Burns & McDonnell India recently hosted a day-long event in Mumbai for GIS Day 2025, marking a significant evolution in the perception and application of geospatial technology within the country's utilities and infrastructure sectors. The program highlighted a clear transition from viewing GIS as a specialized mapping tool to embracing it as a core intelligence engine that powers critical decisions.
From Mapping Tool to Strategic Intelligence
The event, held at the company's Mumbai office, gathered senior industry leaders, academic experts, technology partners, and a large group of engineering students. Through technical presentations, live demonstrations, panel discussions, and student innovation showcases, the day provided a comprehensive look at how spatial intelligence is moving to the heart of enterprise strategy.
The program began with an office tour for students, followed by strategic sessions outlining the company's expanded vision for GIS in 2025. A consistent message emerged from all speakers: GIS is no longer a passive map repository but an integrated system that connects environmental data, engineering models, financial estimates, and future risk predictions.
Technical Showcase and Student Innovation
A mid-morning technical showcase featured engineering teams from Burns & McDonnell demonstrating practical applications, including high-resolution terrain modelling and LiDAR-based alignment studies. These presentations illustrated the growing demand for multi-layered intelligence where tools like LiDAR, BIM, and remote sensing work together.
One of the most dynamic segments was the student innovation showcase, featuring six teams. Their projects covered predictive analytics, smart mobility, and cultural mapping, often utilizing open-source GIS platforms and AI-enhanced datasets. Shailesh Deshpande, Vice President of Environment Services, noted the inspiring shift in student projects from simply capturing locations to solving complex problems by integrating AI and sustainability.
Industry Consensus and Future Outlook
A special session with ESRI brought global trends into focus, while an afternoon panel discussion titled "Beyond the Map" brought together experts from various fields. The panel, featuring Dr. Ninad Raut, Dr Shrikant Gabale, Nikesh Regmi, Shailesh Deshpande, and Prof. Anupama Kovi, tackled how utilities can unlock GIS's full potential as an enterprise intelligence engine.
Key insights included the need for holistic environmental modelling, single-source-of-truth datasets, and high-accuracy digital twins. The panel's consensus was clear: the biggest shift is treating GIS as an enterprise platform, not a peripheral function.
Summarizing the industry shift, Breck McGary, CEO of Burns & McDonnell India, stated that GIS is now the central nervous system of modern engineering. The event made it unmistakably clear that India's infrastructure sector is entering an era where geospatial intelligence is essential for strategy, sustainability, and execution, serving as the operating framework for designing, building, and managing modern infrastructure.
