GISCafe Voice Industry Predictions for 2021 – Part 3

Geospatial has responded to the past year’s calamitous changes with what it already had in place as well as shifted gears at the spur of the moment. GNSS advancements, bring-your-own-data, geospatial data acquisition, location analytics, supply chain logistics, Covid and dashboards, tracking trends, turning data into actionable information – all took front and center stage as far as technologies that surge forward into 2021 and beyond.

In this week’s industry predictions, Larry Fox, VP of Marketing and Business Development at Bad Elf, LLC; President of GeoDecisions, Brendan Wesdock; and  Lowell Ballard, Geospatial Solutions Division at Timmons Group  share their thoughts on what technologies will be essential in 2021.

“As an engineer and marketer, few things intrigue me more than the evolution and advancement of GNSS technology. Whether we are navigating to our destination, finding that local restaurant, or using GNSS to manage GIS data, what would our world look like without the ubiquity of our GNSS systems? Consumers use GNSS technologies naturally and with little thought about all the complex systems required to support them. I see one of the greatest benefits being the comfort and ease of use with this sophisticated technology.

Larry Fox, VP Marketing & Business Development, Bad Elf

What opportunities exist for the professional user? When I contemplate the future of GNSS, the word democratization comes to mind. Years ago, purpose-built equipment was the norm, and that equipment came with a high price tag. Demand for higher accuracy and greater affordability presented both a challenge and an opportunity. Bad Elf produces GNSS receivers long used in the aviation and marine sectors for navigation and situational awareness. However, the field of geospatial data collection and asset management reaps the rewards of democratization. Given the significant capability in the smartphone or tablet, all that one needs is affordable accuracy.

Bifurcating the purpose-built device into a data collection tool and a separate GNSS leads the trend for what the future looks like. The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) revolution changed the way we perceive field data collection, as we already have the data collector in our possession 100% of the time. Yet, our tablets and phones still lack one key component, positional accuracy. A convergence of technologies occurred with advancements in GNSS, affordable high-accuracy technologies, and the hardware to tie it all together. This democratized system removes the barriers for organizations, and their staff, to consider anyone in the field as a potential asset collector.

Autonomous vehicle (AV) technology became the force-multiplier advancing this positional technology. This specific technology accomplished two critical actions required to democratize GNSS. First, autonomous GNSS chipsets had to be affordable and accurate. The ubiquity of this technology reduces the cost associated with the hardware. Second, the development and deployment of corrections networks required to produce confident high-accuracy solutions took place in lockstep with the GNSS technology.

Although the field of geospatial technologies benefits from this democratization, augmented reality (AR) lives in a green field. With CAD and GIS technologies converging together, AR brings forth exceptional tools to visualize existing and as-built infrastructure. AR, in a professional environment, requires a high degree of positional accuracy for viability. As GNSS becomes democratized, the barriers to AR’s viability recede. With aging infrastructure, AR provides the ability to greater visualize and interpret assets at a level never seen before.

Moving into 2021, at least one thing is clear – it’s prime time for the revitalization of infrastructure. Updating and managing aging infrastructure is one of the best ways to restore prosperity and foster growth. The past has shown us that reconstruction and revitalization provide the economic engine for the future. Democratized GNSS solutions that are both cost effective and capable enable exciting alternative possibilities.

Larry Fox is VP of Marketing and Business Development at Bad Elf, LLC. He has over twenty years of experience as a product visionary, business development, and technology strategist. He is an innovator with the ability to identify, design and launch complex hardware and software solutions, Fox has leadership experience with diverse and highly dynamic teams from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Throughout his career, he has patented expertise in GNSS/GPS technologies, mobile applications, web development, and wireless communication solutions.

“For the first time since World War II, we see a force other than technological advances spur innovation. We began to feel the change in early March 2020 at the Esri Partner Conference and Developer Summit, key annual events for the GIS community. Now, after nearly a year of COVID-19 and its effects, 2021 is upon us, and here is what I see coming down the road.

Brendan Wesdoc, President, GeoDecisions

Innovation Unbound

There will be no speed limit on innovation. If you do not have a group, process, or method to support innovation in your organization, you will need to create one. COVID-19 has shown a bright light on why investing in innovation is essential to business and organizational success.

Our Collaboration Research and Innovation Center (CRIC) has been in existence since 2007, but 2021 will be a banner year for investing in innovative technologies and processes. The mission of CRIC is to aggressively promote, facilitate, and encourage innovation within Gannett Fleming, GeoDecisions’ parent company. CRIC fosters the development of potentially valuable products and services for the firm’s diverse markets.

