LTIMindtree and IBM collaborate on Generative AI Centre in India

LTIMindtree announced a collaboration with IBM to establish a global, joint Generative AI Center of Excellence (CoE) in India.

The CoE plans to offer a comprehensive suite of services, combining LTIMindtree’s expertise in data and machine learning model customization and full-stack engineering with IBM watsonx technology and AI assistants. newsroom.ibm.com

New mapping technology shows carbon stored in hedgerows

The Great Britain and Ireland’s hedgerows have been in the spotlight over recent months, with growing awareness of their vital role in improving biodiversity and increasing carbon sequestration.

As well as providing shelter for wildlife, hedgerows capture carbon and help to reduce flooding.

Bluesky International has now developed a further layer of geospatial data which enable users to calculate the carbon storage capacity of hedgerows. It has extended its tree expertise to the National Hedgerow Map™ (NHM™), which has the unique ability to calculate hedgerow carbon storage capacity. The dataset offers location, height, volume, vegetation extent, and the centreline for all vegetation below three metres. https://bluesky-world.com

Assam launches digital platform for disaster reporting

Assam state in India took a significant step towards more efficient disaster management recently with the launch of the Disaster Reporting and Information Management System (DRIMS). The digital platform has been developed in collaboration with UNICEF.

The initiative, spearheaded by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), aims to streamline the process of reporting and assessing disaster impacts. DRIMS captures critical data on damages, including crop losses and livestock deaths, allowing for the swift delivery of relief and rehabilitation grants to affected communities. www.timesofindia.com

Making GIS data accessible for emergency response

Analysing geospatial data is unfortunately quite a complex task for non-specialists, especially during emergencies such as a flood. To support accessibility for everyone, Ageospatial uses natural language and human interaction to make geospatial analyses.

Their story started in January 2024, when a group of friends in Switzerland developed a plugin named ‘Geo+ for ChatGPT’ (formerly GeoGPT) on the ChatGPT Store. The plugin was successful, attracting 1000 users in less than a month and generating traction. It was able to do basic geospatial data operations such as generating, processing and exporting geospatial data (geocoding, clipping, country boundaries, population, buildings, satellite imagery…).

In response to the success of the plugin, Ageospatial developed ‘GeoForge’, a web platform to make location data (geospatial) analysis accessible for vulnerable communities, to support them in their response to their natural disaster and extreme weather eventrelated emergencies. This platform supports data-friendly users within authorities, responders and NGOs, insurance, and engineering firms to rapidly assess damage from natural disasters, analyze previous risks and predict the upcoming ones.

GeoForge was used for analysing a flood event in Bangladesh. In less than 30 seconds and by using a text prompt, the platform was able to display near realtime satellite imagery, and extract the flood extent. This was cross-referenced with geodata about critical infrastructure like power lines, water pipes, hospitals, roads, and rail systems as well as building and population datasets. www.itc.nl

Govt to complete GIS mapping of entire highway network

The government of India plans to complete the GIS mapping of all national highways, including marking the jurisdictions of all state- owned developers, for better planning, execution and monitoring of the road network and timely completion of projects.

As part of the exercise, the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has asked all project implementing units of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Border Roads Organization (BRO), National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) and the ministry itself to complete marking their jurisdictions of the national highways dashboard before the end of May so that the complete GIS data of highways along with jurisdictional segregation is available for future reference and fast-tracking work.

The main objective of this standard operating procedure (SOP) is to streamline GIS-based data collection for all National Highways in India under the MoRTH. According to a MoRTH office memorandum, the SOP aims to clearly define the responsibility area for each National Highway, utilize a GIS-based mapping system through the media portal for defining networks and data visualisation, implement a verification process by the administrative team to ensure data accuracy and reliability and use the collected data for various communication purposes related to the highway system.

Tasked to take up highway construction to 50 km per day GIS technology is also expected to come to the aid of road constructing agencies as it would provide proper information on alignments and any obstruction in the path of highways.

Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) in Gandhinagar has done the GIS mapping for large portions of NHs and this data has been updated and verified by field units of the different agencies for the ministry. With the marking of jurisdiction of agencies, the process of GIS mapping would be complete, allowing work in new highway alignments to be started at a faster pace.

MoRTH has decided to upload entire NH network on a single unified platform irrespective of the executing agency, be it NHAI, NHIDCL, BRO or state governments to avoid duplication. www.livemint.com