In July 2023, we attended the Esri Consumer Convention in San Diego, which with 20,000 attendees is the world’s largest geographic data methods (GIS) convention. The convention allowed shoppers of GIS like Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Exxon Mobil to show use instances the place they utilized these options. We thought a bit about what we’d realized on the convention throughout our holidays (and we additionally unplugged utterly, don’t fear), and right here’s what caught with us:

• Issues occur in a spot. With excessive warmth waves inflicting temperatures above 45 levels Celsius, wildfires, and floods dealing with populations in all places, Esri sees the chance in addition to the hazard. The theme of the convention was “creating the world you wish to see,” and it’s clear that Esri thinks GIS and site intelligence will present options to a few of our world’s most urgent challenges: adapting and making ready for droughts; stopping and predicting wildfires and floods; or defending individuals from the unfold of a pandemic. Data of the place issues are has all the time been necessary, and with the rise of progressive applied sciences corresponding to sensible sensors and AI, we is not going to solely have the ability to see the place issues have been or the place they’re now, but additionally predict the place they’re going. GIS and site intelligence are applied sciences utilizing spatial information together with different information sources to conduct geographical evaluation on maps.
• GIS is on the map, and layers present perception. A fast technological development, along with urgent international challenges, has resulted in location intelligence and GIS being thought-about with different core methods. Use instances span from governments — like town of Ottawa utilizing maps for metropolis planning and the New York police division for stopping and predicting crime — to personal sector retailers designing and optimizing provide chains and retailer layouts. Including layers of information from a number of sources on prime of a map creates a robust visualization to assist organizations in decision-making.
• The data of “the place” walks by the door. Retail, manufacturing, and logistics are examples of industries using the data of the place individuals and items are transferring inside 4 partitions. Maps are sometimes related to the outside, going from level A to B, however there are attention-grabbing use instances arising for the moderately untapped market that’s indoors. With new applied sciences, there’s a race in uncovering how units and sensors could be complemented with new applied sciences to enhance the shop expertise for patrons or to assist the hybrid work mannequin with workplace administration.
• XR is rolling up its sleeves and doing helpful work. GIS innovators aren’t excited about a fantasy world that fully replaces all bodily interactions with digital ones. There was a smattering of prolonged actuality (XR) {hardware} on the convention. NOAA introduced a Quest to assist visualize microclimates and fairness, and at the very least one in every of Esri’s XR periods integrated a headset as effectively. Net browsers, although, rendered most visualizations on the convention. What’s clear is that trendy GIS retains observe of issues in three dimensions, not two. Future methods should account for the third dimension and the added challenges of storing and sustaining that information. Superior customers are already visualizing 3D adjustments over time, including an extra dimension of complexity.
• GeoAI is the way forward for GIS. AI additionally revolutionizes how we’ll work with GIS sooner or later. The ability of GeoAI lies in having the ability to predict outcomes by combining information sources to visualise patterns or irregularities. NOAA has used temperature sensors to measure heat spots in California to foretell the place the common temperature is unusually excessive. This data is used to grasp the place to put cooling stations, however from a predictive standpoint helps future metropolis planning — figuring out alternatives for brand spanking new inexperienced areas. Evaluating this with socioeconomic information helps to establish relationships between temperature and equality.

In This fall 2023, Forrester will publish a report on the state of location intelligence, overlaying elements of GIS and the place the business is transferring. Within the meantime, attain out to us when you’ve got questions.