disasters. External partners and users look to GIS to support their missions such as natural disaster planning, mitigation and response; weather forecasting. Organisations require and demand for geospatial data is independent of platform operating system, development software and/or native data format. This compatible geospatial data is seamlessly integrated with other IT systems for the ease of use. |
MUNISH MALHOTRA Abstract: This presentation is to showcase how Trimble is helping various Metrological departments worldwide to evaluate ionosphere and troposphere conditions that allow users to calculate a variety of different atmospheric parameters like
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L . HARENDUPRAKASH Abstract: The Western and Eastern Ghats are mountainous regions in the peninsular part of India oriented parallel to the sea coast. The Eastern Ghats are moderately tall and discontinuous whereas the Western Ghats are steeper, taller and have few discontinuities. Visibility (in meteorology it is broadly defined as the distance at which objects could be distinguished by a human observer’’s eyes) is an important environmental parameter which poses human concerns in many spheres. Rain, fogs, mists and low clouds form an integral part of the geography which severely affect visibility of the region. The normal activities of people are adapted to these conditions and are usually not considered as abnormal phenomena. However, important air, rail and road network in the region are often affected by the low visibility conditions resulting into operational impact thereby increasing accident risk. Among potential areas of application on visibility, the prominent ones are highway transport, street lighting, outdoor industrial, agricultural and construction activities as well as health and tourism sectors. There is a requirement and potential for applying scientific knowledge and geospatial information technology for optimising activities and reducing losses. Visibility under natural conditions depends primarily on the light from the sun or moon and under clear sky conditions could be calculated quite accurately from the astronomical parameters and laws of physics and terrain geometry. However clouds and water droplets (and dust, smoke, etc.) absorb and scatter visible radiation and result in modification of
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