Emerging Technologies and their impact on the Geospatial Industry

We have seen the last decade change technology from its very core. From Artificial Intelligence to Big Data to the Internet of Things, there have been drastic changes in technologies that have revolutionised the way we do things.

The last decade alone flipped the coin over and completely changed the way we see the world. With continuous growth in digital literacy, infrastructure, and technology- the ecosystem has become much more evolved and sophisticated. The emergence of these technologies has directly or indirectly impacted multiple domains and verticals, including the geospatial industry. 

The accelerated growth of the geospatial industry and the rapid integration of geospatial data into business activities and research can be attributed to the convergence of multiple advanced technologies and the amalgamation of technological resources. 

In the coming decade, these technologies will become even more prominent in the development of the geospatial sector and shall aid the growth through multiple channels and broader reach.

It is projected that Artificial Intelligence and its subsets like Machine Learning and Deep Learning shall contribute to the growth of GIS across the world sustainably and rapidly. 

Also Read: How Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are changing the SaaS Industry

This transformation has just begun and shall take some time to mature. Still, it has led the industry and its stakeholders to come together, discuss opportunities and impact, and also look into the future of technology with a broad and open mind. 

Here is how these technologies will impact Geospatial and vice versa

Artificial Intelligence- Artificial Intelligence has been a fascinating field for tech enthusiasts around the world. It has been deployed in various industries and aspects such as robotics, computing, decision-making. Currently, Artificial Intelligence is at a point in time where it is being used in industries like healthcare, cosmetics, aesthetics, and even surgery. 

Artificial Intelligence encompasses various other technologies like machine learning, natural language processing, cognitive computing, knowledge discovery, and data analysis. It also includes more complex information and its processing, such as neural networks, information retrieval, and deep learning.

Also Read: Emerging Technologies that could impact the Geospatial Industry

GIS systems contain large amounts of information that can act as excellent data sets for building and training an Artificial Intelligence system. Developments like computer vision and image recognition have helped improve GIS data and bring in more context. As of now, AI and GIS have successfully been integrated for disease control and pollution management. 

Big Data- Location intelligence is rapidly becoming a buzzword in industries across the world. While brands try to find where their customers physically are, location tech relies on big data to make sense of the geospatial information shared by customers.

Big data is characterised by its volume, variety, value, veracity, and velocity. Geospatial data that is obtained through remote sensing is usually structured and arranged for big data analysis and for analysing trends and patterns. Now, a lot of location-specific data shared by customers is in the form of images, videos, messages, and more. This makes traditional analysis slower and the new data to be studied is unstructured.

Here, Big Data helps bring about a structure and improves sustainability and innovation. It has proven to bring about savings in the ballpark of billions for location tech data using companies.

Cloud- The Geospatial industry is always on the lookout for innovation that helps improve the way things are done. The uprise of Cloud computing helps geospatial data get an on-demand and flexible computing platform that helps in Big Data analytics.

It helps integrate various aspects of geospatial sciences such as analytical visualisation, decision support, and impact and feedback. 

Also Read: What is Internet of Things and Its Top Applications

In the last few years, earth observation data has become increasingly available across the internet with the help of Cloud services. Now, even the biggest players in the computer space analyse and study geospatial data as they provide Cloud services.

Internet of Things- At its essence, Internet of Things is primarily about inter-device or machine-to-machine communication. The true value of Internet of Things is not based on its ability to capture and integrate volumes of data, but its ability to interpret this data and helping other services and technologies such as AI and Cloud leverage this data. 

While the internet is human-oriented right now, there is a future where devices connected to each other through the internet shall become autonomous and independent.

The next generation of technology and the tech revolution we are welcoming, we are sure to witness a rise in the value of IoT and its counterparts that help locate, analyse, and assess large volumes of data.