MapmyIndia rocks Indian Web2.0 with GoogleMap type digitised mapping

GoogleMaps would surely rank as one of the undisputed poster childs of Web2.0. In many ways, it was a trend setting application. On similar lines and in what is a growing evidence of Web2.0 taking firm roots in India, MapmyIndia has released a beta version of a GoogleMap type digitized mapping product. It works on both the web and on the mobile. I think this must be the most comprehensive Indian Web2.0 product to date.

MapmyIndia is a digital mapping portal from CE Infosystems, a Delhi based company that pioneered GIS in India. CEI was founded by Rakesh Verma, an NRI, who returned to India in 1994. It is a 80 member company with a successful digitized mapping business and many Indian websites (MakeMyTrip, MagicBricks) use it. What is being released now is a MMI 2007 version, which is the Web2.0 avatar of the current site. MMI’s Web2.0 initiatives are being led by its founder’s 21 year old son, Rohan Verma, who is currently pursuing a course in Electrical Engineering at Stanford. He still has a year to go for the course but that has not stood in his way of being the technical architect for the product. He leads the technical team remotely from the US. I had a chance to talk to him and he seemed to be having the infectious enthusiasm that any 21 year old whizkid has. In fact, I almost got the feeling as if MMI version 2007 is like a gift from him to his father’s business.

Rohan was candid enough to admit that he first heard the word AJAX six months ago. Not withstanding that, MMI’s digitized maps are AJAXified and work pretty much the same way as GoogleMaps does. It covers the top 80 cities in India, with the main metros being covered in greater detail. Something to note is that, while Google sources its mapping data from two external GIS vendors (Navteq and TeleAtlas), MMI’s maps are created by its own team of surveyors. The web application is built on top of the mapping database. You can drag the maps around and use sliders to zoom in/out, besides the ability to browse using compass indicators. You can also use the right click for a host of features. My first reaction is that, it is not just a me-too product, but has some pretty innovative features which are tailored for the Indian condition. Here’s what all you can do with MMI ver2007.

Map Search- You can search for any location on the map by typing in the search-box; you can also find landmarks near that location.

Driving Directions- This feature allows you to get turn-by-turn driving directions ‘From’ any location in India ‘To’ any other location in the country. It can be done from the search box or straightaway from the map itself by righclicking. The route gets depicted visually on the map. The maps and driving directions can be printed out for navigation. This feature works well and gives directions with reasonable accuracy.

eLocation- This feature allows you to create your own specific location, flag it off it with a marker on the map and type out last mile directions to getting there. Given the fact that Indian cities are poorly planned and many streets/lanes don’t have proper identification, the application allows you to locate the nearest landmark and give directions from that landmark to your specified location. Rohan tells me that they are the first mapping site to do this. I found this feature very innovative and quite relevant to India. Think of how we typically give directions in India (i.e. come to the nearest landmark and from there take a left/right turn, go straight and so on…) .

Local search- You can search for services, facilities etc in the cities and they are marked out visually in the maps. It works fine, though the database needs to be better populated.

And that’s not all; you can browse the maps on any GPRS enabled mobile phone on the URL http://mobile.mapmyindia.com/launch.

I created a test account and tried out the application. It’s a beta version so it could improve in many ways but at an overall level, it works quite well. The resolution/detailing on the maps are not comparable to GoogleMaps but they are good enough for a start.

Overall this application is as good as Web2.0 gets in India at present. Digitized mapping websites are resource intensive businesses and thus have significant entry barriers. MMI has made a good start. I would be interested in knowing if they plan to release the APIs for others to build mashups with their mapping database. I posed that question to Rohan and he was non-committal on that.