Who is Leading the Leaders?

As someone who continuously advocates for the role of location, place and geography in business, it has been really gratifying to watch how the geospatial community around the world has united to help their companies, organisations, stakeholders, communities and each other in the global fight to contain COVID-19. Equally, this has been the case here in Ireland.

It is said that ‘Nothing reveals character like a crisis’.

This is the first time in my lifetime that I have witnessed such a passionate and collaborative effort of geospatial resources and assets, on such a grand scale, mobilise so quickly. It's been fantastic to witness our community working with a common purpose; to help eradicate COVID-19.

“When you're surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible”, Howard Schultz.

However, as great and all as that is, let’s row back 12 months; no, let’s go back just 6 months; was there a common purpose or common goal then? In fact, lets fast forward 12 months when this current situation passes, and it will pass. What will our new common purpose be in the future?

As a geospatial community, we must ensure that the value of what we are doing now, in this time of need, remains long after the pandemic is over. And when the calm returns, and it will return, we must use that time to take stock of what we have learned and unite around a new common purpose; one that will enrich the way public and private sectors share, collaborate and co-ordinate for the greater good of all in society.

And while there are many learnings to be had, the one thing that stands out for me is the need for stronger, aligned and more visible geospatial leadership at the highest levels in both government and business. This will ensure we make the most of the momentum we're building now - into the future.

Organisations today are awash with data and much of this data is spatial, in that it relates to either a specific location, a place or some other geographic context. It is now widely accepted that spatial thinking and spatial reasoning, driven by an increased demand for location intelligent solutions, is playing an increasingly critical role in not only how we understand our world, our businesses and our communities, but also how we engage and interact with our economies, our environment and society in general. 

"What makes an organisation location intelligent ultimately comes down to utilisation", Matthew Lewin, Esri Canada

Matthew goes on to say that "it isn't just about having a documented strategy, high-tech software and subject matter experts. Being smart requires people to adopt and use geospatial tools and know-how to draw insights from data and solve real business problems."

This, combined with what are the inherently spatial challenges of modern society, has created a pressing need for geospatial leaders. In my view Geospatial Leaders are people who not only understand the technical needs of their respective organisations, but who also have a business mind-set. They know that Knowing where Matters. They know how to work with and integrate spatial data with other business data to create information, insight and intelligence that delivers a deep understanding of their organisations. 

These leaders help to solve business problems and meet business needs in a unique way. Ultimately these are the people who ensure that geospatial knowledge and expertise does not end up getting lost in translation between two communities of practice; ‘technology’ and ‘data science’.

As geospatial professionals and ‘leaders’ in location intelligence, we all know the unique value and business benefits of location, place and geography. And while we all strive to continuously demonstrate this value in the work we do every day, there appears to be a clear lack of geospatial knowledge, understanding and leadership at the highest levels in Government and Business. For me this lack of leadership is underpinned by lack of focus and perhaps an "unauthentic appreciation" for the value of location, place and geography in better decision making.

There is much evidence of this here in Ireland in areas such as planning & development, housing & homelessness, healthcare, emergency planning, flood control, sustainability, transport infrastructure, climate change, national broadband plan, illegal dumping and so on. In fact, notwithstanding the great work from a number of very passionate geospatial professionals, across a number of industries and sectors, Ireland's COVID-19 response still lacks focus in terms of geospatial leadership at high levels of Government, in what was, and still is, a significant spatial problem.

‘Project Ireland 2040’ is a long-term Government strategy to make Ireland a better country for all of its people. In it's detail, Project Ireland 2040 is a spatial strategy and will require strong spatial planning, spatial thinking and spatial reasoning skills, if it is to be successful. 

The Public Service Data Strategy 2019-2023 goes someway to recognising 'Geospatial' as a strategic theme (Section 5.12), but in my mind it doesn’t go far enough. This strategy is all about how data is used and managed in the public service. What this strategy does not recognise is that geospatial is not just about data, nor is it about features & functions, or infrastructure for that matter - Geospatial is a new business platform and a science in its own right, the Science of Where.

In terms of the economic value of geospatial the only thing we have to go on for now is the ‘Economic assessment of Ireland’s Geospatial Industry’ report, commissioned by Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) back in 2014. This study revealed that the geospatial information industry contributed €69.3m to the Irish economy. When multiplier impacts are included, this is estimated to be over €120m. The industry generated sales or output valued at €117.5m and spent a total of €84.4m on wages/salaries. 1,677 full-time equivalent persons were directly employed by the industry, which also supported the employment of a further 3,000. The report estimates that the use of geospatial information accrues annual savings of €82m in the public sector, time savings with an economic value of €279m, and competition benefits of €104m. I have no doubt that in the intervening years these numbers will have grown even further.

So, given the ubiquitous nature of geography! given that everything happens somewhere! then every business strategy, every government initiative, every social programme and every environmental consideration, needs to be underpinned by Location Intelligence.

I've witnessed first hand how the geospatial community in Ireland is growing its expertise and extending its reach throughout public & private sector organisations and other communities all over the country. The work we do is impossible to tie down to any particular type, group or category because it is so diverse and broad reaching; yet much of what we do generally focuses on mission critical resource issues, key asset & infrastructure management, environmental management, critical climate change programmes, key urban and rural development initiatives, and other economic, environmental & social problems. 

