CAD & GIS: How much mixing & unmixing is desirable?

"There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. "- Peter F. Drucker

At present it is accepted that usefulness of GIS has increased and thus dependence on GIS that has gone hand in hand with the rise of information technology. That dependence and the need for research and innovations on internet GIS, 3D visualization, location-based, time-specific acquisition, management, storage, and visualization of data is likely to increase as GIS, along with cell phones, laptop computers, and global positioning systems, goes wireless. Data from maps and hard copy records have transformed into information on the web.

Organizations involved in 2D data conversion/cleaning activities are finding it extremely difficult to position themselves as per the new GIS market dynamics mainly due to their existing expertise and their level of knowledge base. There is need to develop a confidence level among the CAD/GIS co.s to face a well informed client and adopt the new technology. Quality and quantity seldom go together in a industry where ever changing client requirements and strict delivery schedules interfere with the process automation that is very common in any production environment. Business process re-engineering now demands 5D solutions that can utilize GIS data to take care of their time and cost to justify the ROI on these projects.

Message: "Time to accept the grim Reality and raise the bar. The first step is to stop advertising 'outsourced data conversion jobs' as 'GIS Projects' to improve the manpower quality and overall standard of the GIS industry in India."