How best can you describe the journey of yours since its humble beginnings to where it is now?
It’s a phenomenal journey all through. Establishing a competency, winning customer confidence and successfully delivering to a need is not an easy problem to solve. Doing it repeatedly is a humongous task and we at NeoGeoInfo are proud that we have a well knitted team, committed to the technology, customer and progress. It almost became a habit once a critical mass is achieved. We strongly believe that
“Find good people first and then they will anyway do good things”
We built a culture within our organization that values their time/ work, focus on quality and partners with customer – even in all challenging situations. It’s not as if we didn’t have failures or we have not committed mistakes, for us it is about how we, as a team worked our way through such situations. Our teams worked during Covid times and adapted to a new style of working (from home), without compromising on deliverables. We have reached a phase of consolidation and we are poised for growth and expansions. In the coming years we will extend our offerings and ensure our employees get bigger opportunities to perform and flourish. We are experimenting Platformization in a couple of areas, you will hear about them soon. Overall, a lot of learnings and ability to stand up as a team. On the way, it also makes us happy that NeoGeoInfo is featured in multiple Top 10 lists for Geospatial companies in India by various magazines and rating agencies.
What are the services currently offered by Neo Geo? Can you share some nostalgic project details which you are proud of?
We are a full stack Geospatial Solutions provider.
NeoGeoInfo Technologies is a 200+ people strong SEI CMM Level3 Consultancy and Implementation Services Provider using Geospatial Technologies with Rich Experience in System Integration, Development and in providing Engineering Solutions. NeoGeoInfo is proficient in Cognitive Technologies (AI/ Machine Learning/ Robotic Process Automation), Analytics and in developing solutions using web/ mobile apps.
NeoGeoInfo is focused on the ULB Level Governance Solutions (Property Tax, Digital Door Numbers, Land Resurvey Projects, Cadastral Map Digitization, Town Planning, Smart Cities and Surveillance) and Cross-Country Infrastructure /Utilities projects (Highways, Telecom/OFC, Gas/ CGD, Power Transmission, Water Networks).
NeoGeoInfo’ deeply differentiate from other solution providers based on the strength of domain knowledge in these areas.
We centred around our Map, Model and Manage which in layman terms translate to Data Acquisition, Data Processing and Data Management. We offer the best-in-class data acquisition technology, technique, teams and range of solutions. Our data processing algorithms are more accurate and has the ability to extract the full intelligence out of the data presented. NeoGeo’ application development teams ensure the right person has the actionable intelligence at the right time and right place. We are proud of our association in the 1st ever property tax project in India, 1st successfully implemented CORS in a full state, 1st Analytics listed product in GeMS and Collaborated with majority of the Govt and Corporate clients in India.
How important is GIS planning required in preparing smart cities and what type of challenges are there in implementation? What other Industries haven’t utilised GIS fully?
To me Smart City and Geospatial are inseparable. I am not talking about Smart City as in a city with ICCC (Integrated Command Control Centre), but a city that can sustainably grow, accommodate for (frequent) natural calamities, safer for citizens (pollution, noise, security) and maintained in a eco-friendly way (this takes a lot of resources and disciplined citizens too). To create a real Smart City, Geospatial technology is a must as a planning, tracking and maintenance enabler. Thanks to the Digital Twins and 3D Maps – the planning become much closer to reality to the centimetre level accuracy. The IoT sensors and other edge devices constantly relay the information from all over the city in real/ near real-time to Track, Analyse and take data driven decisions. Analytics and Simulation makes the maintenance predictive and best practice. The whole set of safety solutions in public transportation is a big example of all technologies coming together to synergize the value.
What are the differences you can say before or after drones came into GIS? What are the precautions one should take in the GIS & Drone Industry to flourish more?
Significant difference is the philosophical thought that all (restrictions) that is existing can be nullified… I mean the drone policy (in one stroke) changed the data acquisition framework so completely and differently that there is no comparison between what existed and what is new/ currently in force. This also gave thrust to a new Geospatial policy (of course, the thinktank almost made the changes imminent) and it is as radically different as the drone policy. The outlook of the policy makers is now extremely progressive and it is going to benefit all the players (direct and ancillary). At a micro level – the rules of data acquisition have changed significantly for certain sectors. But I sincerely feel that caution to be practiced in application. Like Maslow (law of instrumentation) says “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail”. We should be judicious in deciding where to apply the drone for data acquisition (more importantly where we will NOT apply) – because every unsuccessful project brings a blackmark on the (drone/ geospatial) technology, which should be prevented at any cost.
What do you see as the biggest challenges & opportunities in the Indian GIS / Drone Industry?
Major Challenge across all industries is the same… availability of skilled (ready to deploy) resources. In Geospatial Industry it is not just limited to the human resources, for example if we want to deploy a certain type of mapping drone – we still have constraints around their availability. The other one I think of is about the specificity of user requirements and the knowledge applied.
What is your message to youngsters who wish to enter in the GIS/ Drone industry?
Unfortunately, many youngsters have a notion that GIS Industry is primarily about some maps and the typical industry salary structures are lower compared to mainstream IT sector. Luckily it is a wrong notion and I’m happy that no one can ignore Geospatial anymore, because the current amalgamation of IoT, Blockchain and Geospatial creates deeply differentiable value to customers. I am positive and making a lot of efforts to meet and hire the bright young people who will change not only the perception, but also pave a way for more people to follow the path.
And to conclude on high spirits, could you list out your wishes for a development of our GIS / Drone Industry, society & Economy?
I only wish that we value the services we offer and price them correctly. Once this is achieved, everything else will automatically fall in place. One can contribute positively and significantly to others in the ecosystem, society and economy only if they have resources to do so. Prosperity attracts and bring a lot of positivity.
