The digital earth
the globalisation of Geodata
Ed Parsons
CTO, Ordnance Survey
July 2005

Agenda- some random thoughts..
• The internet changed everything
• The “new” global consumer
• The power of the global brand..
• Our world just changed..

The internet changed
everything..
w
/
/
:
p
t
t
h

Internet change - the organisational
perspective
High
Pre-internet
production
Low distribution
Low High

Internet change - the organisational
perspective
High
post-internet
production
Low distribution
Low High

Internet change - the organisational
perspective
High
production
now..
Low distribution
Low High

The network effect
• IP Network traffic increased
400% since 2002
• Bandwidth grew 46% globally
in 2004
• Asian growth 78% in 2004
• 2005 more bandwidth linking
European cities, than North
American

Cost of GI Expertise (p.a.)
Germany €45,839
United States €33,195
Lithuania €5,649
India €2,204
Source : Mercer Human Resource Consulting

10 years ago..
what we can do today..
was economically impossible..

$300

The “new” global
consumer..

Not your granddad anymore..
• Don’t remember life before the internet
• Instant gratification
• Issue rather than “political” motivation
• Member of a global community..
• Hyper Brand aware

My map...
my information

Geographic Information is
becoming democratised

The power of the global
brand..

?
=

Today, universal coverage is
more important than detail..
Tomorrow ?

our world has just changed...

Wednesday 29th June 2005

San Francisco, California

A GI conference ?
LOCAL
Maps
Maps

Demonstration..
Google earth

A few other things to think about...
• Google Maps official API
• A9 Yellow pages - street level detail
• MSN Virtual Earth

Consumers expect high quality
mapping to be a free service

Thank you..