By Don Weigel, General Manager of Government and Commercial, Nearmap
Don Weigel
Technological Innovations
Technology continues to rapidly evolve, and 2025 will be no different. Three specific use cases that I think will see technological innovation this year are:
Urban Development:
Many different industries are leveraging location intelligence and embedding those solutions within systems to allow for deeper insights and learnings, empowering industries to respond to their surroundings in a more meaningful way. One of those ways is when planning and designing future-ready cities. Location intelligence data can help users better visualize what a city should look like—ensuring special care is made to consider growth patterns, traffic flow and accuracy. Generative AI combined with location intelligence for city planning and real estate development will lead to more alternatives that drive better decisions and ultimately better environments for citizens and developers alike.
Disaster Response:It is no secret that natural disasters continue to rise in frequency as well as severity from year to year. As our climate and planet evolve and change, so should the technology we utilize to address the fallout of these incidents. Location intelligence data from Betterview by Nearmap delivers real-time insights pre and post event that help ensure faster, more effective action—all while getting ahead of resource stretched teams and departments. In short, pre and post-catastrophe data capture and AI will drive more effective and equitable disaster preparedness and response.
1. Technological Innovations: What major technological advancements or innovations do you foresee occurring in your industry in 2025, and how do you plan to adapt or lead in these areas?
In 2025, the telecom industry is at a crossroads of innovation and opportunity, driven by the need for efficiency, cost reduction, and smarter operations. Technological advancements are making existing workflows more efficient, accurate, scalable, and cost-effective, ensuring measurable results – today, while setting the stage for future workflow improvement as part of a broader digital transformation agenda.
The focus in 2025, as we see it, will be on using technology not only as an acceleration vehicle, but also as an ecosystem connector, bridging gaps across the different players and creating shared value for TowerCos, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), construction contractors and maintenance providers.
The geospatial industry, similar to the broader technology sector in general, has experienced another remarkable year of innovation. Geospatial solutions are continuously evolving to address complex challenges and unlock new opportunities for businesses. Many of 2024’s predictions have started to materialize, with advancements spanning GeoAI, cloud data warehousing, expanded data availability, and more.
While it’s challenging to narrow down such a wide range of innovation, this article will focus on 5 key trends shaping the future of location intelligence in 2025.
Generative AI Expanding into Geospatial Applications
Generative AI (GenAI) has continued to generate buzz, evolving from hype to tangible use cases on geospatial applications. From generating code to analyzing and summarizing data, GenAI’s outcome represents a significant productivity boost.
Leah Busque gave this presentation at the 2012 Where Conference in San Francisco this week.
A true visionary, Leah originated the phrase, “service networking,” a now industry-wide term describing the productive and service power of a web-based social networked community. In the fall of 2008, while trying to figure out how to juggle dinner out with her husband, Kevin, and buying dog food for her 100-pound yellow labrador retriever, Kobe, Leah’s flash of inspiration resulted in her registering the RunMyErrand.com domain name from her iPhone, and mapping the entire business model in her head prior to their meal. Eighteen months later, the company is flourishing, and has expanded and evolved into TaskRabbit.com.
