Geospatial is more than an Industry

This title is taken from Joseph Seppi's Locate23 conference plenary address. A summary of the speech was published in online magazine Spatial Source.

I thought, in this article, it worth unpacking some of the key points made by Joseph. And to add some of my own thoughts.

Core to Joseph's thesis is that *geospatial is pervasive and not something which can be put in a box, as the term industry implies. It is for this reason so many geospatial practitioner struggle to describe what they (we) do. Our GIS (and to a lesser degree remote sensing) past has made geospatial synonymous with maps and map making. This was a mystery to me when I first moved to the US to embark on my Masters degree; I had associated cartography not geography with maps.

The real answer to what we do, as Joseph states, is "difficult to articulate, complex and even unclear'.

Our past is one of our biggest barriers.

I agree that the the ‘geospatial industry’ is the overlapping marketplace of many industries. I view it as foundational to everything we do. Just like geography, it is all encompassing (go look at all the sub-disciplines of geography: economic, plant, political, geomorphology, meteorology ..).

Geography is a boundless discipline, as is geospatial.

But as we try to correct misperceptions (with one finger of blame firmly pointing at past GIS marketing). Where do we go next? Sure we can pontificate about saving the world from climate change and social injustice: massive, complex, multi-faceted problems. We can change our language (and marketing) to digital twins, and digital reality.

But too much of what I observe is nebulous, too often ill-conceived, and in many ways repeating past mistakes.

Meanwhile, as Joseph discusses, 'Silicon Valley and Wall Street don’t really know the ‘ geospatial industry’ exists.' Sure the 'industry' keeps coming up with more 'wider audience friendly' terms like location intelligence, but (and here I disagree with Joseph) this is just more insider talk.

Let's turn to data and problems respectively. These are the two key trump cards which will move us out of our bubble.

I agree with Joseph; we badly need "a robust midstream marketplace for geospatial data". This is that essential fuel. The same as the oil industry; this need be a simple as visiting a local gas station. The correct fuel which is ready for use and affordable.

The problem. In our geospatial world we fixate on data and technology. Practitioners in other fields are "focused on the problem, not the tool". Everything starts with the problem. Starting with a solution then looking for a problem is a backwards approach, and one doomed to failure. And yet I bump into this so often.

Let's touch on digital twin. Many are focused on definitions; what exactly is a digital twin. That is fine. But what is still largely missing is exploring the problem(s) a digital twin solve, mapping out that journey look like; one small bite at a time.

In conclusion. My sense is geospatial is at an intersection. Today we have an established niche industry which successfully serves a relatively small customer base.

As Joseph states "Geospatial used as a noun, is a unique phenomenon which carries its own gravity and could become more than an industry". For this to become a reality new thinking, new perspectives and new approaches are required.

That could open up an almost endless world of possibilities and opportunities.

• I use the word geospatial in line with Joseph's speech, though I lean more towards the word spatial.

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