Flipkart is all set to venture into the world of maps, this will make it a competitor of Google and other such mapping companies.
After being in news for the acquisition of a 34 per cent stake in Delhi based digital mapping company MapMyIndia, Flipkart is all set to make its debut on MapUnity, a social technology lab by Dr. Ashwin Mahesh.
MapUnity had initiated TechNagara, which is a social network for all the prominent cities under the ‘Smart Cities’ mission. TechNagara collects all the public information about governance, facilitates and sponsors public engagement. In this process it also solves the key problems of metropolitan areas.
In Bengaluru, the agencies whose data may be integrated into this platform are BWSSB, BBMP, BESCOM, BMTC, BMRCL, Bangalore One, BMRDA, BDA, the traffic police etc.
Founder of MapUnity, Dr Mahesh, said on Twitter, “This will be a platform that cross-uses drives innovation, features, value. In TechNagara, a single platform can be used for transport, energy, security, tourism for each city, 126 cities in all. The rationale is also that a single tech platform can be used as a smart backbone for many cities. That keeps costs low, which is especially important for Tier 2 cities.”
MapUnity, in 2006, also constructed the first Transport Information System for Bengaluru (www.btis.in) and has developed various platforms for urban management, heritage and history, environment and safety.
MapUnity – The Company
MapUnity develops technology to tackle social problems and development challenges. Our GIS, MIS and mobile technologies are used mostly by government departments and civil society organisations, and in the R&D initiatives of commercial ventures. The company was founded by Dr. Ashwin Mahesh, who is an Indian urbanist, journalist, politician, social technologist, former Antarctic climate scientist, astronomer and a former NASA scientist. He is also the leader of Lok Satta Party.
What it does
MapUnity builds a knowledge share platform for groups of people to collaborate among themselves by sharing documents and links related to their common objectives. On this site, a user can store his files in several formats,and make them accessible to members of his groups selectively. And one can also organise the materials that he stores according to his own taxonomy – like having his own bookshelf at home!
