Check out the recording and supporting slides for the Location Intelligence Technology trends and case studies in digital government.
If you are interested in knowing more about ELISE Webinars you can find further information here.
Structure of the presentation
- Technology landscape and trends of Location Intelligence
- Case Study #1: Helsinki Digital Twin City Models
- Case Study #2: City of Guimarães: Urban Platform
- Key take-away messages and open discussion
- Q&A
Recording
Summary
The webinar on “Monitoring and understanding emerging geospatial technologies” provided an overview of the technological, but also non-technological trends that impact the geospatial sector today. The objective was not on all the individual trends per se, but rather to provide the audience with an insight into its drivers and ways to monitor trends and keep the overview and relationships between the trends and their impact on architecture and standards. The webinar was structured as follows.
Firstly, the speakers introduced the key messages from the webinar: many technological and other trends are emerging, while others are becoming ‘mature’. It is often difficult to see the wood for the trees. There is a need for a Technology Trends Watch (TTW) to monitor and understand the interconnected trends. The new developments require reviewing the ‘traditional’ Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) architectures and how standards are developed.
In the second part, the speakers explained the link between the major drivers and trends. The overview was based on discussions within the geospatial community, and the United Nations – Global Geographic Information Management (UN-GGIM) in particular:
- New data sources and analytical methods
- Technological advancements
- The evolution of user requirements
- The industrial shift and the legislative (and political) environment
The fact that everything happens somewhere and that geospatial technology is becoming mainstream, plus the need for all people, not only experts, to have direct access to near real-time information, will influence dramatically the way we manage and handle geospatial information in the context of the global economy.
Thirdly, the central part of the webinar focused on the need for monitoring and assessing (technological) trends. It provided an overview of how different players do this and zoomed in on two cases. This third part started with the meaning of trends and disruptive technologies, highlighting that some trends might be there for a while, while others might appear ‘suddenly’.
Next, were explained the reasons for monitoring trends. Trend monitoring occurs in different shapes and formats: from frequent individual studies such as those from Deloitte, PWC, and Gartner to more comprehensive technology trends watches, such as the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) one. The latter case was explained in more detail by the guest speaker from OGC. The OGC and the geospatial community are using the OGC TTW to decide when and how to prepare new standards and plan internal R&D.
Another example where a TTW is necessary is in the context of skills development (What are the concepts that need to be integrated into (new) curricula at universities or in vocational training initiatives?) Individual organisations and companies are also interested, as illustrated by the examples of ESA and Airbus that also have their ‘own’ technology trends watch.
The fourth section was zooming in shortly on how we need to understand all the individual trends. Starting from the OGC TechTrends MindMap, two examples were given on how different trends are interconnected and can be explored to get acquainted with them and to test their applicability in (research) projects. The first example tried to understand how children behave (spatially) in traffic, by making use of spatial thinking (and spatial brain), agent-based modelling, digital twins and 3D city models, as well as immersive geo (AR, VR …). The latter would allow taking measures in schools and urban planning. The second example zoomed in on how big data and data analytics using Machine Learning can help process and provide answers on how refugees are moving. In this case, also IT ethics aspects were relevant.
The last (fifth) part discussed the interoperability efforts and challenges that come with the technological trends.
The impact on architectures of ‘traditional’ SDI’s was highlighted: not only changes in the data tier, in which more dynamic data influence the way we store, manage, handle and provide access to data. Also, the application layer is affected. The latter is reflected in how standardisation itself occurs: more collaboration between standardisation bodies and emerging new standardisation initiatives are observed. The speakers raised the idea of having more experimental collaborative environments for testing, improving and implementing new technologies and trends.
Finally, the key takeaways and conclusion provided the key opportunities and challenges for monitoring and understanding TechTrends, and summarised the most important messages.