Geospatial GIS Reflections on 2019, and 2020 Thoughts

Ah, the end of the year is nearly here. My chance to look back and project forward. To share thoughts and opinions. To take guesses: educated, I hope well thought through, and not a repetition of others musings. 

So onward: Matt Sheehan's reflections, and thoughts of the future.

2019 ... much bubbling under the surface

a) Innovation and Evolution

2019 saw an acceleration of geospatial GIS innovation. Growing demand for geospatial solutions has encouraged larger companies to become more nimble, while a plethora of small companies have joined the fray.

Panasonic have been busy launching focused business units. I recently sat down with Chris Armstrong from their CIRRUS/V2X group. Chris told me about the connected vehicle technology focus of the group, and the partnerships they have formed with Utah and Colorado DOT's respectively. Innovative and evolutionary describe Chris' team and work.

In the pure GIS world, QGIS continues to make amazing strides. North Road in Australia have recently released the QGIS Compatibility Suite, this provides access to ESRI's software ecosystem. Opening map documents and layer styles which were once locked.

I'll cover in a separate article some of the advances within the Hexagon family. But, new hardware and software releases are helping to make easier and simpler solutions available to customers.

b) Old versus New

Like water building behind an obstruction: For geospatial GIS, 2019 has been a year of growing pressure, but no break out. The same order and way of doing business remain in place. The same messaging sources dominate; constraining and narrowing perceptions. But one can sense change is in the air. 

2019 has been a year when the old and new have seriously squared up. With the old fighting hard to maintain dominance, yet stymied by an ever present 'how we have always done business' attitude. New is young, and fresh, advancing solutions and approaches which are blind to the old order. 

The (mistaken) notion that proprietary GIS is the only solution you will ever need has been seriously challenged in 2019

The battle between old and new picked up steam in 2019.

c) Solution Focus

I'll never forget it. Sitting in a meeting listening to an organization describe to a GIS vendor a solution they had built on-top of the vendors platform. Then listening to the only question the GIS vendor could think to ask: "How many software named user seats will this help us sell?"

I was horrified

No discussion on how this solution might help users perform tasks quicker and easier. Nothing about the solution at all. It was clear the platform sale was key, the solution just the carrot.

This all occurred some years ago. In 2019 I saw signs of a change in focus: the lens is beginning to turn from focus on the software sale, and underlying technology, to solutions. The new breed of geospatial GIS companies and thinkers have begun to ask and not tell.

Help me to understand your problem, and together let us walk down the path to a solution.

As many are finding, focusing on solutions is a win-win for both the customer and solution provider alike.

d) Growing realization of the power of connecting solutions

We are beginning to see an end to solutions which live in isolation, sometimes called point solutions. That, by the way, was the original argument used to promote GIS platforms.

In 2019 one could observe a move towards connected solutions: that is both connecting complimentary software solutions, and hardware to software respectively. Large geospatial organizations are buying companies which compliment their current mix of solutions. See the Cityworks purchase by Trimble and Bentley's buy out of Orbit GT as examples. My company Hexagon is made up of a formidable mix of geospatial solutions.

This trend towards connecting solutions will continue in 2020.

e) Growing importance of AI

I once viewed AI as simply hype. That was until I read AI Superpowers. My view has changed. I am now seeing real business applications of the technology. In 2019 I became increasingly more aware of AI. Most geospatial examples were proof-of-concepts, but I saw enough to know that AI will soon become transformational technology.

f) The geospatial advance of business intelligence

When I ran my own consulting company, I spent considerable time working with a partner, attempting to help open the commercial business door to GIS. As a technology, GIS remains locked into the public sector (local, state and federal government). The private sector has proven a tough nut to crack. In 2019 business intelligence (BI) has made considerable advances in GIS geospatial capabilities. Now able to handle multi-dimensional data, providing more advanced analytics, and beginning down the AI path. I'm seeing BI powered solutions appear ever more often at geospatial and GIS conferences.

The commercial game is not yet lost. But based on my 2019 observations, will be ever more challenging. Geospatial GIS success will be built around focused solutions, which tackle specific business problems, and are able to connect to other platforms and many different data sources.

2020 .. a year of advance

a) Opportunity knocks

Though the old GIS order are working hard to fill the growing gaps in their offering; opportunities abound. Though gap or opportunity discovery remains challenging due to marketing noise; there is an easier path. Simply ask customers. Concerns about the cost of GIS (and threat of price rises), technical gaps (handling real-time data), data itself ("We have so much data, how do we now use this to solve problems") and concerns about vendor lock-in drove many conversations I had in the latter stages of 2019. 

I expect many new opportunity discussions of this type in 2020.

b) Multi-dimensional data

Traditional GIS was built largely for 2D data. Why? Because for most of its existence that was the only data easily available. But collection methods have changed. Thanks to new sensors we are now collecting huge volumes of 3D (LiDAR) and real-time (Internet of Things) data. That opens a world of new possibilities.

Many of the newer and more innovative geospatial GIS companies are focused on multi-dimensional data. They are building web applications which are easy to access and use. I have been calling this trend the democratization of (geospatial) information.

When (geospatial) data are processed, interpreted, organized, structured or presented so as to make them meaningful or useful, they are called information

c) The rise of end-to-end solutions

In 2020 we will see more connected solutions. We saw consolidation in 2019. A mix of solutions under one umbrella is one thing. Connecting those solutions is quite another. This will be the year of the rise of end-to-end solutions. Product sales will migrate to solution sales. Organisations will work hard to build connections between divisions. They will focus on understanding customer problems, and connecting the pieces to provide a complete solution.

c) Price competition

In 2020 we will continue to see a wide range of new geospatial GIS solutions being released. Competition is good. Choice is key: The right solution to solve a specific business problem at the right price.

Price competition in particular, has been sorely lacking in our industry: that will start to significantly change in 2020.

c) Truly open data

Data generation in 2019 was truly staggering. Organizations are becoming overwhelmed. In 2020 there will be increasing demand for this data to be in a format which can be stored and used in a range of solutions. Proprietary GIS continues to lock data in closed geodatabases. That makes that once open data difficult to access unless using that vendors solutions.

As we move towards end-to-end solutions, 2020 will be the year we start to see a drive towards truly open data.

Closing thoughts ..

Demand for geospatial GIS software solutions is growing exponentially. A tsunami of data is now being collected by new hardware solutions. Tackling and solving problems is increasingly becoming geospatials focus. Yet the industry remains in a battle between the old and the new. Forty years of proprietary GIS is proving hard to dislodge.

I've never imagined the old world of geospatial GIS being replaced by the new. I do look forward to a wider, richer problem to solution conversation. A move away from swiss army knife messaging, or one source for everything (side note, I was one of the first to use this particular analogy many years ago .. today it is outdated).

In 2020, my hope is we start moving to a world where users understand better their options, and choose the best tool in the toolbox to solve their particular problem.

You can reach me at [email protected]