Geospatial Consulting Industry Consolidation

Industry consolidation in the geospatial data acquisition market started several years ago and is reaching its peak, but geospatial consulting firms’ consolidation is just beginning. Our community is small business based. Even the larger geospatial consulting firms are considered small businesses. Many of these businesses were started in the late 1980’s and 90’s. The owners of those businesses are now looking to retire, turning to private equity-backed firms as buyers. This trend will accelerate in 2021 and beyond.

Location Analytics Unbridled

John’s Hopkins University and government COVID-19 dashboards put location analytics in the hands of the average person. People have come to rely on the information provided. Location analytics has moved from a novelty for the forward-thinking business to the foundation of a society’s most basic needs – survival. Decisions are made daily with these analytics to determine what businesses can remain open and which ones need to shut down, where people must distance more from society and where they can get a little closer, and where vaccines need to be distributed and how to distribute.

As familiarity with the technology increases, government entities will use location analytics in more areas of their organizations and to solve more challenges. We have seen innovative thinking around what is possible, like combining geospatial data with other data such as traffic counts to show COVID-19’s effect on fuel tax revenue.

With the increasing focus on resilience, location analytics is proving to unlock sustainability initiatives such as sourcing products. In 2021, the continuing trend of geospatial data and analytics democratization, along with global computing, will make geospatial capabilities much more mainstream. 

Supply Chain Logistics Accelerated

In 2021, an organization’s ability to fuse geospatial data with other data and collaborate across their business globally will prove to be a key differentiator. Supply chain logistic experts have found this global visualization of the supply chain essential to their business and are accelerating the adoption of geospatial analytics at an intense pace. Supply chain visibility became instrumental in managing the considerable demand shift for items such as paper products during the pandemic and the broader demand disruption around the globe.

Through the use of data from tracking sensors, satellites, drones, and through tabular data with geolocation attributes, supply chain logistics can better understand the location of raw materials, products, or assets. Understanding where demand is located helps organizations optimize limited resources and grow market reach cost-effectively. The visualization of information and analytics provides the ability to predict better global logistic disruptions critical for business resilience.

The year 2020 will have an unprecedented effect on every industry in 2021, including geospatial. Innovation, consolidation of the industry, the spread of location analytics, and the acceleration of supply chain logistics will be the most important for the geospatial professional to keep an eye on.”

As President of GeoDecisions, Brendan Wesdock is responsible for 12 offices and more than 130 employees. He works with the company’s leadership, supporting clients across the nation, and applying strategies for growth and innovation.  Brendan previously served as senior vice president and operations manager, responsible for the firm’s day-to-day operation and program manager for the patented IRRIS® geospatial decision support system.  Brendan currently operates out of GeoDecisions’ Newport News, Virginia, office.

Lowell Ballard, Geospatial Solutions Division, Timmons Group

“As we put 2020 behind us and move forward as an industry, I have taken the time to reflect about how GIS trends have evolved over the years. One of the biggest changes I’ve seen is an increasing interest in big spatial data analytics, dashboards and data visualizations. Just in the way 9/11 increased the awareness of the importance of spatial data to non-GIS professionals, COVID-19 has also shown the importance of dashboards, tracking trends, virus spread, trends, and turning data into actionable information. Every news outlet now uses maps, big data, and spatial analytics nightly. The general public now expects data to be presented in this manner. A picture is worth a thousand words. A map is worth a thousand pictures.

The 2020 wildfire season was, again, extreme. This is something that will not go away soon and the importance of spatial data in wildfire planning and operations is critical. There is so much that can be derived from spatial context. As an industry we’re just now tapping into that power. The adoption rate is going to continue to increase as technology becomes easier to manage and configure. Turning raw data into useful and actionable information will be key moving forward into the future of GIS. COVID-19 and wildfires of just 2 examples of the importance of uses of big spatial data and represent what I see as a trend that will see exponential growth in the near future and beyond.”

 Lowell Ballard has led the Geospatial Solutions Division at Timmons Group since 2009. He is a recognized leader in the integration of geospatial and traditional information technologies and GIS Strategic Planning. Lowell is a regular contributing author and has been profiled by Esri as an industry expert. Lowell works with clients across numerous markets on strategic planning and visioning and implementation of strategies to increase efficiency, realize ROI, and maximize investments in geospatial technologies.

Tags: air pollution, autonomous vehicles, cloud, data, forestry, imagery, Infrastructure, intelligence, laser scanner, location, mapping, mobile, navigation, remote sensing

Categories: agriculture, analytics, autonomous driving, citizen science, data, drones, geospatial, GIS, image-delivery software, in car navigation, indoor location technology, laser radar, location based sensor fusion, location based services, location intelligence, Open Source, photogrammetry, public safety, spatial data, storm surge, subsurface utilities, survey, wildfire risk

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2021 at 2:40 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.