For certain, we have many very skilled geospatial professionals who within their respective organisations are doing an excellent job at flying the geospatial flag. Many are leading the way in spite of not having a leadership remit to do so, but more importantly, not having a seat at the organisational top table. These passionate individuals consistently go above and beyond for the love of what they do by applying the value of location, place and geography to help address a business, environmental or societal need.

In my mind, these individuals are geospatial leaders. They are thought leaders and change agents for many different parts of the companies and organisations they work for. They advise, refine and enhance business processes and workflows using their unique knowledge, know-how, expertise and skills in location intelligence. They are already working to put in place the geospatial foundations and infrastructures that will underpin our continued growth as a country. Consequently and encouragingly, a good deal of the geospatial ecosystem that is needed at a local level in order to support national programmes such as Project Ireland 2040, already exists.

The fact is that to truly know the impact and influence of 'where' things are, is far more complex, than it is simple. I firmly believe that the geospatial community in Ireland punches way above it's weight when it comes to both the Irish and Northern Irish market's and its contribution to their respective economies.

There is no doubt in my mind that the geospatial professional is a growing part of the knowledge economy here and I am very privileged to know and work with some of the best people in the country, both within our own team and our customers teams.

And, while I regard these people as geospatial leaders in their own right, it is worth asking who is leading these leaders? Where (excuse the pun) is the Geospatial Leadership within and across both the business and government domains that supports, directs and guides the work these people are doing?

At worst there is none, at best it's not very visible.

For me, there doesn't seem to be a responsibility for geospatial leadership in Ireland; nor is there a leadership forum where our existing geospatial leaders can meet as peers, to discuss, develop, grow and evolve the geospatial industry for the greater good of all players.

I would argue that the geospatial community in Ireland warrants its own leadership role in government. Leadership that will take its responsibility beyond self-interest and shareholder value, and advance a new common purpose that considers the bigger picture; Building Ireland's Future. A purpose that all of the geospatial community can unite behind. And with this type of leadership, comes a great responsibility.

For example, building and realising the bigger picture will require stakeholder organisations across both public and private sectors, to work openly and in partnership with each other. It will require organisations to make their respective data services, systems and solutions, usable, relatable and available. In addition, it will require the geospatial community to openly work in partnership with each other to ensure that such content, is easily accessible, through a connected system of purpose. Achieving this will require strong leadership at the highest levels; but who should have this responsibility and where should it reside?

We will all know that the Chief Information Officer (CIO), is a widely recognised executive management and leadership position in business. Similarly, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), is also a recognised leadership role in business. But what about their geospatial counterpart?  Is there one? And if not, should there be?

In 2018, Dresner Advisory Services carried out a Location Intelligence Market study in the US that found that 70% of senior executives (CEO’s, CIO’s, CTO’s CFO’s) rank location intelligence as either critical or very important to their digital transformation programmes and ongoing revenue growth strategies. A recent Deloitte Industry 4.0 survey of 361 executives across 11 countries shows that 94% report digital transformation as their organisation’s top strategic initiative. 

In both these surveys, these senior execs understood that location data provided unique insights, revealing hidden patterns and relationships in their data that subsequently drive stronger decision-making.  With over 80 percent of data containing geographic information, location intelligence delivers insights into markets, customers, services, logistics, supply chains, and asset, facilities & risk management. Furthermore, with only less than 10% percent of business school programs (in the US) providing any form of introduction to the subject of location intelligence in their executive learning programmes, to whom are these senior executives going to turn to help them realise the value and business benefits of location intelligence within and across their organisations? The CIO? The CTO? How about the GIO?

A growing number of organisations and agencies across the world are putting in place the Geographic Information Officer (GIO) role to complement both the existing CIO and CTO roles within their organisations. When it comes to the efficient and effective use and application of geospatial across the enterprise, the GIO role bridges that gap in geospatial knowledge and know-how that exists between technology and data science. It is 20 years ago this year (November) that the USGS instituted the GIO role with the appointment of a lady called Karen Siderelis, who, with that appointment, became the first officially designated GIO in Federal Government in the US.

Given the strength and presence of geospatial in Ireland today, I believe that the time is right now for the Irish Government to consider the introduction of a Chief Geographic Information Officer (CGIO) for the state, to not only lead and enact a government strategy around the use of location intelligence, but to unite the many other geospatial leaders that already exist within various public and private sector organisations under a new common purpose.

In fact, I might go so far as to suggest that we consider instating an Office of Geospatial Information (OGI). An office in government that will be responsible and accountable for the guidance, direction, oversight, coordination and support of all aspects of a location intelligent ecosystem, with the sole purpose of better informing government policy and driving government strategy.

Location, place and geography has been adding value to business decision making long before COVID-19, and it will continue to do so long after, for challenges we haven't even envisaged yet . And as the geospatial community in Ireland continues to grow and develop, our current and future geospatial leaders must be better supported, better developed and better recognised, within and across all government departments. They must unite under a new common purpose and be acknowledged as valuable contributors to the delivery of Project Ireland 2040 and the continued growth and success of Ireland Inc.

The Future We Want To See ...

By Bernadette Jiwa, at thestorytelling.com

"Sometimes we fail to act because we’re afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing. So we say and do nothing and wait for the discomfort of the moment to pass. It’s easier to turn a blind eye than it is to simply say: ‘This is not okay.’ But the future we’re building together depends on every one of us being brave enough to say those words. The courage to say and do what’s right is the foundation upon which we will build the future we want to see"