Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, ranked the fourth Best Overall University in India in NIRF 2020, has inked an MoU with Esri India, the market leader in Geospatial Information Systems, to establish a Centre of Geospatial Excellence on Spatial Analysis and Modeling with dedicated facilities for research, development and testing.

The Centre would promote development of specific skills and technical knowhow among academicians, students and the industry around geospatial technologies and latest toolkits like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and geospatial Big Data Analytics. It would conduct certificate and diploma courses, training programs and workshops, particularly around geospatial technology application areas to strengthen multi-hazard risk reduction and community resilience.

Talking about the MoU, Dr Maneesha Sudheer, Dean of International Programs and UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Development and Innovation, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, said: “This partnership aims to enhance research and capacity development in Geoinformatics, Spatial Analytics, and Modelling. The collaborative initiatives will work towards sustainable development to address quality education (SDG 4), gender equality (SDG 5), sustainable communities (SDG 11), and climate action (SDG 13) by engaging faculty, bachelors, masters, and PhD students. They will help enhance the existing curriculum and educational material, as well as develop new educational approaches for effective teaching and learning of sustainability initiatives using spatial geoinformatics.”