Rajendra S Pawar, Chairman & Co-Founder, NIIT Group, has been honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award by Geospatial Media, an international media company with the mandate of making a difference through geospatial knowledge in world economy and society. Mr. Pawar received the prestigious award for his decades of service and leadership in helping Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and associated technologies germinate and grow in India since the late 80s.
India Geospatial Awards were introduced and established by Geospatial Media, with an objective to recognize and acknowledge contributions of individuals, institutions and enterprises working toward creating awareness, raising the profile, enhancing utilization and strengthening business opportunities for the geospatial industry in India. This year, the awards were judged by an independent jury under the Chairmanship of Dr. K Kasturirangan, former head of ISRO.
On receiving the award, Mr. Rajendra S Pawar, Chairman & Co-Founder, NIIT Group, said, “I am humbled and honoured to receive this award. It gives me great pleasure to see our efforts of driving GIS proliferation in India over the last 28 years, receive leading industry recognition. Servicing the largest number of users, NIIT has seen GIS evolve into an all-pervasive technology that is helping organizations make informed decisions. Being a part of this journey has indeed been a very enjoyable experience.”
“I am confident that the momentum and the capability created by us will be fundamental in meeting the government’s vision of Digital India and in creating Smart Cities,” added Mr. Pawar.
Under the leadership of Mr. Pawar, NIIT has played a pioneering role in building GIS-focused products and services in partnership with the leading global player Esri Inc, USA. As an undisputed leader in the field of GIS products and services in India for over two decades, NIIT has developed an extensive range of offerings for the industry. These now constitute the core of several mission critical projects in disaster management, infrastructure, power, telecom, natural resources, and urbanization. Going forward, GIS is expected to play a key role in laying the foundation for Smart Cities in India.
Congratulating Mr. Pawar on receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, Mr. Jack Dangermond, Founder and President of Esri said, “We have been extremely fortunate to have a very strategic partner – NIIT Technologies in India led by Mr Rajendra S Pawar. GIS industry in India has grown multi-fold in the last 3 decades; I strongly believe it is Mr. Pawar’s vision, commitment and focus that have played an instrumental role in shaping the GIS Industry. Congratulations to Mr. Pawar on being conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Geospatial Media. I am happy for this apt recognition and acknowledgement of his service to the industry. With his vision, I am sure GIS industry would leap to newer heights in the years to come.”
Owing to its all-pervasive nature, GIS has considerable impact on the economy, governance and development by creating greater efficiency, more visual communication and better decision-making with appropriate integration of maps, images and attribute data. GIS market in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.19%. To cater to the human capacity-building in this sector, the not-for-profit NIIT University offers an industry-aligned MTech Program in GIS with support from leading organizations working in the space. The program is designed to serve professional development at the workplace and, hence, is characterized by the pedagogic innovation of Education-Work Linkage.
About NIIT Group
NIIT Group encompasses two businesses – NIIT Technologies, a leading global IT solutions organization and NIIT Limited, a global leader in skills and talent development.
