MMGEIS Students Take a Leap Toward Building a Stronger Geospatial Community
The Centre for Knowledge Sovereignty (CKS) and Esri India launched the Pilot program of the Master Mentors Geo-enabling Indian Scholars (MMGEIS) program with 1000 students in August 2024. Upon successful conclusion of the pilot, close to 4000 students have been enrolled in the program, both from schools and colleges. As some of these students transition to the advanced level, they will be mentored by Shri A S Kiran Kumar, former Chairman of ISRO, and a Master Mentor of MMGIS, and other Master Mentors, notably Dr K J Ramesh, former Director General of IMD and Lt. Gen. Girish Kumar, former Surveyor General of India.
To celebrate this accomplishment and the first anniversary of the announcement of the MMGEIS program, a felicitation ceremony, attended by some of the students and distinguished dignitaries, was organized at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
Shri Kiran Kumar’s unparalleled expertise and visionary guidance will equip the students with the skills and vision necessary to shape them into future leaders in the field and contribute to India’s growing geospatial ecosystem. With this accomplishment, the MMGEIS program is better equipped to work towards building a stronger geospatial community.
Shri Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri India said, “The MMGEIS program continues to create pathways for students to develop cutting-edge geospatial skills that are crucial for India’s growth story. This milestone not only highlights the students’ hard work but also reaffirms our commitment to equipping them with mentorship from luminaries like Shri A S Kiran Kumar. We are immensely proud of their achievements and confident that they will contribute significantly to the geospatial community.”
Shri Vinit Goenka, Secretary, Centre of Knowledge Sovereignty shared his thoughts on the occasion, “We congratulate all the students for showing exceptional abilities and potential in the field. By graduating to this advanced level, these students have demonstrated their dedication and potential. Under the mentorship of Shri Kiran Kumar, these scholars will not only gain deep expertise but also imbibe the values and vision required to contribute meaningfully to India’s geospatial ambitions.”
The felicitation ceremony also included an interactive session with students, where they shared their aspirations and gained insights from the esteemed mentors and academic council members.
About Master Mentor Geo-Enabling Indian Scholars (MMGEIS)
A joint initiative of the Centre for Knowledge Sovereignty and Esri India, MMGEIS is a “not-for-profit” endeavour designed to inculcate thinking of geospatial innovation amongst Indian scholars who will form the future workforce of India. This program is aimed at students from 8th grade to undergraduate levels and provides them with a foundation on which they can develop ideas to discover new technologies and methods in the geospatial arena. The program will tap pan-India talent through a competitive process. It will bridge the gap between academia and industry access and collaborate to create a best-in-class ecosystem for geospatial innovation and intellectual property development which will contribute towards our goal of becoming a developed nation by the year 2047.
About Esri India
Established in 1996, Esri India Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Esri India), the market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping solutions in India, helps customers unlock the maximum potential of their data to improve operational and business decisions. It has delivered pioneering enterprise GIS technology, powered by ArcGIS, to more than 6,500 organizations in government, private sector, academia, and non-profit sectors. The company has also introduced ‘Indo ArcGIS’, a unique GIS solution & data offering suited for government organizations. Esri India collaborates with a rich ecosystem of partner organizations to deliver GIS and location intelligence-based solutions. Headquartered in Noida (Delhi NCR), the company has about 1 million users in the country. It got Great Place to Work Certified® in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
