Time: 1998
Locations: Lanhui Apartment and Building 917, Institute of Biophysics
Employees: <20
In 1998, as staff number increased, SuperMap relocated twice.
Though office space expanded, working conditions remained austere. Wang Kanghong, former Vice President of SuperMap, recalled: "During our time at the Institute of Biophysics, on my first day at work, CEO Song Guanfu was coding intently when a piece of cement fell from the ceiling and split his head open. We rushed him to the hospital in a panic."
Amid these challenges, Zhong Ershun, the founder, made two critical decisions that year while upholding the platform software strategy:
1.ActiveMap would be provided to developers for project implementation.
2.Adopt a dual-track approach: GIS platform software and application software development.
This strategic positioning paved way for SuperMap's future trajectory.
To execute these decisions, SuperMap established two departments: R&D department and project department. For a fledgling company without external funding, prioritizing R&D over immediate profitability required bold vision.
As Song Guanfu later reflected: "Fresh out of my PhD, I was immersed in technical work and knew nothing about finance. It wasn't until 2004, when I transitioned to management and handled corporate finances, that I was truly aware of the financial pressures facing Chairman Zhong when he made those decisions.”
He added: "The first phase of revolution demands courage. Without Zhong's foresight, SuperMap might still be a GIS project company today—never a platform software enterprise."
ActiveMap 2.0: Birth of a Component-Based GIS Platform
ActiveMap 2.0 became the R&D Department's inaugural mission: building a professional component-based GIS development platform.
Previous versions (ActiveMap 1.0) were lightweight, limited to single controls that handled only fragments of GIS functionality. Strictly speaking, they were "GIS components," not true componentized systems.
ActiveMap 2.0 introduced modular component groups:
- Workspace
- Map
- Layout
- 3D Visualization
- Topology Analysis
- Development Tools
The workspace and map modules formed the core, while other components could be flexibly combined to create a comprehensive fully componentized GIS platform—independent of desktop GIS and can be distributed standalone.
Early Applications and Talent Cultivation
This marked SuperMap's first application phase. Building on the Hong Kong Comprehensive Geographic Information System, SuperMap launched the broader-scoped "Hong Kong Window" project. Other milestones included the Liuzhou Land Management System.
Talent acquisition became critical. The R&D team grew gradually, though recruitment was slow due to the company's limited recognition at that time. Leveraging personal networks of staff through academic referrals, SuperMap recruited interns from Beijing Normal University and Beijing Institute of Information Engineering, most of whom later joined full-time, and became today's R&D backbone.
