Geospatial data is one of the most critical elements for infrastructure improvement projects and asset management. The GIS provides context for where infrastructure is placed, its attributes, topography, maintenance history, and much more. These attributes track an asset’s performance and catalog its proximity to other assets. Trimble Cityworks adds to this context by providing historical activity of when and how the infrastructure was placed, what type of work has been performed against the infrastructure, and the ability to identify the encompassing business risk should that infrastructure fail. With its platform architecture, Cityworks is able to consume various sources of data which inform organizations and assist with smart and efficient planning as stewards within their communities.
Cityworks was acquired by Trimble in 2019. It is built as a GIS-centric, platform-based software for asset management and permitting across the asset lifecycle with added capabilities for project management, contract management, and activity-based solutions. Cityworks, alongside e-Builder, a Trimble Solution that integrates on the platform, provides comprehensive asset management from the permitting phase through building and inspection into operations and maintenance.
Recently within Trimble, a new sector was created that is specifically focused on owners of infrastructure and the public sector. The Owner & Public Sector includes Cityworks and e-Builder along with Trimble Utilities and AgileAssets, which specializes in pavement management. These solutions are positioned as part of the construction sector with a focus on the public sector to and are focused on completing and fulfilling the different stages of the design, build, and operate process to provide a comprehensive GIS-centric solution for the public sector. (more…)
It is an interesting time to be working in the GIS industry, and I feel grateful for having experienced the past 25+ years immersed in it from an editorial perspective.
While Bentley Systems has had an Academic Program for some time, it has been reawakened, according to Katriona Lord-Levins, chief success officer at Bentley. “It has been brought into the times we’re in, and to meet the needs that we have to create a talent pipelines for our customers and ourselves,” said Lord-Levins. “Not only do we want to help students develop their engineering skills that will help them in the real world, but we also want to get people excited about the possibilities of the future.”
Better cloud and remote GIS tools, virtual and augmented reality have now blossomed in response to the demands put forth on our industry by the pandemic. Gaining access to analysis-ready geospatial data at a scale and with granularity never before possible is on the horizon. We thought we already knew about digital twins, but now we find out they are finally born? This is the way of the future and much more, we learn by checking in with companies Blue Marble and Omnisci, two companies with a finger on the pulse of what to watch for in geospatial.
This week, our Geospatial Industry Predictions includes Linda Loubert, Interim Chairperson and Graduate Coordinator, Economics Department, Morgan State University; Seb Lessware, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of 1Spatial; and George Mastakas, Vice President of Enterprise Solutions & Corporate Partnerships at Cityworks. These industry spokespeople cover where they see the industry going – and how to apply geographic knowledge to economics, politics, data sharing, visualization, city and country planning using sensors, Digital Twins, machine learning and artificial intelligence and much more. With GIS and geospatial, the matter of being able to provide accuracy and validity in data is paramount. The technology is already there; yet finding the ways to use the technology in even more promising ways is the way of the future.
Nearmap Aerial Image of the Presidential Inauguration January 20, 2021
While many industry markets saw a decline during 2020, geospatial and GIS remained steady and are projected to grow. According to Research and Markets’ report, “Geospatial Analytics Market – Global Forecast to 2025” the Geospatial Analytics Market Size is Projected to Grow from USD 52.6 Billion in 2020 to USD 96.3 Billion by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12.9% During the Forecast Period.
Tammy Owen, Global Director of the Defense and Intelligence business area for L3Harris Geospatial, introduced speakers on the first day of the 6th annual ENVI Analytics Symposium held August 25-27th, which for the first time, was held virtually rather than in person in Boulder, Colorado as had been initially planned.
IDB president Luis Alberto Moreno & Jack Dangermond, president of Esri, discuss how GIS can help solve some of the world’s biggest problems, namely, Covid-19 and climate change at the recent Esri Virtual User Conference 2020.
Normally approximately 17,000 people attend Esri User Conference held in San Diego, California but this year, the conference has attracted upwards of 80,000 people online as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. While it is sad not to be gathered in San Diego, the sheer volume of people who are able to participate online makes it quite a phenomena for Esri, a 50-year-old company spearheading the GIS movement globally.