IIIT-Bangalore successfully hosted the 2023 IEEE India Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (InGARSS 2023) during December 10-13, 2023. The symposium, the third in its series, served as a crucial platform for remote sensing and geoscience researchers and practitioners. It aimed to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange among experts in the field. Prof. Jaya Sreevalsan Nair, the organizer from IIIT-B, played a pivotal role in steering the four-day symposium towards its success. Organized by the Bengaluru chapter of IEEE GRSS (Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society), for which Prof. Nair was the chair, the conference provided insights into the latest developments and advancements in geoscience and remote sensing technologies. Such a conference series is the need of the hour owing to the growing importance and rapid advancements in these fields, necessitating a dedicated space for professionals to network and share their research and findings. Under the able leadership of Prof. Nair along with co-General Chairs, Profs. Avik Bhattacharya, IIT Bombay, and B. S. Daya Sagar, Head, ISI-Bangalore, InGARSS 2023 organization included contributions from pan-India, and also from other countries, such as, USA, New Zealand, and others.
On December 10, while welcoming all the guests, keynote speakers and participants, Prof. Debabrata Das, Director of IIIT-B and chief patron of the conference, said, “The symposium reflects our commitment to fostering knowledge exchange and collaboration in geoscience and remote sensing. We are honored to host esteemed speakers and guests who contribute significantly to these domains.” He further stated that the symposium is taking place at a crucial moment when India is making huge strides in geoscience and space domains. The event featured a comprehensive program including plenary keynote talks, research paper presentations, doctoral colloquium, tutorials, community events, industry presentations, and exhibits. Space technology events in collaboration with international agencies such as NASA/JPL, ISRO/NRSC, ESA, and DLR will also be highlighted.
The inaugural ceremony Chief Guest Prof. Sanghamitra Bandhyopadhyay, Director of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, said, “Geosciene and Remote Sensing are swiftly becoming crucial in fields like ocean observation, meteorology, and hydrology. It’s essential for us to convene, pinpoint challenges, brainstorm solutions, and foster cross-border collaboration. Assembling at symposiums of this nature will empower stakeholders to devise effective solutions.”
The conference keynote Speakers include Prof. Harini Nagendra, an Ecologist from Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, Prof. Armando Marino from the University of Stirling, UK, and Mr. Rashmit Singh, CTO of Satsure, Bengaluru. The inaugural ceremony saw Dr. Mariko Burgin, IEEE GRSS President, Dr. Shiv Mohan, IEEE GRSS India Liaison, and Dr. Shubha Pandey, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, as the Guests of Honor for the Symposium.
During the inaugural ceremony, Drs Mariko and Shiv Mohan highlighted the active engagement of GRSS with professionals at the global and national levels, respectively. Dr. Shubha Pandey, representing the National Geospatial Programme at DST, emphasized the significance of formulating geospatial guidelines and policies. It is crucial to highlight the substantial government-driven momentum in this direction.
The community events of the Symposium focused on women in engineering, diversity-equity-inclusion, and young professionals. Additionally, there was a DST-led program on capacity building by Dr. Shamita Kumar from Bharathi Vidyapeeth, exploring spatial thinking in STEAM education.
The IIIT-B fraternity participated actively in volunteering and cultural event. The latter was splendid with melodious recital by the Music Club, a climate-change awareness play by Parvaaz, and interactive quiz by the 8-Bit team. The faculty, staff, housekeeping staff, security, and students worked in unison to make the event a success.,
On the final day, Prof. Nair extended heartfelt thanks to the sponsors, which included the Government of Karnataka’s Machine Intelligence and Robotics (MINRO) Center at IIIT-B and Mphasis Center of Excellence for Cognitive Computing. The event also received generous support from Satsure, NRSC, Galaxeye, HALG, TIH IIT Tirupati (IITTNiF), and GISE Hub, IIT Bombay, along with grants from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and ISRO. The sponsors’ exhibit booths saw considerable footfall on all the days.
In today’s times of climate change and advances in space technologies, InGARSS 2023 played a significant role in presenting research contributions relevant to the Indian subcontinent, especially. With the shared goal of advancing understanding and promoting collaboration, the conference served as a stage for geoscience and remote sensing experts, researchers and enthusiasts. The participants’ positive feedback responses are testimonial to the event’s success. The conference proceedings will be published in IEEExplore Digital Library.
