What is the Geospatial Revolution?

The geospatial revolution. Over the years, one of my favourite discussion topics. It's interesting how this conversation is widening. Even the GIS sector has jumped in.

We've only just begun ..

The geospatial revolution is both young and chaotic. Change can be tough, and extremely confusing. So what has led us to this point? A very brief potted history:

From paper maps, to digital maps on the desktop (GIS) to web maps (pioneered by Mapquest, later driven by Google), to the cloud and mobile maps ..

The rise of the cloud and mobile, starting 10 years ago, has been key to driving us to where we are today: The next giant leap.

Revolutionary elements ..

Let's summarize some of these key revolutionary elements:

1) The relative decline of desktop applications, and expansion of web and mobile apps.

I call this the democratization of both data and tools. The web and mobile continue to change the game. Opening up access to data and simple tools for all.

Think the Uber mobile app!

2) A move away from expert tools only.

Expert geospatial tools are not going away. They are simply no longer the main game in town (rest assured GIS experts, your skills will continue to be in demand). Today's geospatial (web and mobile) apps provide focused functionality, targeted at non-experts.

3) The relative decline of GIS, and expansion of geospatial.

GIS will continue to expand in its own space. But it is now one part of a much bigger, and more rapidly expanding, geospatial whole. Unfortunately, we still today see geospatial confused with GIS. That will change.

4) The rise of simplicity (architecture, pricing etc), and challenge to the complex and confusing.

Complex and confusing: for too long a complaint levelled at the geospatial industry. Looking back, this was a result of too few players in the space. The '800 lb gorilla' syndrome. Thankfully, newer business models, and technology stacks are far more user-friendly.

5) Increasing recognition of geospatial as a technology foundation.

Geography underpins everything we do as humans. That has not been the case in the digital world. That is changing. The geospatial revolution is moving digital geography from the periphery to the core.

Painting this new picture ..

The web and mobile, non-expert access, simplicity, foundation. Let's pull these pieces together. At the end of the day, the focus of this conversation is data. And we are generating data at a staggering rate.

We have all this data, what do we do with it?

I hear the above question asked regularly. The rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), and improvement in data collection techniques (LiDAR etc) has increased both how much data we are collecting and the accuracy of that data. And most of this data has a locational component. 4D data is now a reality, that is:

• 3D provides the x, y (location) and z or vertical component. The development of autonomous cars has helped evolve new ways to collect, view and analyse 3D data. We are also learning much from the computer gaming industry.
• Real-time and near real-time is dynamic data. This might be data which can be used for tracking (eg. the movement of vehicles or people) or data used for monitoring (eg. the current temperature of a generator).

Geospatial technology stacks with long histories were not designed for 4D data. Viewing and analyzing static 2D data has always been their focus.

Today we have new geospatial solutions which take advantage of technology advances. These are geospatial technology stacks which are designed to handle 4D data and much more. These are the new kids on the block.

And these new solutions are helping to power the geospatial revolution.

2D, 3D and 4D together ...

2D, 3D and 4D are all important. Each tell a different story. The many new geospatial web and mobile solutions now available are able to seamlessly handle any of these data types.

Let me tell a story to help illustrate.

Don is a project manager. He wants to track his various construction projects across the US. There are two key focus areas for Don:

• Monitoring the current state of each project.
• Viewing each project site in near real-time.

Project related data is entered into a database each day for every project. Each project site is mapped daily using mobile mapping technology and drones (LiDAR and imagery).

Don would like a web application which provides a map-based dashboard which shows key metrics on each project. Within the same web application Don would also like to switch from this 2D view to a 3D or digital reality view. He wants to see the current state of each site: from both a ground and aerial view respectively, without the need for an onsite visit.

2D provides project summary and analytics. While 3D provides a near real-time view of each site. Two different data views, each providing complementary insight while answering different but related questions.

Don has wanted this solution for a number of years. Nobody had been able to provide what he needed. So he has had to fall back to his time consuming, inaccurate, expensive legacy processes.

Thanks to the geospatial revolution, times have changed. Inertia has been replaced by innovation. That has proven to be a big relief to Don.

Painting the picture: below is an example of a similar workflow; used by road safety engineers.

Taking the giant leap to the wider world of geospatial (see How stepping above GIS to Hexagon Geospatial re-lit my fire) allowed me to help folks like Don. In fact, it's at the core of my role at Hexagon Geospatial: to provide new ways to view and analyse location-based data of any type from any source to solve problems.

Disruption. Change. Innovation. Advance.

All the above words we associate with revolution. And this geospatial revolution is no different. The old are fighting for relevance. To re-define their place and continue to grow. The new are sweeping in. Changing the rules. Offering new thinking. Providing innovative, new solutions. Telling new stories.

Revolutions are chaotic. And fantastically exciting.

You can reach me at: [email protected]